ProZed is a tool designed to allow linguists to manipulate the prosody of an utterance via a symbolic representation in order to evaluate linguistic models. Prosody is manipulated via a Praat TextGrid which allows the user to modify the rhythm and melody. Rhythm is manipulated by factoring segmental duration into three components: (i) intrinsic duration determined by phonemic identity (ii) local modifications encoded in the Rhythm unit and (iii) global variations of tempo encoded in the Intonation Unit. Melody is similarly determined by tonal segments in the Tonal Unit (corresponding to pitch accents) and the Intonation Unit (corresponding to boundary tones) together with global parameters of \emph{key} and \emph{span} determining changes of pitch register. The TextGrid is used to generate a Manipulation object which allows an immediate interactive assessment of the prosody determined by the annotation.


It is very important to predict the landslide behaviour in prior to its occurence, especially for the traffic safety. The authers measured the landslide movement and groundwater table variation in a landslide between Toyono and Mure on Shin-etsu line. The measured data show that after water tables in the landslide area keep high level during long period in snow melting or rainy season the distinct landslide movements occur.


BOOKS REVIEWED: Peter Lunenfeld, Snap to Grid: A Users Guide to DigitalArts, Media, and Cultures, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2000. Timothy Druckrey, ed. Ars Electronica: Facing the Future. A Survey of Two Decades, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1999. Mary Anne Moser with Douglas MacLeod, eds., Immersed in Technology: Art and Virtual Environments, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1996.


Abstract The content of fructan and the activities of sucrose: sucrose fructan fructosyltransferase (EC 184.108.40.206), fructan: fructan fructosyltransferase (EC 22.214.171.124), and fructan hydrolase in each part of yacon (Polymnia sonchifolia) were determined during the growth period. During summer, the amount of fructan (g plant−1) accumulated in each part was minimal despite the existence of relatively high specific activities (units mg−1 protein) of sucrose: sucrose fructosyltransferase and fructan: fructan fructosyltransferase in the stems, roots, tuberous roots, and rhizo-mataceous stem. On the other hand, from October to December, the amount of fructan in the tuberous roots and rhizomataceous stem remarkably increased along with an increase of the total activities (units plant−1) of sucrose: sucrose fructosyltransferase and fructan: fructan fructosyltransferase. The specific and total activity of fructan hydrolase in each part markedly increased in September when the rapid regrowth of aerial parts after phy...


Sir .—Adams et al 1 described three infant girls with premature pubarche and suggested that one infant (patient 3) may have had nonclassic 3β-hydroxysteroid deficiency based on corticotropin stimulation test results (the ratio of stimulated Δ 5 -17-hydroxypregnenolone [17-OHPreg] to 17-hydroxyprogesterone [17-OHP] of 11.6 at age 3 months). They also reported slightly elevated 17-OHPreg levels and 17-OHPreg-17-OHP ratios in the other two infants. Normal values for prepubertal children were referenced. I wish to bring to the authors' attention more age-specific normative corticotropin stimulation data recently published. 2 These newer data demonstrate significantly higher baseline and stimulated 17-OHPreg and 17-OHPreg-17-OHP ratios in infants ( The apparent decreased 3β-hydroxysteroid activity in normal infancy


The right for foods is one of human rights, as mentioned in Section 27 of The Constitution 1945 or in the Rom Declaration of World Food Security and World Food Summit (1996). The government or country has an obligation, respect, protect and fulfill the society rights for foods. The section 33 subsection (2) of The Constitution 1945 includes the clarification asking the government for establishing the state corporation to manage the principal economy parts and mastering the public intention. Regulation No. 19 of 2003 about State Owned-Corporation (BUMN) is the law fundamental of the BUMN's existing in Indonesia. The establishment of institution managing food is according to the amendment of Regulation No. 7 of 1996 about Foods. The public corporation of board-business logistic (BULOG) is a general corporation which established based on the Government Regulation No. 7 of 2003 and also Section 6 subsection (1); it is stated that the characteristic business of the corporation is to provide the service for public benefit and also create the profit according to the corporation management principle. The management of the existed BULOG as the BUMN PSO of food is always become an impact, on the other hand, BULOG must be business-oriented or profit oriented; however, BULOG also has important function that is social function. Most people assure that this dual role is difficult mutually and they worried to be a hinder in fulfilling of food's right. The troubles that will be analyzed for detailed to find the trouble-solving out is how the implication of shape change of the BULOG institution from LPND to BUMN that carried out the duty of PSO (Public Services Obligation) and also what obstructs look toward in implementing PSO's assignments. The trouble is analyzed with qualitative normative-judicative which analyzing the related literatures material to the analyzed troubles firstly by relying on the law norms existed in the regulation. The changes of BULOG's institution from LPND to the public corporation must followed by comprehensive and consistent actions from the government to describe both the strategies and policies of food survival. Repositioning BULOG as a institution that responsible and fully play-role to the processing of distribution subsystem for whole strategic food commodities for entire society is very required; certainly, in institution frame according to the development time. The implementation of good corporation management (GCG), consistency and continuously, is expected to produce add value and innovation, ready for competition in global competition era, has a capability for survive in every condition, and also has social responsibility. The implication changes impose BULOG to apply the GCG's principles in its management. The government must be given compensation for costs spent by BUMN, include expected margin in naturalness rate based on its assignments. In fact, however, in carrying out the PSO's assignments, the public corporation of BULOG is troubled because of the compensation of those assignment costs do not implemented completely because many obstructs in its regulation. In short, by the regulation currently, the public corporation of BULOG as PSO executor of food sectors is potential to suffer a financial loss. In order to the regulation related the public corporation of BULOG and the Food Survival may run maximally for society welfare, the paradigm of national economy Universitas Sumatera Utara system need to be formulated firstly. In what kind that must be we create, interaction requirement, understanding and collaboration well among practitioners in economy and law segments. To anticipate the global economy development and observe the presented facts currently, both the government and BULOG must be prepare themselves to solve the various troubles and obstructs existed, particularly solving the financial loss suffered; so the purposes of the public corporation of BULOG as a corporation may implemented in the middle of PSO's assignment dynamics.


Contents: (1) The Science Objectives of EOS; (2) New Spacecraft Configurations; (3) The Impact of the Restructured EOS on Understanding the Climate; (4) The Impact of EOS on Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies; (5) EOS Data and Information System; (6) Interdisciplinary Investigations; (7) Missions in Advance of EOS; (8) The Role of the Departments of Energy and Defense; (9) Summary of the Mission to Planet Earth; and (10) Funding Requirement.


This chapter takes a culturally sensitive approach to elderly care. The elderly are ethnic Norwegians, the Sami Indigenous people and the Kven minorities in the Arctic region in Norway. How can an older person rediscover his or her dignity when they arrive in nursing homes? Cultural values, beliefs and worldviews are anchored in "the living body." This means that the human's biological conditions are woven together with life experiences and interpretations thereof. The most important motivator in rediscovering the older person`s dignity in nursing homes lies in the interaction between the older person and service workers who have a culturally–sensitive approach. This means that the social and health providers see the older person as a complete person, not just his or her bodily and cognitively impairment. By using a person-sentred care in milieu therapy in the nursing homes, the students were preserving health and continuity in the lives of elderly patients.


. The principal purpose of this note is to derive variants of Hardy's inequality involving radial derivatives and logarithmic refinements.


The jumping spider genus Chrysilla, established by Thorell (1887) based on the male of C. lauta Thorell, 1887, is insufficiently known. Presently, seven species are included, but none of them is known by both sexes: three of them only by males (C. deelemani Proszynski & Deeleman-Reinhold, 2010; C. doriai Thorell, 1890 and the type species) and the other four only by females (C. albens Dyal, 1935; C. delicata Thorell, 1892; C. kolosvaryi Caporiacco, 1947 and C. pilosa (Karsch, 1878)) (Platnick 2011). Only the type species and C. deelemani from the Southeast Asia seem to belong to Chrysilla. Three species (C. delicata, C. doriai and C. pilosa) need to be revised and the others (C. albens and C. kolosvaryi) are misplaced (Proszynski & Deeleman-Reinhold 2010; Proszynski 2011). The examination on some species from Southwest China confirmed a new species with both sexes, its male being similar to C. lauta and C. deelemani. So the true Chrysilla female is discovered for the first time, being greatly different from that of C. pilosa. The genus Chrysilla can be distinguished from Phintella and Icius by thin, long and more colorful bodies, stronger RTA and much longer than wide genital bulb of male palps, copulatory openings separated by one diameter or so (Figs 15–17) and piriform spermathecae of epigyne (Fig. 18). All measurements given in the text are in millimeters. Specimens are preserved in 75% ethanol and were examined, illustrated, photographed and measured using a Leica M205C stereomicroscope equipped with a drawing tube, Leica DFC420 Camera and LAS software (Ver 3.8). Type specimens are deposited in the School of Life Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, China (SWUC). Abbreviations used in the text: ALE, anterior lateral eye; AME, anterior median eye; MOA, median ocular area; PLE, posterior lateral eye; PME, posterior median eye. RTA, retrolateral tibial apophysis.


AbstractWhy do governments deploy their armed forces to respond to certain foreign natural disasters but not others? What factors influence successful coordination between national and foreign mili...


The solar air heaters are used for heating of air by the absorbed solar radiations. The heat transfer from the collector surface to the air increases in case of a roughened surface. The collector surface can be provided with artificial roughness. It is found in the literature that several types of roughness are suitable for use in solar air heater for improving heat transfer rate. The present work comprises Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of artificially roughened surface with triangular and square shaped ribs alternatively placed over the absorber surface. The heat transfer rate for this arrangement is evaluated for the solar air heater with assumed solar radiations. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is widely used in the analysis of the flow problems and the same tool has been used in this research work for the development of methodology for analysis of the artificially roughened surface with two different shape ribs alternatively arranged. The objective of this paper is to evaluate numerically the performance of a solar air heater having artificial roughness.


