Background: The development of work in the field of creating cargo maglev transport systems is associated with the development and study of the electro technical complex of the rolling stock for the operating range with long stretches in poorly developed territories.
Aim: The aim of the work is to substantiate the structure and parameters of the components of the electro technical complex of the rolling stock, to study the operating modes.
Methods: The main research methods are functional structural analysis and synthesis, computer modeling, computational studies, analysis of research results.
Results: As a result of the research, the factors that determine the appearance of the electrotechnical complex of the rolling stock have been identified. The basic requirements for the electrical complex are formulated. The structure was developed and the parameters of the components of the electrical complex for the transport platform with magnetic levitation were determined. A high-speed flat car model 13-6990 for the transportation of containers was chosen as the closest railway analogue. A computer model of a combined traction-levitation system based on a linear reluctance inductor motor has been developed. The results of computational studies, confirming the physical feasibility of the electrical complex of the rolling stock with linear reluctance inductor motors, are presented.
Conclusion: The practical significance lies in the fact that the proposed concept of constructing an electro technical complex of rolling stock provides for the creation of a maglev transport system with a low-cost infrastructure.


Abstract GE 301- Principles of Engineering Practice is a required course for Valparaiso University College of Engineering students. The course was revamped in Spring 2005 to better emphasize engineering aspects of ethics, economics, sustainability, and sociopolitical issues. As part of teaching ethics, students have traditionally been assigned an individually written ethics paper. Since students were allowed to select their own cases, it was not uncommon for some students to select the same case. There was also limited discussion between students regarding the cases they chose, or how they would judge the behaviors of engineers in these cases. Starting with the Spring 2005 Semester, ethics instruction increased from six to twelve hourly sessions. Additionally, students were assigned to a group. Each group was given a particular case from NSPE and asked to write and present an opinion as if they were an NSPE Board of Ethical Review (BER): summarizing the case, identifying the ethical questions and appropriate ethical canons, researching similar cases, and citing how other BERs ruled and determining whether the engineers involved in the case acted in an ethical manner. If the team could not come to a unanimous decision, they would have to write both a majority and minority opinion. Unlike the previous assignment prior to the Spring 2005 semester, students were required to vigorously discuss and defend their opinions on the cases. Changing the ethics assignment from an individual to a group assignment changed the dynamics in the second half of the GE 301 course. This paper will explore the changes in student interest and behavior introduced by changing the ethics assignment and expanding the number of class periods of ethics instruction. The authors will also explore any impacts this change had on student performance in the course and on the civil engineering departmental assessment of student understanding of ethics.


10 There is need to understand soil system response to warming in order to model soil process 11 response to predicted climate warming. Current methods for soil warming include expensive 12 and difficult to implement active and passive techniques. Here we test a simple, inexpensive 13 in situ passive soil heating approach, based on easy to construct infrared mirrors that do not 14 require automation or enclosures. The infrared mirrors consisted of 61 x 61 cm glass panels 15 coated with infrared reflecting film. The mirrors as constructed are effective for soil heating in 16 environments typified by open canopy. Mirror tests were performed on three soils of varying 17 texture, organic matter content, and heat capacity in a warm semiarid environment. Results 18 indicated that the infrared mirrors yielded significant heating and drying of soil surface and 19 shallow subsurface relative to un-warmed control treatments, and that warming and drying 20 effects was soil specific with greater potential warming on soils with lower volumetric heat 21 capacity. Partial shading from the mirror frame did produce periods of relative cooling at 22 specific times of the day, but overall the mirrors yielded a net soil warming. The results 23 demonstrate proof-of-concept that the infrared mirrors may be used to passively heat the near 24 soil surface, providing an inexpensive, low-maintenance alternative to other passive and active 25 soil heating technologies. 26


The level of soluble interleukin‐2 receptor (sIL‐2R) was quantitated with enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay in serum and cerebrospinal fluid obtained from 24 patients with multiple sclerosis and 10 patients with other neurological disorders in whom immunological mechanisms are unlikely to participate. The sIL‐2R level in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis in relapse was significantly higher compared with patients with multiple sclerosis in remission and with controls. The sIL‐2R level, especially in the cerebrospinal fluid, showed higher sensitivity and specificity than other clinical parameters including the cerebrospinal fluid IgG ratio, peripheral lymphocyte CD4/CD8 ratio, cerebrospinal fluid myelin basic protein and oligoclonal bands. Our data suggest that measurement of the sIL‐2R level may be useful in evaluating disease activity in patients with multiple sclerosis.