This article is a library study taking a look at how the traditional pesantren santris use their languages by focusing at what languages are recognized and used by them, and to see whether the language is used as the reflection of their identity both as young persons and santris of traditional pesantren. This article will also look at how their language identity is reflected through literary works. The previous studies show that mostly they used their mother tongue in daily communication, in all level of Javanese, as they feel obliged to use it to converse with different addresse. However, out of the context of pesantren, they also use informal Bahasa Indonesia, closely similar to the language used by other teenagers. Literary works also describe the language used by santris as being modern, typical type of informal Bahasa Indonesia used by teenagers.
Keywords: traditional pesantren, language identity, santri.


Since the time of Moissenet and Rayer,1who first described massive suprarenal hemorrhage in the new-born infant in 1837, many observers have reported numerous types of suprarenal hemorrhage; the literature has been reviewed by Hamill,2Corcoran and Strauss3and others, and will merely be mentioned here in passing. Pathologists describe the small bilateral punctate hemorrhages found in the suprarenal glands of newborn infants in whom asphyxia, trauma and venous congestion are supposed to play a role.4Other etiologic factors mentioned are eclampsia in the mother,5infection,6purpura and fever in the mother,7thrombosis of the suprarenal veins,8syphilis (there are many spirochetes in the suprarenals but usually no pathologic changes),9hemophilia,10congenital deformity of the kidney and embryonic cystic processes. Toxic factors, such as burns, diphtheria, etc., are described in certain cases as playing a role. Elliott said that hemorrhage


This research is about assessment for public land leasing and property taxation in financing roads infrastructure. The area of study was Mbeya city in Tanzania, within which researcher identified three locations of concern namely Forest area, Iwambi area and an area of 500 metres in each side along Ilomba-Machinjioni road.
In Forest area the study was about assessment for property taxation and property market, whereas in Iwambi area it was about public land leasing and land market and in Ilomba-Machinjioni road it was about studying the impact of the road infrastructure to land values in the neighbourhood.
The main objective of this study is to make assessment of the set up and performance of two financial instruments namely public land leasing and property taxation on how they can capture land values to finance roads infrastructure. The assessment is geared to find out (a) whether the instruments capture the value of land (b) how far revenue generated by these instruments can contribute to the roads infrastructure investments and (c) the impact of roads infrastructure to land value increments.
Methodology used in this study is explanatory case study approach with single embedded case. However the researcher applied quasi-experiment technique when studying the impact of Ilomba-Machinjioni road to land value increments. Data collection method was interview.
During this study it was revealed that taxable values used by Mbeya city council in revenue collection from land rents, premiums and property taxation are lower than open market values prevailing in the land and properties. It was revealed that premium is generating more revenue than land rents and property taxation. In comparison between revenue and costs of roads investment it was revealed that premium is able to afford costs of establishing new roads if at all production of plots is made at least once a year. In roads maintenance it was revealed that revenue from land rents and property taxation are lower than costs. Finally it was revealed that roads infrastructure contribute a lot to the increments in land values.
It should be noted that researcher decided to compare revenue from premiums with costs of establishing new roads because new roads are established occasionally and premium revenues are collected occasionally when there is production of plots. Costs of road maintenance were compared with revenue from land rents and property taxation because maintenance is done annually and some times during a contingence whereas revenue from land rents and property taxation are collected annually. Mbeya city council is advised to increase more revenue in premiums by producing plots and putting them in the market at least once a year because it generates more revenue from this source. Ministry of land (MLHHSD) is collecting land rents in all local governments (Mbeya city council inclusive) and retain only 30% of revenue to meet collection costs and enhance more collections. It is advised this revenue source to be decentralised to local governments in order to boost their financial capabilities in public expenditures. Since roads infrastructure increases land values, more investments is advised in roads infrastructure to increase revenue in land value capture. In property taxation it is advised taxable values to include market value of land and not only buildings. Mbeya city council is advised to update taxable values in the database to reflect market values of land and properties. Finally Mbeya city is advised to increase commitment and enforcement in collection of land rents and property taxes in order to increase revenue for roads maintenance.


Silica/modified poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) organic-inorganic hybrid gas barrier films were prepared by sol-gel method using silicon alkoxides and modified PVA on polypropylene (CPP) substrates. Oxygen permeances through the films were measured by a variable-pressure method. Oxygen permeability coefficient of the hybrid was one order lower than those of poly(vinylidene chloride) (PVDC) and water vapor transmission rate of the hybrid was the same order of PVDC. Pencil hardnesses of the CPP with the hybrid films were more than 4B. These values were higher than that of CPP (6B). These properties were thought to be due to well dispersion of inorganic segments (silica) and organic segments (modified PVA) at molecular level in the hybrid.


Swiss-based environmental organisation WWF has warned against the indiscriminate application of ocean desalination to solve the world's water shortages in a new report. According to the report, Making water : Desalination - option or Distraction for a thirsty world, seawater desalination is rapidly emerging as one of the major new sources of freshwater for the developed and some areas of the developing world. However, this dramatic upscaling of the industry is occurring against a backdrop of unresolved questions on the potential environmental impacts of large-scale processing of seawater habitat and the discharge of increasing volumes of concentrated brine wastes.


The nelpin application has an impact on the production process of local fishermen. Demonstrating how to use the Nelpin Application is a way to introduce the Nelpin Application to facilitate the fishing process so that it is expected to be more optimal in fishing activities and increase production results. The mentoring was conducted for 3 months from March 8 to June 5, 2021 at KUB Kembung, Tidung Island, South Thousand Islands District, DKI Jakarta Province. The results showed an increase in income of Rp. 309,000 within one month. The demonstration program on how to use the Nelpin application also saw changes in the knowledge aspect by 47.2%, and the attitude aspect increased by 18.2%, which initially agreed to strongly agree, as well as the skill aspect where the average member obtained was quite therapist to be skilled. The impact of using the Nelpin Application is that the average yield of fishermen's production increases by 7.7% which affects fishermen's income. In the calculation of business analysis carried out on average, fishermen found BEP = 39.8 Units, PP = 1.32, RC = 2.6 with a selling price of Rp. 25,000, and the income earned is Rp. 4,309,000 with a profit of Rp. 309,000, with a total production cost of Rp. 1,644,999/month.


The article is devoted to the problem of professional and personal development of future teachers. Modern society needs highly educated specialists who are ready for the challenges of the time. The teacher must possess not only subject competencies, but also high adaptability to updates, susceptibility to pedagogical innovations, dynamism, flexibility, mobility, digital literacy. Actual requirements for a teacher against the backdrop of rapid changes in society determine the content of his professional training, which is undergoing transformations at different levels. Attention is focused on the method of projects as a resource for the development of professional and personal characteristics of a specialist, ensuring his demand in the labor market. The project method is understood as a joint search-cognitive, creative, productive activity of a teacher and students, aimed at finding a solution to a problem that has arisen and culminating in a practical result. The experience of the successfully implemented information and creative project "Is it good to be able to read?", which became the winner of the International Festival "Children of the Rainbow: Socialization and Development of Communication Skills", 2021. More than 200 people took part in the project. Among them are students of the PSTGU pedagogical direction, children with disabilities and their parents. The work on the project included the stages of forecasting, modeling, design, actual design, testing and reflection. The final product of the project was an interactive digital content developed by students on the Microsoft Sway platform. The article analyzes the didactic, developing, diagnostic, educational possibilities of the project method. The importance of project activities for the development of professional competence of a teacher is shown. The results of a survey of students about the advantages and difficulties of project activities at the university are presented. The results of the analysis of the successful experience of project activities show its potential in the development of a future teacher with a conscious pedagogical position and readiness for active and creative activity. A conclusion is formulated about the resource of the project method, which contributes to building a constructive path for the development of a person in the profession.


A new method based on the near-infrared (NIR) multispectral imaging technique has been developed for the noninvasive and nondestructive determination of the identity and sequences of amino acid residues in di- and tripeptides. The di- and tripeptides were synthesized on polymer beads (i.e., Rink) using the solid phase peptide synthetic method. The developed method is capable of determining the identity of sequences of the peptides (with and without the Fmoc protecting group) directly on the polymer beads. It can distinguish not only dipeptides from tri-peptides but also peptides with very similar structures (e.g., Rink-Gly-Ala-Ala, Rink-Gly-Ala-Phe, Rink-Gly-Ala-Leu, Rink-Gly-Ala-Val, and Rink-Gly-Ala-Met). More importantly, it is capable of distinguishing peptides with the same amino acid residues but different sequences (e.g., Rink-Gly-Leu-Val from Rink-Gly-Val-Leu).


Abstract The vortex-force representation of the wave-averaged effects on currents is compared to the radiation-stress representation in a scaling regime appropriate to coastal and shelf waters. Three-dimensional and vertically integrated expressions for the conservative current equations are obtained in both representations. The vortex-force representation decomposes the main wave-averaged effects into two physically understandable concepts—a vortex force and a Bernoulli head. The vortex force is shown to be the dominant wave-averaged effect on currents. This effect can occur at higher order than the apparent leading order for the radiation-stress representation. Excluding nonconservative effects such as wave breaking, the lowest-order radiation or interaction stress can be completely characterized in terms of wave setup, forcing of long (infragravity) waves, and an Eulerian current whose divergence cancels that of the primary wave Stokes drift. The leading-order, wave-averaged dynamical effects incorpora...


Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) suffers from a severe infestation of inflorescence/flower gall caused by Eriophyes prosopidis, adversely affecting the yield of sangria in Rajasthan. These galls are green in colour initially and turn to brownish on maturity. It has been observed that in case of heavy infestation the inflorescence spikes may be completely devoid of pods affecting the yield of sangri tremendously.


The limit cycle of the van der Pol oscillator, x ¨ + e ( x 2 − 1 ) x ˙ + x = 0 , is studied in the plane ( x , x ˙ ) by applying the homotopy analysis method. A recursive set of
formulas that approximate the amplitude and form of this limit cycle for the whole range of the parameter e is obtained. These formulas generate the amplitude with an error less than 0.1%. To our knowledge, this is the first time where an analytical approximation of the amplitude of the van der Pol limit cycle, with validity from
the weakly up to the strongly nonlinear regime, is given.


A pair of primers was designed according to carp HSP70 sequence(AY120894).Total RNA was extracted from the hepatopancreas of grass carp.480 bp of grass carp HSP70 gene was obtained by RT-PCR and given number FJ483832 by GeneBank.It was found that HSP70 gene of grass carp had a homolog of 93%,91% and 93% with carp,zebrafish and Carassius auratus,respectively,using DNAman software.Moreover,we examined the mRNA expression of HSP70 in various tissues of grass carp,such as adipose tissue,muscle,hepatopancreas,spleen,gonad,gill,fin,swim bladder,brain,mucilage,heart and intestine,by semi-quantitative(SQ RT-PCR) method.The data showed that HSP70 gene was all detected but different in tested tissues.The highest was found in fin,which was significantly higher than other tissues(P0.01),the next highest was swim bladder,which had no obvious difference with brain,heart and gonad,and the lowest was mucilage.These results suggest that HSP70 may be used as a stress-involved index in fish culture.


The flow characteristics in a bifurcated duct are investigated experimentally. Physical properties such as mean velocity vectors and total pressure distributions are obtained for three different Reynolds numbers(578, 620, 688) using PIV measurements and CFD analysis. Also, dividing duct 90° were selected for study. The results of this study would be useful to the engineer in designing the flow systems for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and wastewater purification plants.


The nutrient of Cuminum cyminum L were studied in this paper. The result show that the protein is 27.06%, fat is 16.31%, mineral salt is 8.45%. The analytical resμlt of Ca is 11mg/g, Zn is 65.0μg/g, Mg is 4251μg/g, Cu is 22.8μg/g, K is 492μg/g, Fe is 320μg/g and Mn is 38μg/g. Cuminμm cyminum L is abundant in nutrient. The study is a good foundation for further Cuminum cyminum L investigation.


CLAUDIU SENDREA1,2, CRISTINA CARSOTE3,4, MIHAI RADU1,2, ELENA BADEA1,5, LUCRETIA MIU1* 1Advanced Research for Cultural Heritage (ARCH) Group, National Research and Development Institute for Textile and Leather (INCDTP), ICPI Division, 93 Ion Minulescu Str., 031215, Bucharest, Romania 2 , University Politehnica of Bucharest, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science1-7 Polizu Str., 011061, Bucharest, Romania 3 National Museum of Romanian History, 12 Calea Victoriei , 030026, Bucharest, Romania 4 University of Bucharest, 4-12 Regina Elisabeta Av., 030018, Bucharest, Romania 5 University of Craiova, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Chemistry, 107 I Calea Bucuresti Str., 200512 Craiova, Romania

https://revistadechimie.ro/count_redirect.asp?RevChimieID=5711&pdfArticle=pdf/26 SENDREA 7 17.pdf


VENDEE EAU, a non profit public body in charge of water supply on the French western coast (264 municipalities, 600,000 inhabitants), produces 40 million m3 of drinking water per year mainly from surface resources. In order to face an estimated water deficit during a hot year the proposed solution is the indirect reuse from a coastal WWTP (Sables d'Olonne) to complete the volume of a fresh water reservoir (Jaunay). On account of the absence of regulations and unprecedented cases of IPR in France, VENDEE EAU envisions the implementation of a 1:4-scale demonstrator during the 2018-2024 period including tertiary treatment unit, transfer pipe, discharge zone and an extensive analytical program. Towards the multiple approaches to ascertain the appropriate location for the Reuse discharge point in the reservoir and suitable operational set points and flow rate, computational modelling is particularly adapted for testing different conditions (physical, meteorological) and optimizing the system to achieve targets (maximum allowable concentration of pollutant for drinking water and recreational uses
 In this work, we have focused on modelling the distribution of a generic pollutant in the reservoir, which is expected to vary with time and depending on system and meteorological conditions. We shall present a first computational model assuming that flow rate at the discharge point compensates the removal flow rate (so that the volume of the reservoir stays constant) and that the pollutant dynamics is influenced by two main effects: wind and water currents (resulting from the pumping processes and the discharge of Jaunay River into the reservoir). The model accounts for the geometry of the reservoir, the operating conditions of the transfer pipes and real data regarding chronicles of wind velocity, river flow and pollutant characteristics. Then, we have performed an optimization of the refilling location to minimize the pollutant concentration at strategic locations (with data from July-September 2016). Other meteorological conditions (such as rain and evaporation) may have a significant impact on the evolution of the pollutant distribution and disallow the assumption of constant volume of the reservoir. Extensions for taking into account variable volume will be discussed.
Part of this work has been developed by students of the Master in Mathematical Engineering at UCM (Madrid, Spain) within the XI UCM Modelling Week.


Abstract. The article highlights the role of Professor V. I. Stelletskyi in creating a methodology for teaching technique of veterinary obstetrics at veterinary institutes in the 1920's and 1930's and the modern use of its approaches and principles in the frame of training of veterinary obstetricians for the livestock sector. The aim of this research was to determine the contribution of V.I. Stelletskyi to development of the methodology of teaching veterinary obstetrics in the context of practical training of students. The research materials are represented by methodological publications in professional journals of the period of his activity. The methodological basis of the research is the exploratory approach, dialectically combined with the principles of historicism and systematicity. Also, systematic and analytical methods were applied. From the point of view of development level of veterinary science and education at the end of the IX – beginning of the XX century, institutions of higher veterinary education were employing mainly theoretical training system. In the pre-revolutionary period, veterinary obstetrics was a part of surgical sciences as a small component of surgery, so there was no separate methodology for teaching this discipline. Prof. V. I. Stelletskyi is one of the first tutors of the obstetrics course. He has developed a methodology for teaching this discipline, which gave not only good theoretical knowledge in this field of veterinary science, but also a high level of practical training. A wide range of forms of practical and clinical classes, teaching and processing educational material has served this purpose and ensured acquisition of a high knowledge, skills and competencies level by students,. After the analysis and determination of the main basis positions in training veterinarians-obstetricians, it becomes possible to conclude that the key to training of a veterinary specialist is not only a high level theoretical tuition, but also a thorough practical and clinical schooling. While being modernized and adapted to the requirements of the present time, the described elements retain their crucial role in training modern veterinarians and obstetricians. Keywords : Stelletskyi Vasyl Ivanovych, veterinary obstetrics, practical training of students, teaching techniques


A study has been made on the tensile and creep properties of squeeze and die cast Mg alloys, with emphasis on the effect of second phase particles. Compositions of the alloys were controlled to have four different microstructures; 1) having thermally unstable particles along grain boundaries, 2) having thermally stable particles along grain boundaries, 3) having thermally unstable particles along grain boundaries and thermally stable particles within matrix, and 4) having thermally stable particles along grain boundaries as well as within matrix. It shows that room temperature strength of the alloys is mainly controlled by the volume fraction of second phase particles, regardless of their distribution. The distribution of second phase particles, on the other hand, has a large effect on the fracture behavior. It shows that the creep resistance of Mg alloys can be significantly improved by the incorporation of thermally stable second phase particles within matrix. Such improved properties of TAS831-X alloy over those of AZ91 alloy are due to the optimized microstructure of the former.


This paper presents an analytic model for the mean time to lose lock for first-, second-, and third-order phase-locked loops (PLLs). The analytic model is of the same form as that of a first-order PLL with the appropriate corrections for second- and third-order PLLs. The modeling was done on SystemVue simulation.


life frames of reference. The notion that the experience of certain frighteningor threateningevents can lead directly to a particular syndrome of symptoms is now accepted uncritically in many quarters. This has been the basic assumptionunderscoringa numberof recent research programmes. The work reported in this volume falls into this category. Most of the chapters are written by staff at the National Centre for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which was established in 1989 by the US Departmentof VeteransAffairs. The book is divided into five sections. The first section has accounts from different basic science perspectives on the study of †̃¿ stress' in laboratory animals. Part two involves a number of attempts to provide biological models which synthesis the sort of results outhned in part one. The rest of the book is concerned with human studies. Part three has seven chapters looking at biological and clinical aspects of stress and post-traumatic stress disorder. In part four there are a number of overviews of clinical issues in relation to post-traumatic stress disorder such as comorbidity, psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. In the final section the editors propose their own agenda for future researchin this area. The editors are to be congratulated for bringing together such a comprehensivevolume. While this re viewerwas most interestedin the chaptersdealingwith clinical issues it was stimulating to be able to refer directly to some of the biological models proposed as being related to these clinical issues. What is absent from the book is any criticalreflectionupon the con cept of post-traumatic stress disorder itself. During the sameperiodthatthebiological research reported in this volume has taken place the concept of post traumatic stressdisorderhas undergonecritical scrutiny from sociological and anthropological per spectives. The fundamental assumption that a particu lar syndromal reaction is always associated with traumatic experience is now in question. The implica tion is that the ground upon which this researchpro gramme has been established is quite shaky and insecure. Much more conceptual analysis and debate is needed in this area before the research and models described in this book can be taken as established.