Polyaniline nanotubes can be synthesized through a chemical template method. The shape and major parameters of the tubes are precisely controlled by the reactive templates of MnO2 nanowires, which also act as the oxidative initiator for polymerization. The cover image shows an example where the rectangular tubes are cloned from the cryptomelane-phase MnO2, as reported on p. 461 by Shi and co-workers.


The three monotheistic religions, as opposed to "non-revealed" religions, are closely related: affirming their monotheism, they also accommodate supernatural beings other than God. While a certain rationalization is evident in other aspects of their organization and their beliefs, their attitudes are different in their relations with society, Islam and Judaism having more similarities with each other than with Christianity. In its early stages, Christianity drew away from the theocratic route, subsequently returning to it, before drawing away once more. The rupture with Judaism is a real one. Christianity also moved more rapidly towards laicism and, in its modern form, is evolving towards a religion without dogma. Paradoxically, the Catholic Church, the most centralized, has had to adapt to the new emancipating conception of reason, probably because it has never proposed the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth. Today, modern thinkers are bourgeois or socialist first, before being Christian or Jewish. The author expects the same development to occur in Islam.


Oxygen concentration has great influence on cell proliferation, differentiation, and gene expression and is essential for the normal activities of mammalian tissues and cells. However, hypoxia and even anoxia can occur during tissue engineering and tissue preservation, because of the extremely low solubility of oxygen.
  We have developed an oxygen delivery scaffold (ODS) to supply oxygen sustainedly for tissue engineering and tissue preservation. In our ODS, we employed CaO2 as the oxygen generating agent, which decomposes upon contact with moisture and produces oxygen. [1] Since the decomposition rate of CaO2 is very fast, it is necessary to reduce its decomposition rate. We chose hydrophobic polycaprolactone (PCL) to reduce the decomposition rate of CaO2. CaO2 powders were mixed with PCL in chloroform and then the liquid evaporated at room temperature to form CaO2-PCL composites. Therefore, PCL inhibits the decomposition of CaO2 by repelling H2O and decreasing the surface area of CaO2 particles. To further control oxygen release, the CaO2-PCL composite was encapsulated in alginate hydrogel, which reduces the amount of H2O available to CaO2 and serves a barrier for oxygen diffusion as well [2]. Using the ODS described here, we successfully rescued primary human fibroblasts under the anoxic environment. The preliminary experimental results also show the ODS was capable of preserving aortas for up to one week at the physiological temperature. Nevertheless, it is difficult to measure the oxygen gradient from the ODS towards cells, although it is very important information for us to understand the effects of oxygen tension on cells. There are different ways for oxygen measurement, however, very few of them are able to measure oxygen gradient within small volume of liquid. We believe mathematical simulation can be a good method to describe the oxygen diffusion process from ODS towards cells and predict the oxygen gradient generated by ODS. We currently work empirically and knowing the key parameters would be a great help in moving forwards, for example by changing the surface are: volume ratio, thickness of diffusion barriers and so forth.


Simple Summary Lyme disease is a common tickborne illness endemic to many countries, including the United States. Scientists have a role to play in disseminating public health knowledge to decrease the prevalence of tickborne disease, which can include encouraging preventive behaviors and recognizing the early signs of the disease. Middle-school students are at significant risk of developing Lyme disease and an ideal population to engage in community-based science, since these experiences provide valuable opportunities for career explorations and to extend the students' understanding of science. Our work shows that the students can meaningfully contribute to research by generating samples that can be used to test whether the ticks contain pathogens. Abstract Studies of tickborne illness have benefited from interactions between scientists and community members. Most participants in community science projects are well-educated adults, but there are anticipated benefits from engaging younger students in research. We evaluated whether an outreach experience for rural middle-school students promoted student interest in science and resulted in the generation of samples that could be used for tick testing to assess disease risk. Middle-school students from 78 Wisconsin communities developed interdisciplinary hypotheses about the spread of Lyme disease, identified ticks, and extracted DNA from ticks to assess the prevalence of pathogens Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophillium, and Babesia microti. As a result of this intervention, students were able to successfully complete the research protocol and explain the rationale for completing the experiment. Of student participants, 84.7% reported no difficulty completing the protocol, 66% of the student samples gave reliable PCR results, and 76% of students reported interest in participating in similar experiments. Our study shows that tick outreach programs that incorporate community-based science promote knowledge about Lyme disease, facilitate engagement between students and scientists, and generate samples that can be successfully utilized for pathogen testing.