The activities related to IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System) are at the peak at this time. It includes the integration of GPS, GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite System) and Galileo navigational systems. The single chip solution looks at integrating the RF/IF block with the digital signal processing block on a single chip. Such solutions invoke the possibilities of integrating GPS with the technologies like GPRS, GSM, etc [1, 2]. The goal of the experiment is to implement and authenticate the GPS system on the Texas Instrument DSK TMS320C6713. As a part of that in this paper an approach to implement and authenticate the GPS transmitter on the DSK is described. MATLAB is used to implement each blocks of GPS transmitter. First part of the paper describes the software implementation of the GPS transmitter, and the later part contains the description of the hardware implementation and the authentication of the same.


Since GNSS is easily affected by jamming and/or spoofing, alternative navigation systems can be operated as backup system to prepare for outage of GNSS. Alternative navigation systems are being researched over the world, and a multi-radio integrated navigation system using alternative navigation systems such as KNSS, eLoran, Loran-C, DME, VOR has been researched in Korea. Least Square or Kalman filter can be used to estimate navigation parameters in the navigation system. A large number of measurements of the Kalman filter may lead to heavy computational load. The decentralized Kalman filter and the federated Kalman filter were proposed to handle this problem. In this paper, the decentralized Kalman filter and the federated Kalman filter are designed for the multi-radio integrated navigation system and the performance evaluation result are presented. The decentralized Kalman filter and the federated Kalman filter consists of local filters and a master filter. The navigation parameter is estimated by local filters and master filter compensates navigation parameter from the local filters. Characteristics of three Kalman filters for a linear system and nonlinear system are investigated, and the performance evaluation results of the three Kalman filters for multi-radio integrated navigation system are compared.


Abstract National forest wilderness policies have changed considerably in terms of which political institutions make key decisions and factors that help us understand why policy shifts occurred since the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964. Despite early efforts by Forest Service officials to limit the size and number of wilderness areas within national forests, their influence was curtailed by an activist Congress that was strongly predisposed to protect roadless areas from the mid-1960s through the early 1990s. However, subsequent efforts to push state national forest wilderness bills were thwarted by a change in Congressional leadership less sensitive to environmental values and other factors. This was followed by a major venue shift involving one President's efforts to create new wilderness areas via rulemaking, and the subsequent President's attempts to reverse or limit the scope of such efforts. Over time, influence over national forest wilderness decisions is analyzed using the advocacy coalition framework to trace its evolution from an agency-based perspective to a lengthy period of Congressional dominance, and, more recently, to a process that is increasing influenced by the President.


A case of esophageal hemangioma is reported with a review of the literature. A 64-year-old man had no subjective symptoms, but endoscopic examination for screening revealed a 2cm elevated tumor, pale in appearance about 26cm from the incisors. A barium swallow study showed a well-circumscribed oval defect in the upper part of the esophagus. On the T1-weighed MR image, the tumor was visualized as iso intense mass compared with muscle tissue, and on the T2-weighed MR image, it was visualized as very hyper intense mass. Enuculation of the tumor was performed, and it was diagnosed histologically as cavernous hemangioma. It has been believed that esophageal hemangioma is very rare so far. The widespread use of endoscopy, however, will increase chances of encounter such cases. This paper also presents a review of the relevant literature in Japan.


Writing is the most complex activity that students must do. Mostly junior
high school students noted that learning to write in English is such a difficult task
and also bored activity. As the result, their achievement in writing still poor and
very unsatisfied. Based on that case, the writer tried to apply a technique in
teaching writing especially narrative text called The Application of Collaborative
Writing which purpose is to improve students' ability in writing and tried to find
out the problems faced in applying this method.
The subject of this study was the student of Class VIIII A of SMPN 1
Semarang in the academic year 2006/2007. There were 30 students used as the
data. The writer conducted an individual classroom action research for his study.
The instrument that used to collect the data was tests. To obtain the expected data
for this study, the procedures used were pre-test and post-test.
The data showed that mostly students for their achievement for their
writing in pre-test were poor as shown in the data 53.73. Meanwhile their average
of post-test was 79.13.
It can be concluded that students' ability in writing especially Class VIII A
of SMPN 1 Semarang in the academic year 2006/2007 improved and there is any
significant improvement for their average result. It means that applying
collaborative stories for teaching writing narrative text was undoubtedly
successful.


Context-sensitive speech recognizers use environment or discourse information to influence language model probabilities used in speech decoding. This is usually done by switching language models between utterances. This paper explores the use of a continuously context-sensitive language model that uses incremental interpretation to update context at every time step in decoding. Because it only explores the world model incrementally, this semantic model does not need to be pre-computed, raising the possibility of representing continuouslyvariable concepts as semantic referents (such as time points and measurements, or real numbers themselves), and supporting dynamic reasoning about consequences of actions during speech decoding.


In 1859 the Edinburgh house of Wood and Company published a Sketch of the History of the Edinburgh Theatre-Royal in honor of its final performance and closing, its author lamenting that "This House, which has been a scene of amusement to the citizens of Edinburgh for as long as most of them have lived, has at length come to the termination of its own existence." The brief booklet provided the playbill as a frontispiece recorded a long evening to commemorate the theatre building's ninety years of careworn performance history.
 This essay incorporates evidence about the Edinburgh Theatre Royal from early publications and also incorporates new archival research to answer questions about the theatre's ambitious number of performances, about its religious and political challengers, about the fiscal issues that impeded its success, about its supporters and actors, and about its reliance on talent from the "south."


Article history: The present investigation reports, the novel synthesis of Copper and Copper oxide nanoparticles using Chemical reduction method and its physicochemical characterization. The nanoparticles have been prepared using Copper (II) succinate as precursor. Copper nanoparticles are initially formed and subsequently oxidized to copper oxide. As reported the nanoparticles were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction measurements (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM analysis exhibited nanoparticles with an average diameter of about 45nm. XRD analysis revealed broad pattern of fcc crystal structure of copper metal and cubic cuprites structure for Cu2O. The antimicrobial properties of copper nanoparticles were investigated using Streptococcus pyogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus. The bactericidal effects of copper nanoparticles were studied based on diameter of inhibition zone in disk diffusion tests of nanoparticles dispersed in batch cultures. The copper nanoparticles showed excellent activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, with excellent inhibition zones of 14 mm and 10 mm, respectively. Bacterial sensitivity to nanoparticles was found to vary depending on the microbial species.


The aim of this study is to solve taxonomic problems pertaining to Spio filicornis (O.F. Müller, 1776). The original description by O. F. Müller was very brief and type material was not deposited. Based on the literature the confusion about the identity of the species has been tremendous; e.g., it was only recently realized that at least two different species from the North and Baltic Seas could be identified as S. filicornis (Bick et al. 2010). The present study is based on material collected by the authors in 2009 at the type locality in Iluilârssuk, near Paamiut, SW Greenland. Spio filicornis is redescribed in detail and illustrated comprehensively. A neotype has been designated and deposited in the collection of Rostock University. Species formerly referred to as S. cf. filicornis from the North and Baltic Seas (Bick et al. 2010) are formally described as two new species, Spio arndti sp. nov., and S. symphyta sp. nov. The morphological diagnostic characters within Spio are discussed. Information on three molecular markers (16S rDNA, 18S rDNA, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) is also provided. The genetic divergence between the three Spio species corroborates the taxonomic discrimination.


This Article opens with a discussion of the Vermont Natural Gas and Oil Conservation Act. In this section, the Act's statutory purposes, its main features and themes, and the role of the Vermont Natural Gas and Oil Resources Board are considered. The Act is examined in comparison to the 2004 Model Oil and Gas Conservation Act. The second part of this Article is devoted to H. 464. In this section, the potential for developing unconventional oil and gas resources in Vermont is discussed, along with H. 464's legislative history and key provisions.


Single-phase direct frequency converters are gaining attraction at the research and academic level as they are rapidly getting space over conventional multistage converters. The converters developed with a rectification and inversion process using a DC-link level are examples of multistage converters with some serious concerns such as an increase in the overall weight, losses, and cost. They also suffer from the low-reliability issue due to the issues involved with DC-link capacitors and problems linked with electromagnetic interference (EMI) caused by high-frequency pulse width modulation (PWM) switching. These problems are addressed with line frequency switching cycloconverters. In these converters, the power quality of the output voltage is improved by governing the amplitude of some selected output pulses or half-cycles. For this purpose, a low-frequency multiple tapping transformer may be used to obtain various voltage levels. However, its use is the main source of increased overall weight, losses, cost, and volume. In transformer eliminated topologies, high-frequency PWM control can be employed to control the magnitude of some selected half cycles of the output voltage. However, this approach may arise some problems related to EMI. In both control techniques, the attention is focused on the power quality of the output voltage only. The concern for the input current is ignored and not yet analyzed. This is one of the critical power quality concerns and requires further investigation. The magnitude control of the output half-cycles causes the variation in the amplitude of some half cycles of the input currents. As a result, all half cycles of the input current become non-symmetric. It generates harmonics that are always of low frequency and cannot be easily filtered out. It results in a high value of the harmonic factor (HF) of the input current. The improvement in the power quality of the output voltages severally degrades the power quality of the input currents. In this research, this problem is investigated with mathematically computed harmonic coefficients with a pulse selective approach. Also, a simple single-phase cycloconverter is introduced to improve the power quality index of the input current. The overall analysis is supported by the results obtained from a Simulink-based environment and a practically constructed prototype.


We present the most likely optical counterparts of 113 X-ray sources detected in our Chandra survey of the central region of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) based on the OGLE-II and Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey catalogs. We estimate that the foreground contamination and chance coincidence probability are minimal for the bright optical counterparts (corresponding to OB type stars; 35 in total). We propose here for the first time 13 high-mass X-ray binaries, of which four are Be/X-ray binaries (Be-XRBs), and we confirm the previous classification of 18 Be-XRBs. We estimate that the new candidate Be-XRBs have an age of ∼15–85 Myr, consistent with the age of Be stars. We also examine the "overabundance" of Be-XRBs in the SMC fields covered by Chandra, in comparison with the Galaxy. In luminosities down to ∼1034 erg s−1, we find that SMC Be-XRBs are ∼1.5 times more common when compared to the Milky Way even after taking into account the difference in the formation rates of OB stars. This residual excess can be attributed to the lower metallicity of the SMC. Finally, we find that the mixing of Be-XRBs with other than their natal stellar population is not an issue in our comparisons of Be-XRBs and stellar populations in the SMC. Instead, we find indication for variation of the SMC XRB populations on kiloparsec scales, related to local variations of the formation rate of OB stars and slight variation of their age, which results in different relative numbers of Be stars and therefore XRBs.


As solar energy is one of the most abundant sources of renewable energy, there has been substantial fluctuations in the energy supply from PV systems when used with power grids. Solar power output depends on various factors such as cloud cover, temperature & relative humidity. By using the meteorological data to predict solar power generation, solar power becomes a reliable energy resource. This study investigates the use of Support Vector Regression for solar power prediction, which performs better than other machine learning algorithms. A variety of parameter tuning methods, such as Random search, Grid search and Tree based optimization tools are implemented to obtain a robust model that can identify the best model that will yield the least error when predicting the solar power generation.


ABSTRACT The management of nematode infested areas includes several measures, among which chemical nematicides are the most used. However, since their use is associated with environmental impacts, researches with biocontrol agents have acquired a greater importance. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of Bacillus subtilis + B. licheniformis, when applied to the planting furrow, on nematode control and its effects on sugarcane yield. Five experiments were carried out in infested areas, with four treatments: control - no nematicide; carbosulfan 700EC 4 L ha-1 - standard treatment; B. subtilis + B. licheniformis at 0.16 kg ha-1 and 0.20 kg ha-1. Carbosulfan was more efficient in controlling the nematodes, reducing the populations at least four months after planting. The treatments with B. subtilis + B. licheniformis were more effective in the control of Meloidogyne javanica, when compared to Pratylenchus. The plots treated with carbosulfan produced 11 % more than the control. There was no difference between the B. subtilis + B. licheniformis doses, in relation to yield. The plots treated with the biological product produced 5 % more than the control.


Despite the successes of distant supervision approaches to relation extraction in the news domain, the lack of a comprehensive ontology of medical relations makes it difficult to apply such approaches to relation classification in the medical domain. In light of this difficulty, we propose an ensemble approach to this task where we exploit human-supplied knowledge to guide the design of members of the ensemble. Results on the 2010 i2b2/VA Challenge corpus show that our ensemble approach yields a 19.8% relative error reduction over a state-of-the-art baseline.


SDR-4X II is the latest prototype model which is a small biped entertainment robot. This is the improved model of SDR-4X. In this paper we report especially about sensing system of this robot which is important and essential for a small biped entertainment robot which will be used in home environment. One technology is the design of motion sensing system. This technology is the inclination sensor system and the force sensor system which obtains the inclination of the trunk and the foot with force. Another technology is the real-world sensing system. One is the touch sensing system. The robot is used in normal home environment, so we should strongly consider the safety for human. Another is the vision sensor system. The configuration and the distance image acquisition are explained. Next is the audio sensor system which obtains the sound and the voice information. The hardware system and the direction recognition are explained. These sensing systems are the key to make the biped robot walking and dynamic motion highly stable and understand the real-world around the robot.


The Anatomy and Physiology of the Pregnant Woman, Marek Lewandowski and Douglas J. Perkins Physiological Skin Changes in Pregnancy, Reynold C. Wong Skin Diseases Specifically Associated with Pregnancy, Robert Charles-Holmes Impact of Pregnancy on Skin Diseases, Wolfgang Jurecka Skin Diseases Seriously Affecting Fetal Outcome and Maternal Health, Betty Bellman and Brian Berman Changes in the Mouth During Pregnancy, Sook-Bin Woo and Stephen T. Sonis Diseases of the Vulva in Pregnancy, Robert C. Wallach Genital Infections of Perinatal Importance, Susan M. Forster and Michael John Hare Dermatological Therapy During Pregnancy and Lactation, Denis Sasseville Dermatological Surgery During Pregnancy, Marwali Harahap Prenatal Diagnosis of Genodermatoses, Ingrun Anton-Lamprecht


coil wound body and motor are provided. A coil wire is drawn and wound on a pin shaped terminal vertically disposed on a terminal bench having a substrate bearing surface, where the coil wire is not easily broken or damaged even wiring substrates are disposed by overlapping. On a first coil wound body of a motor, a first leading-out portion (110b) is drawn and wound onto the root portion of a first pin-shaped terminal (123) via the lower portion of a substrate bear surface (122a); no portion can float from the terminal bench portion (122) to above the substrate bearing surface (122a). In addition, the first leading-out portion (110b) is not passed through the part on the radial outside while overlapped with the substrate bearing surface (122a). Therefore, even when the wiring substrate (10) is born on the substrate bearing surface (122a) of the terminal bench portion (122), the first leading-out portion (110b) can not be sandwiched between the wiring substrate (10) and the substrate bearing surface (122a). Therefore, the invention can prevent the coil wire (110) from being broken or damaged.


A prescription for approximating electroweak radiative corrections to weak decays is given. The method is illustrated for {tau}{r arrow}{ital e}{nu}{bar {nu}} and a simplified (structureless) model of {ital B}{r arrow}{ital Me}{bar {nu}}, {ital M}={ital D} or {pi}, where the complete {ital O}({alpha}) corrections are known. Our procedure is shown to provide a proper description of radiation damping near the electron's end-point energy and a reasonable estimate of radiative corrections for much of the spectrum as well as the integrated rate. As a practical application, it is applied to the semileptonic decays {ital B}{r arrow}{ital Xe}{bar {nu}} where an exact {ital O}({alpha}) treatment of radiative corrections is very difficult, but an estimate of their effect is important for the extraction of {ital V}{sub {ital ub}} and leptonic branching ratios. We also discuss an 18% enhancement of {Upsilon}(4{ital S}){r arrow}{ital B}{sup +}{ital B}{sup {minus}} relative to {ital B}{sup 0}{bar {ital B}}{sup 0} due to large Coulomb corrections near threshold.


While algorithms for planar graphs have received a lot of attention, few papers have focused on the additional power that one gets from assuming an embedding of the graph is available. While in the classic sequential setting, this assumption gives no additional power (as a planar graph can be embedded in linear time), we show that this is far from being the case in other settings. We assume that the embedding is straight-line, but our methods also generalize to non-straight-line embeddings. Specifically, we focus on sublinear-time computation and massively parallel computation (MPC). Our main technical contribution is a sublinear-time algorithm for computing a relaxed version of an r -division. We then show how this can be used to estimate Lipschitz additive graph parameters. This includes, for example, the maximum matching, maximum independent set, or the minimum dominating set. We also show how this can be used to solve some property testing problems with respect to the vertex edit distance. In the second part of our paper, we show an MPC algorithm that computes an r -division of the input graph. We show how this can be used to solve various classical graph problems with space per machine of O ( n 2 / 3+ (cid:15) ) for some (cid:15) > 0, and while performing O (1) rounds. One needs Ω(log n ) rounds with n 1 − Ω(1) space per machine without the embedding to solve these problems, assuming the 1-vs-2-cycles conjecture. Among the problems solved by our approach are: counting connected components, bipartition, minimum spanning tree problem, O (1)-approximate shortest paths, O (1)-approximate diameter/radius. Our techniques however also apply to other problems. In conjunction with existing algorithms for computing the Delaunay triangulation, our results imply an MPC algorithm for Euclidean minimum spanning three that uses O ( n 2 / 3+ (cid:15) ) space per machine and performs O (1)


To the poets it will seem the height of presumption that any psychologist should be so bold as to make dogmatic assertions about the sounds of harsh and pleasing words. Is it a suitable subject for such scientific study as psychology essays that certain successions of consonant and vowel sound in syllables result in offensive effects? Dr. Edward L. Thorndike told the American Psychological Association recently that the meaning of a word and not the sound determines its effect. A person's experience, he said, would have stronger influence than the vowels and liquids of a word in deciding what was disagreeable and what was pleasing. He experimented to learn whether words are chosen as "favorites" because of the ideas suggested by the meaning, or purely because of the sounds. He concluded that the effect of sound is of slight consequence in such words as "squawk," "belch," and "wart," or in such contrasting words as "harmony," "madonna," and "serene."


The magnetic structure of a magnetic dot depends on its geometrical factors such as thickness and dot size and can be either a multidomain state or a vortex state. The magnetoresistance (MR) of a series of magnetic dots with diameters ranging from 0.3to5μm was measured to investigate the correlation between domain-structure and magnetotransport properties. A dot with a diameter of less than 2μm has a domain of vortex state at remanence and demonstrates similar reversible MR results. Moreover, the behaviors of MR show clear changes corresponding to the domain-structure change from vortex to multidomain states with an increasing dot diameter. Data can be qualitatively described by the anisotropic magnetoresistive effect. Hence, our results show that the magnetotransport can be a tool to detect the magnetic domain structure of a submicron magnetic dot.


waters. The words nephesh hayah have been transf ~ Ylated variously as "living soul", "1oreature that bath life" ,"lving creature"; and the word nephesh by itself has been rendered "soul", also "person". Plants are not said to be living souls. They ae SOUTH-EASTERN BRANCH: WEST KENT not even said to possess life; but the processes of life DISTRICT MEDICAL MEETINGS. are described, such as growth and germination. It would seem as if the characteristics of each kingdom UNZER' 5 QUESTION: DO TRUE INSENTIENT ANIMALS are mentioned; viz., the vegetative organic processes EXIST? in plants, and locomotion and sensation in animals.


This invention discloses a method for making hillside green suitable for its quick green including covering and fixing simulation plant nets on a slope surface and planting vines in the grids. The method can prevent wind and rain from scouring and intruding to slope surface soil vegetative cover to let vines grow swiftly along simulation plant nets either reducing green cost or getting a fine green and viewing result.


Objective To observe the relation between various time and dosage of VEGF antisense ODNs on inhibiting rat glioma growth. Methods 1×106 C6 glioma cells were seeded into right caudate putamen of all rats with stereotactic technique. The treated group Ⅰ or Ⅱ was treated with 1000μmol/L or 2000μmol/L VEGF antisense ODNs respectively simultaneously with the implantation of glioma cells. The treated group Ⅲ or Ⅳ was treated with 1000μmol/L or 2000μmol/L antisense ODNs respectively once at 1st and 2nd week after cell inoculation. The control group Ⅱ was just treated with 20μl Hank's liquid once at 1st and 2nd week after cell inoculation. The treated group Ⅴ was treated with 2000μmol/L antisense ODNs once at 2nd week after cell implantation.The control group Ⅲ was just treated with 20μl Hanks' liquid once. Different time and dosage of VEGF antisense ODNs administration were treated in situ with stereotactic technique. Three weeks after cell inoculation,ail rats were killed. Results The inhibition rate of tumor growth was 94.5% in treated group Ⅰ ,100% in treated group Ⅱ, 91.5% in treated group Ⅲ,100% in treated group Ⅳ and 87.7% in treated group Ⅴ .There was significant difference between tumor volumes in treated and control groups. Conclusion The growth of rat glioma can be regressed by inhibition effect of VEGF in concentration dependent fashion. The inhibition effect is better when enough antisense ODNs are used earlier.


The strength of the copper wire and reliability of electrical contacts are the essential reason for their widespread use throughout the industry of electrical engineering in the distribution of electrical energy, and in the manufacture of electrical equipment and electrical components. Unfortunately, this property is altered by the presence of certain mechanical stress, which influences thereafter the mechanical characteristics of son and disrupts the functioning of electrical cable and electrical installation specially in general. This issue therefore requires first an understanding of the mechanical characteristics as well as an expanded study of the mechanical behavior of the material.The study is based on the mastery of mechanical behavior of copper wire to improve and optimize the mechanical and electrical characteristics of the cables, another summer in characterizing component considered during this study, it is a statistical study Student of which allowed us to select the most reliable results with a risk threshold of 10% on the other hand, we perform a statistical study Weibull which enabled us to extract the Weibull elements and thereafter define the law of reliability and Weibull damage.


ABSTRACT The last two decades have witnessed an explosion in the growth and sophistication of post-secondary education (PSE) marketing. Education scholars have taken notice, both decrying such developments and studying its emerging characteristics. However, to date, empirical studies of PSE marketing have focused on mainstream secular organizations. Few researchers have sought to examine how Christian colleges and universities (CCUs) present themselves via promotional materials. This limits our understandings of how PSE marketing has evolved in different segments of the field. Through this study, we conduct an exploratory thematic analysis of the home web pages of 93 Canadian CCUs. We find that, depending on their field positioning, this organizational population varies in the extent to which it leverages religiosity to construct and communicate their identities. We make sense of these dynamics through the 'nested fields' perspective within organization studies.


Using a retrograde tracer technique with horseradish peroxidase, we have revealed some afferent projections to the locus coeruleus complex from the contralateral pontine tegmentum, raphe nuclei, substantia nigra, nucleus of the solitory tract, dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus and other regions of the ponto-bulbar reticular formation as well as from hypothalamic and preoptic areas.


We have enclosed an optically active nanoparticle inside a virus coat to create a virus-like, intracellular optical probe. The core- shell interactions of the self-assembled, nanoparticle-enclosing capsids are investigated spectroscopically and compared with intact viruses. We have recently shown that the same principles that govern the virus particle assembly from capsid subunits and nucleic acid aggregates can be put at work to incorporate gold nanoparticles in the cavity of an icosahedral virus (1). Single viruses containing such metal nanoparticles are optically detectable, Fig. 1. Non- intrusive, in-vitro spectroscopic studies of viral dynamics become thus, possible. The main question is whether the nanoparticle incorporation influences the structural dynamics of the assembled virus capsid and/or the self-assembly pathways. We probe the time-resolved dynamics of tryptophan side chains within the capsid to compare nanoparticle-containing capsids, empty capsids, and nucleic acid containing capsids (viable viruses). Different functional groups, protecting the particle surface, are tested in order to minimize the differences between modified and intact virus particles. We demonstrate here that such experiments can be done in a physiological environment on single capsids, therefore alleviating the uncertainty arising from heterogeneous subpopulations of viral particles.


We propose three core methods for paper currency recognition using the neural network. The first method is to create a small size neuro-recognition technology for paper currency using masks. The second method is to adapt the genetic algorithm to the mask determination. The last method is to develop a high speed neuro-recognition board using a DSP to realize the commercial products. In this paper, we unify three methods for paper currency recognition and realize the neuro-system technology. We show development and effectiveness in an experimental system using current banking machines.


Teaching and learning metabolism and the connections between metabolic pathways are challenging efforts for all participants. Even students with a strong knowledge of the chemical reactions and thermodynamic concepts that underlie metabolism often struggle with making connections between the pathways and then applying those connections to practical situations. To help address this challenge in my biochemistry class I have each student analyze a separate fad diet or "nutritional supplement" on a molecular level. The students write an analysis of their diets/supplements and address how each has a short and long term impact on carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism. Students later present their findings to the class which leads to engaging conversations that often extend outside the classroom. In the presentation, I will discuss methods of implementing these assignments, completed projects, and how student learning has been enhanced. Also adaptation of the assignment to support the study of structure function relationships and thermodynamics and thermochemistry into general chemistry will be discussed.


We live in a time of increasingly loud competing sounds and hearing loss is the number one disability in the world. Diverse populations of school children are especially vulnerable. The result is a degradation of the child's academic achievement. New classrooms, built everyday, often incorporate acoustical barriers which limit students' achievements. Overcoming these barriers involves funding constraints, construction timelines and lack of support which requires advocacy from parents, school boards, and design teams. This advocacy should include the ANSI Classroom Acoustics standards and an acoustical assessment of existing classrooms. Complex classroom acoustics challenges may include reduction of noise radiated by HVAC systems, improved acoustic treatment of external walls to minimize exterior noise and acoustic design of walls between adjacent noisy classrooms. Next steps for schools should be to retain an architect and/or an acoustical engineer for remodels and new school construction who are well ver...


Las Vegas - Surgical reduction of the isolated large chin, using the two most commonly employed intraoral procedures, has the potential for negative aesthetic sequelae. And the current approach to chin enlargement has special requirements, or adverse results will occur in many instances.


The survival rate of bacterial strain and activation technology of CXJZU-120 high efficiency microbial agent preserved at 4~8 ℃ in refrigerator within 540 d were studied by step dyeing.The results showed that,the survival rate of bacterial strain remained over 80% in the microbial agent after 540 d,the agent after awakening and amplification for 6?8 h and inducement for 5 h finished ramie degumming within 6 h;the activation technology was simple,efficient,operable,and so on;the key of activation technology was to control the adaptive phase and length for preservation.The results provided a scientific basis for reducing the technical application risk and keeping performance of microbial agent.


Can the yield spread, which has been found to predict with surprising accuracy the movement of key macroeconomic variables of developed countries, also predict such variables for a developing country experiencing economic turmoil? This article presents empirical results that suggest significant forecasting ability for the yield spread for segments of the Mexican economy during the 1995–1997 period of economic volatility. The actual and predicted variable changes sometimes conflict with those experienced by developed countries in part because of the unusually close relationship between the Mexican Treasury and the Banco de Mexico. Consequently, analysts and policy officials may exploit the forecast potential of the yield spread, but only in the context of evolving institutional considerations.


A classical result of Kadison concerning the extension, via the Hahn–Banach theorem, of extremal states on unital self‐adjoint linear manifolds (that is, operator systems) in C*‐algebras is generalised to the setting of noncommutative convexity, where one has matrix states (that is, unital completely positive linear maps) and matrix convexity. It is shown that if φ is a matrix extreme point of the matrix state space of an operator system R in a unital C*‐algebra A, then φ has a completely positive extension to a matrix extreme point Φ of the matrix state space of A. This result leads to a characterisation of extremal matrix states as pure completely positive maps and to a new proof of a decomposition of C*‐extreme points.


The effects of the annealing temperature before cooling under a magnetic field on the perpendicular exchange coupling in Pt/Co multilayers directly coupled to a NiO layer are studied in the NiO layer thickness range of 1–4 nm. The obtained results reveal that the exchange bias (EB) field and the magnetization reversal process depend on the NiO layer thickness as well as on the annealing temperature. Positive EB fields are observed, especially for 4 nm‐thick NiO layer. However, the values obtained here are low where the largest value is 2.6 mT. This result is attributed to weak antiferromagnetic (AFM) coupling at the Co/NiO interface. These results agree with a blocking temperature of about 300 K. Due to the low blocking temperature, the AFM interfacial spins direction is tilted with respect to the ferromagnet magnetization easy axis. As a consequence, the NiO AFM layer manifests at the Co/NiO interface a weak magnetization perpendicular component giving rise to a weak interfacial exchange coupling which leads to low H EB values.


Objective To investigate the long-term exposure to the hazards of the of manganese welding work on the workers cardiovascular and nervous system. Methods 421 cases of welding worker with different lenghth of service were observed as object,373 cases of other worker with different lenghth of service were observed as control group.Compared the test results of the cardiovascular and urological examination between the two groups. Results Manganese on the nervous system neural symptoms and ECG abnormalities. Conclusion Long-term exposure welding workers comparison with non-electric welding personnel,manganese have significant influence on the nervous system and ECG,the difference is statistically significant.


Hybrid composite of polyaniline metal oxide composite, polyaniline-dodecyl hydrogen sulfate salt with ferric oxide, was prepared for the first time via simple one-step process of oxidizing aniline with ferric tris(dodecyl sulfate). Ferric tris(dodecyl sulfate) acts as an oxidant, emulsifier, dopant for polyaniline and also source of ferric oxide. Polyaniline salt composites were prepared via aqueous, emulsion, and interfacial polymerization pathways. Polyaniline salt composite was successfully demonstrated as polymer based solid acid catalysts in the ring-opening polymerization of e-caprolactone for the first time. This methodology gave low molecular weight poly(e-caprolactone) (MW-4035) with highly crystalline polymer of flower petals like morphology in 52 wt% yield (with respect to the amount of e-caprolactone used). Advantages of this methodology are the use of easily synthesizable, easily handlable, recyclable, cheaper, and eco-friendly nature of the catalyst. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:2245–2249, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers


1. The availability of iron in three herb species has been investigated, using the rat as the experimental animal. 2. Two procedures were employed, namely, the increase in blood haemoglobin concentration, and the gain in total grama of haemoglobin, by nutritionally anaemic rats. 3. Inorganic iron, as ferric chloride, was shown to be significantly more available than the iron contained in the three herbs.


Purpose – This article offers three key pieces of advice for companies that aspire to be successful serial innovators: don't just treat the symptoms. Don't only act on one root cause. Don't blindly copy best practices.Design/methodology/approach – Explains how to conduct an "innovation diagnostic" to pinpoint your company's specific innovation issues and opportunities and how to build a tailored action plan to address your company's most critical issues.Findings – The study found that companies that act systemically on all four root causes of innovation blockages have the best chance of success.Practical implications – Companies that aspire to be successful innovators need to act on the root causes of innovation failure found in four areas: leadership behaviors, management processes, people and skills, and culture and values.Originality/value – Explains why innovation dysfunctionality is systemic problem, not one that can be quick fixed with a few new techniques such as stage gates and idea generation ses...


The development of cross subject is the inevitable requirement of social progress,scientific and technological innovation,and development of colleges and universities.Scientifically selecting subjects' activities is the primary work of the construction of the discipline layout and cross discipline.Based on interdisciplinary characteristics and roles of relationship,combined with interdisciplinary two growth modes: natural growth model and demand growth mechanism,comparative research is made to offer logical choice for colleges and universities to carry out discipline overlapping activities.Recommendations are put forward accordingly.


This study aimed to investigate the thinking levels of questions asked by EFL instructors for first year English Department students at Al-Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU).The study also aimed to analyze the cognitive levels of the comprehension questions demonstrated by the reading and writing textbook (Unlock, Reading and Writing 1) taught for first year English Department students at IMSIU. In addition, the study examined the extent to which the instructors' questions and the book they taught differ in the proportions of lower- and higher- thinking level questions. The sample of the study consisted of 15 reading and writing classes taught by EFL instructors. Furthermore, all of the questions in the textbook (Unlock, Reading and Writing 1) were classified according to the Revised Bloom's taxonomy (Anderson et al., 2001). Descriptive and inferential analysis was used to analyze the data. Furthermore, Chi χ2 cross tabulation was used to show the differences among the levels of thinking in the two textbooks. The findings showed that the majority of the first year teachers' questions are lower-cognitive levels (knowledge, comprehension and application). Furthermore, the results of the textbook analysis also showed that there was a tendency towards lower-level cognitive skills in the two textbooks under the study.


The present status of ultrashort-pulse lasers and pulse-compression techniques in the femtosecond-time region is reviewed. In addition, the future problems to be solved for generation of shorter pulses are described.


A computer program is described which assists in the construction of molecular models with spheres and rods by using a two-circle drill.


Abstract Introduction The metabolic response to severe burns is described by an initial hypometabolic 'ebb' phase and followed by a hypermetabolic 'flow' phase. The hypermetabolic phase is mediated by hormonal and cellular dysregulation with elevated catecholamine levels. The role of thyroid hormone, however, is not described well. This study investigates relative risks of various outcomes in those with a previous diagnosis of hyperthyroidism following severe burn compared to those without. Methods This study obtained data from the TriNetX Research Network, a national database of de-identified electronic medical data from a secure network. The population was stratified to compare patients with and without a prior diagnosis of hyperthyroidism who sustained burns. Outcomes were measured within three years of injury in order to assess long-term effects occurring alongside the hypermetabolic phase. Outcomes observed for both groups included systemic inflammation and infection, sepsis, mortality, and infections of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. Results This study identified 5,250 patients with a prior diagnosis of hyperthyroidism who sustained burn injuries and 648,336 patients without hyperthyroidism prior to matching for demographics and diagnoses. Propensity score matching then yielded 5,077 patients with and without a prior diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. Both cohorts were balanced using propensity score matching for age, sex, race, ethnicity, and TBSA burned. After assessing the outcomes for a three-year span since burn injury, patients with a prior diagnosis of hyperthyroidism had a higher risk of systemic inflammation and infection (risk ratio [RR], 1.599, p < 0.0003), sepsis ([RR], 1.572, p < 0.0001), mortality ([RR], 1.488, p < 0.0001), and developing infections of the skin and subcutaneous tissue ([RR], 1.332, p < 0.0001) compared to patients without prior diagnosis history. Conclusions Burned patients with a prior history of hyperthyroidism have increased risk of systemic inflammation and infection, sepsis, mortality, and infections of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. Thus, history of this condition or concomitant diagnosis with the injury is warranted. Applicability of Research to Practice This study encourages further insight into the relationship between the metabolic effects of burn injuries and concurrent metabolic conditions to modify patient treatment plans and customize practices.


The polycrystal ceramics with the content of alumina more than 99.5wt% were prepared by sintering at low temperature with rare earth oxide Y2O3 and Tm2O3 as sintering aids. Addition of Y2O3 and Tm2O3 in the alumina powders decreased the sintering temperature and improved the relative density effectively.Compared to monolithic alumina ceramics and alumina ceramics with single rare earth oxide addition,the mixture, Y2O3+Tm2O3, can restrain the growth of grains, and make the size of grains uniform, and finally form a compact structure. The trans-granular fracture is the main fracture mode for the polycrystal alumina ceramics with Y2O3 + Tm2O3. The size of grains is from 3 to 5μm, and the maximum bending strength is 533MPa, hardness is 17.2GPa.


On January 9th,2012,China launched its first civilian three-line-array stereo mapping satellite——ZY-3.ZY-3 is equipped with 2 front and back view TDI CCD cameras having the resolution better than 3.5 m and the width better than 50 km,1 TDI CCD camera with the resolution better than 2.1 m and the width better than 50 km and 1 multispectral camera with the resolution better than 5.8 m.In order to ensure accuracy and reliability,ZY-3 adopts a large platform which is equipped with double-frequency GPS and more gyroes.ZY-3 obtains its geolocation accuracy better than 15 m without GCPs,geolocation accuracy better than 3 m and plane geolocation accuracy better than 4 m with GCPs which completely satisfies 1∶50 000 mapping precision.


In order to draw the root fillet of asymmetric profile of gear, the drawing program has been developed. The reasons of undercut in coast side of tooth are indicated. In order to check gear strength, the formulae for computing root stress are given according to the root fillet.


The Fusarium mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEA) is mainly converted to the conjugate zearalenone-14-β,D-glucuronide (ZEA-14-GlcA) during phase II detoxification in humans and animals. This metabolite - pr...


Soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr. cv. Essex) was grown in an unshaded greenhouse under three levels of biologically effective ultraviolet-B (UV-BBE) radiation (effective daily dose: 0, 11.5 and 13.6 kJ m-2) for 91 days. Plants were harvested at regular intervals beginning 10 days after germination until reproductive maturity. Mathematical growth analysis revealed that the effects of UV-B radiation varied with plant growth stage. The transition period between vegetative and reproductive growth was the most sensitive to UV-B radiation. Intermediate levels of UV-B had deleterious effects on plant height, leaf area, and total plant dry weight at late vegetative and reproductive stages of development. Specific leaf weight increased during vegetative growth but was unaffected by UV-B during reproductive growth stages. Relative growth, net assimilation, and stem elongation rates were decreased by UV-B radiation during vegetative and early reproductive growth stages. Variation in plant responses may be due in part to changes in microclimate within the plant canopy or to differences in repair or protection mechanisms at differing developmental stages. ENHANCED LEVELS of solar ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B, 280-320 nm) can substantially restrict plant growth and development (Caldwell, 1971; Van, Garrard and West, 1976; Vu, Allen and Garrard, 1978; Biggs, Kossuth and Teramura, 1981; Tevini, Iwanzik and Thoma, 1981; Teramura, 1983). UV-B sensitivity is influenced by existing microclimatic conditions including ambient levels of visible radiation (Teramura, 1983; Warner and Caldwell, 1983; Mirecki and Teramura, 1984), water regimes (Teramura et al., 1984; Teramura, Forseth and Lydon, 1984; Murali and Teramura, 1986a), and nutrient levels (Murali and Teramura, 1985). Sensitivity to UV-B radiation may also vary depending upon the phenological stage of development. In a recent field study, net photosynthesis in soybean was adversely affected by UV-B, with late vegetative and early reproductive stages being more senI Received for publication 8 July 1986; revision accepted 11 November 1986. The authors would like to thank Drs. Gregory A. Carter and Donald T. Krizek for comments and reviewing this manuscript. This work was supported by the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Research laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon (CR 812-152-020). Scientific Article No. A-4464, Contribution No. 7456 of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station. Although the work described herein was funded in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, it has not been subjected to the Agency's required peer and policy review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency and no official endorsement should be inferred. sitive than later reproductive stages (Murali and Teramura, 1986b). In that study, measurements were arbitrarily made only during three growth stages. Some investigators have found that seedlings and young vegetative plants are unaffected by enhanced levels of UV radiation following germination in the field (Becwar, Moore and Burke, 1982; Biggs et al., 1984), while Krizek (1975) reported some abnormal seedling growth after exposure to increased levels of UV-B. These effects included reduced root growth, bronzing of the cotyledons, increased pigmentation, and abnormal shoot curvature. To date, we lack detailed information on the relative sensitivity of various growth stages to enhanced levels of UV-B radiation. Since final crop yield reflects a summation of effects through various stages of growth, an understanding of developmental changes in sensitivity could help in breeding plants more tolerant to UV-B radiation. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of UV-B radiation on the allometrics of soybean at various phenological stages. MATERIALS AND METHODS-Seeds of soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr. cv. Essex) were sown in 1.2-liter pots of Metromix 300 potting mixture (composted pine bark, peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, granite, and sand). Plants were grown from May to July 1984 in an unshaded greenhouse at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. The natural photoperiod ranged from 14 to 16 hr. Midday peak photosynthetic


There is growing international interest in the employment issues encountered by refugee and migrant workers. Within the New Zealand context, Somali women migrants experience one of the highest rates of unemployment, yet some are employed. In this paper we present research that explores what a small group of Somali women did to find and maintain paid employment. Interviews were conducted with six Somali women currently engaged in paid employment. These women reported that their clothing and appearance were significant barriers in their initial job search. Most attributed gaining paid employment to their having a New Zealand tertiary qualification and skills recognized by their current employers. Family support and personal time management skills were deemed important features to maintaining employment. At times, these women experienced conflict between their identity as Somali Muslim women with organizational cultures and requirements. We conclude that these barriers can be resolved with sensitivity and communication with employers.


KAREN CHEREWATUK, Marriage, Adultery, and Inheritance in Malory's Morte DArthur. Arthurian Studies LXVII. Cambridge, UK: D.S. Brewer, 2006. Pp. xxvii, 149. isbn: 0261-9814. $80. £45. Karen Cherewatuk's Marriage, Adultery, and Inheritance in Malory's Morte Darthur studies Malory's Morte in light of late medieval history, culture, and audience. She reads the Morte not as an antiquated chivalric retrospective but as a reflection of fifteenth-century values and concerns: Malory wrote 'for an upwardly mobile audience of peers whose values and taste are reflected in the Morte Darthur' (xiv). Cherewatuk develops her argument by tracing patterns in language and action that reveal Malory's 'class-based moral conservatism or pragmatism that colors his treatment of marriage and sexual relations' (xviii). The Introduction illustrates her approach by analyzing three key passages from the 'Tale of Lancelot' dealing with wives and paramours. She sees Lancelot's ambivalence about women and love, his 'insistence on the queen's chastity within marriage and his discomfort with the adultery,' as emblematic of Malory's own, the reason that Malory refrains from acknowledging the adultery and postpones its clear depiction as long as possible (xxii-iii). Although the Arthurian tales are steeped in adultery, Malory, as a member of the fifteenth-century English gentry, resists this central theme. Through insightful close readings of the Morte juxtaposed with generous historical analogues, Cherewatuk guides her readers through Malory's reworking of tales of marriage, adultery, and family inheritance in light of 'the gentry's concerns about intimate relationships within and outside of the family' (xv). Karen Cherewatuk's first two chapters focus on marriage. While fifteenth-century nobility generally married for economic and political reasons, the gentry more often put greater value on love and companionship (xxiv). She argues that the 'Tale of Sir Gareth,' commonly considered Malory's invention, reveals both noble and gentry attitudes. The later Middle Ages was moving from marriage as a privately pledged troth to public marriage ceremonies that demonstrated familial approval and ensured female purity and family lineage: 'Ever the social conservative, Malory would side with the Paston elders against children choosing their own spouses and times of marriage' (20). Using fifteenth-century families like the Pastons as historical analogues, Cherewatuk interprets Lynette's preventing the couple's premarital sexual union and Gareth's required re-winning of Lyonesse in tournament as reflections of gentry values. In publicly uniting the Lady Lyonesse with King Lot's son, Malory subordinates secret vows and sexual urgency to create a love match that ensures economic and political stability. Cherewatuk's exploration of Arthur's failed marriage provides a first-rate analysis of Guenevere's importance in the Morte. Although childless, Guenevere brings the Round Table as her dowry: 'Guenevere has supplied her husband with men and by analogy begotten the great society. Through the exchange of dowry, the queen's body makes possible the metaphoric body of men' (36). Paradoxically, Guenevere's infertility protects her as an adulterous queen by removing the possibility of illegitimate heirs. Interweaving historical background and fascinating discussion of medieval medicine, Cherewatuk reads Guenevere through the lens of fifteenth-century views of weddings and dowries, adultery, infertility and procreation, motherhood, and widowhood. She concludes that Guenevere's adulterous body becomes identified with her dowry, the body politic of Arthur's knights, so that '[h]er rejection of her body in the last tale simultaneously signals the end of the chivalric body' (55). Chapter Three, on 'The Two Elaines,' carefully compares these suitors for Lancelot's hand, heart, and body, only two of a bevy of disappointed ladies the 'knyght wyveles' leaves in his wake. …


ABSTRACT Seismic base isolation systems are mainly used to reduce seismic demands and minimize earthquake effect on structure performance. In this study, the fundamental dynamic response of structures with three-dimensional (3D) isolation systems is explored using a simplified rigid block model. A parametric study is carried out to evaluate the effect of different site conditions, structure properties and 3D isolation parameters on structure and bearing response. The results show that the acceptable range of 3D isolation periods is 0.5–1.0 s for vertical direction with horizontal isolation period around 3–4 times the vertical period and 20% damping in both directions.


A new image fusion algorithm of the feature level is proposed incorporating with quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization algorithm (QPSO) clustering in this paper. Wavelet decomposition is performed on the source images, clustering algorithm that incorporates the fuzzy C- means (FCM) into QPSO algorithm (QPSO-FCM) is developed to segment the image in the feature space formed by multi-channel Gabor filters, and then the weighting factors are constructed. Finally, the fused image is obtained by taking inverse wavelet transform. The QPSO has less parameters and higher convergent capability of the global optimization. So QPSO-FCM has a strong global searching capacity and avoids the local minimum problems of FCM. The performance of the image fusion method is evaluated using five criteria including root mean square error, peek-to-peek signal-to-noise ratio, entropy, cross entropy and mutual information. Owing to the improved the clustering effect, the evaluation results indicate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the image fusion algorithm based on FCM.


We report the observation of a partially bilayer smectic A phase in n-dodecyl-4-(4-ethoxybenzylidene amino)-α-methylcinnamate, a compound which does not possess a strongly polar cyano or nitro end group. The ratio of the layer spacing to molecular length is found to be about 1.12. The dielectric anisotropy versus temperature plot exhibits a reversal of sign in the smectic A phase revealing a pronounced dipole-dipole correlation in the longitudinal direction. Such a sign reversal has probably been observed for the first time in a pure smectogenic material.


In material science and engineering, the estimation of material properties and their failure modes is associated with physical experiments followed by modeling and optimization. However, proper optimization is challenging and computationally expensive. The main reason is the highly nonlinear behavior of brittle materials such as concrete. In this study, the application of surrogate models to predict the mechanical characteristics of concrete is investigated. Specifically, meta-models such as polynomial chaos expansion, Kriging, and canonical low-rank approximation are used for predicting the compressive strength of two different types of concrete (collected from experimental data in the literature). Various assumptions in surrogate models are examined, and the accuracy of each one is evaluated for the problem at hand. Finally, the optimal solution is provided. This study paves the road for other applications of surrogate models in material science and engineering.


Objectives This study sought to investigate how people who had tested positive for the Huntington's disease (HD) gene mutation understood and experienced psychological distress and their expectations of psychological therapy. Design A qualitative methodology was adopted involving semi-structured interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Method A total of nine participants (five women and four men) who had opted to engage in psychological therapy were recruited and interviewed prior to the start of this particular psychological therapeutic intervention. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using IPA whereby themes were analysed within and across transcripts and classified into superordinate themes. Results Three superordinate themes were developed: Attributing psychological distress to HD: 'you're blaming everything on that now'; Changes in attributions of distress over time: 'in the past you'd just get on with it'; and Approaching therapy with an open mind, commitment, and hope: 'a light at the end of the tunnel'. Conclusion Understandings of psychological distress in HD included biological and psychological explanations, with both often being accepted simultaneously by the same individual but with biomedical accounts generally dominating. Individual experience seemed to reflect a dynamic process whereby people's understanding and experience of their distress changed over time. Psychological therapy was accepted as a positive alternative to medication, providing people with HD with hope that their psychological well-being could be enhanced.


We report the measurements of ultrasonic velocity in the binary mixtures of zinc stearate - nitrobenzene and calcium stearate - nitrobenzene at 303 K. The knowledge of the thermodynamic properties is essential in the chemical industry involving chemical seperations, heat transfer, mass transfer and fluid flow. It is used to evaluate the different thermo acoustical parameters along with the excess properties, the experimental data obtained is fitted with the models and percentage deviation is calculated. The sign, magnitude and variation in excess functions derived from physico-chemical properties reveal important information about the type of molecular interactions that are not usually seen from the variations in their excess volumes.