Summary Accurate abundance estimation of species is essential for metagenomic analysis. Although many methods have been developed for classification of metagenomic data and abundance estimation of species, the abundance estimation of species remains challenging due to the ambiguous reads that align equally well to more than one genome. Here, we present Centrifuge+, which introduces unique mapping rate to describe the influence of similarities among species in the reference database when analyzing ambiguous reads. In contrast to the popular Centrifuge, Centrifuge+ improved the accuracy of abundance estimation on simulated reads from 4278 complete prokaryotic genomes. Availability and implementation The source code is available at https://github.com/mNGSmethods/Centrifugep. Contact firstname.lastname@example.com or email@example.com Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


: In the medium-low speed maglev vehicle, each levitation module contains four electromagnet coils. Generally, two adjacent coils at the module end in series with one controller, which is called control mode of series connection in the 1st and 2nd coils (C12). In order to enhance the levitation performance and improve the problems such as touching the rail and levitation failure in the process of running, many researches start from levitation control system optimization. The external connection mode is started from, and a new type of control mode of series connection in the 1st and 3rd coils (C13) is proposed. Many detailed comparisons of the two modes are made by dynamic and electromagnetic simulation. When passing through the same rail excitation, the results show that the minimum distance between the levitation frame and the rail in C13 is larger than that in C12, that is, farther from the rail; the average current of the controller in C13 is lower. Therefore, considering the safety and coil overheating, C13 performs better than C12. A new type of coil connection mode is proposed and its superiority is proved, which provides a basis for engineering applications.


The first report confirmed the design of the adaptive injection and dwelling controller in a simulation model, the robustness for parameter change and the possibilities for application. This paper describes the next step: application to an actual commer-cial real injection molding machine. We examine hybrid control as well as process control of injection and of the dwelling proc-esses. To clarify the designed strategy performance, we compare the proposed method and a PI controller in a sequence of pro-duction processes. The cold start operation, i.e., operating the machine without warm―up routine also examined for actual application. The evaluation of product thickness shows how effective the proposed controller will be in an actual machine.


Studies in young adults have demonstrated that b-hydroxy-b-methylbutyrate (HMB) can increase gains in strength and fat-free mass during a progressive resistance-training program. The purpose of this study was to determine whether HMB would similarly benefit 70-y-old adults undergoing a 5 d/wk exercise program. Thirty-one men (n 5 15) and women (n 5 16) (70 6 1 y) were randomly assigned in a double-blind study to receive either capsules containing a placebo or Ca-HMB (3 g/d) for the 8-wk study. Skin fold estimations of body composition as well as computerized tomography (CT) and dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans were measured before the study and immediately after the 8-wk training program. HMB supplementation tended to increase fat-free mass gain (HMB, 0.8 6 0.4 kg; placebo, 20.2 6 0.3 kg; treatment 3 time, P 5 0.08). Furthermore, HMB supplementation increased the percentage of body fat loss (skin fold: HMB, 20.66 6 0.23%; placebo, 20.03 6 0.21%; P 5 0.05) compared with the placebo group. CT scans also indicated a greater decrease in the percentage of body fat with HMB supplementation (P < 0.05). In conclusion, changes in body composition can be accomplished in 70-y-old adults participating in a strength training program, as previously demonstrated in young adults, when HMB is supplemented daily. J. Nutr. 131: 2049–2052, 2001.


To combat high infant mortality associated with premature labor, health professionals are investigating labor-suppressing drugs. What are the risks to mother and fetus? What problems might the nurse encounter?


In this report, Mathematical model for generalized nonlinear three dimensional wave breaking equations was de- veloped analytically using fully nonlinear extended Boussinesq equations to encompass rotational dynamics in wave breaking zone. The three dimensional equations for vorticity distributions are developed from Reynold based stress equations. Vorticity transport equations are also developed for wave breaking zone. This equations are basic model tools for numerical simulation of surf zone to explain wave breaking phenomena. The model reproduces most of the dynamics in the surf zone. Non linearity for wave height predictions is also shown close to the breaking both in shoaling as well as surf zone. Keyword Wave breaking, Boussinesq equation, shallow water, surf zone. PACS : 47.32-y


Using experiential learning theory and human capital theory, we propose that job tenure influences individuals' interpretations of and reactions to an increase in underload (i.e. abilities of a per...


Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV‐8) is the causal agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). In Tobago, KS is not common; however, HHV‐8 seropositivity has been reported to be 39.9% in men with prostate cancer compared to <22.9% in healthier women and men. To understand HHV‐8 transmission, we examined HHV‐8 seroconversion and seroreversion, and risk factors for these changes in Tobago men.


While cognitive assessment by videoconference has become possible over the past decade, the COVID‐19 pandemic underscores the critical need for expansion and examination of these methods, their appropriateness for various patient populations, and their benefits and limitations. Validity and reliability studies of tele‐neuropsychological testing have been conducted in MCI or mild AD dementia patients (e.g., MMSE=25+); few studies have assessed the feasibility of neurologic examination by video, and none in atypical dementias, assuming that patients with some types (e.g., language, comportment) or greater severity of cognitive‐behavioral impairment would be unable to participate. Here we report the feasibility of telehealth services for a multi‐disciplinary dementia subspecialty clinic that include cognitive‐behavioral and neurologic assessment with patients with atypical neurodegenerative syndromes.


Molecular weight distributions (MWD) of polymers measured by thermal field flow fractionation (TFFF) typically must be accomplished by calibrating with polymer standards of known characteristics. In this study, the MWD of a variety of known polymers is successfully determined by TFFF using calibrations established with published Mark-Houwink (M-H) constants. The procedure uses a combination of the concentration-dependent refractive index detector with a sensitive online capillary viscometer detector


Islamic school has codified the citizenship rights based on transcendent vision of man. The goal of this essay is providing an answer for the following question: what is the role of the principles of Islamic politics in the explanation of citizenship rights? In the current research the latter issue is assayed through a descriptive and analytic approach. The rule of divine law; two-sidedness of man and the citizenship rights; human dignity and the citizenship rights; divine caliphate of man and the citizenship rights are among the findings of this study. Among the results of this research one can refer to the fact that Islamic religion is consistent with politics and law. Islam takes human spiritual aspect to be the major aspect of his existence while his corporeal aspect is considered as the ancillary to the former aspect and the basis that provides the ground for all human individuals to reach prosperity in this world and the otherworld. Human affairs are handled by God and the sovereignty is also based on His Will because by consciousness of this fact in policy making, codification of laws and legislation of judgments, citizenship rights and his true material and spiritual interests are observed and the grounds required for the fulfillment of the proper citizenship rights as well as the institutionalization of ethics, religious and human values in individuals and society are highlighted. Please cite this article as: Khal'atbari H, Ja'fari Nasab SH. Role of the Principles of Islamic Politics in the Explanation of Citizenship Rights. Bioethics Journal , Special Issue on Citizenship Rights, Autumn 2018; 69-82.


In the present study, we designed a student laboratory experiment for a DNA extraction. At the first step, Bacillus natto cells were isolated from a traditional Japanese food "natto." By using the isolated bacterial cells, Gram staining was carried out to confirm the Gram stain type. Then, DNA was extracted from the bacterial cells after lysing the cells with lysozyme. The laboratory experiment developed in the present study was tested in some in-service training courses for biology teachers in Osaka Prefecture, and positive evaluation was obtained from the attendees. The laboratory experiment was implemented in a senior high school advance biology class which was offered as an elective subject to the third-year students whose majors were science and mathematics. The implementation was successful. Therefore, the laboratory experiment developed is suitable


Ryanodine receptors (RyRs) are intracellular Ca2+ release channels ubiquitously expressed in various cell types. RyRs were extensively studied in striated muscle cells due to their crucial role in muscle contraction. In contrast, the role of RyRs in Ca2+ signalling and functions in non‐excitable cells, such as T lymphocytes, remains poorly understood. Expression of different isoforms of RyRs was shown in primary T cells and T cell lines. In T cells, RyRs co‐localize with the plasmalemmal store‐operated Ca2+ channels of the Orai family and endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ sensing Stim family proteins and are activated by store‐operated Ca2+ entry and pyridine nucleotide metabolites, the intracellular second messengers generated upon stimulation of T cell receptors. Experimental data indicate that together with d‐myo‐inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate receptors, RyRs regulate intercellular Ca2+ dynamics by controlling Ca2+ concentration within the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum and, consequently, store‐operated Ca2+ entry. Gain‐of‐function mutations, genetic deletion or pharmacological inhibition of RyRs alters T cell Ca2+ signalling and effector functions. The picture emerging from the collective data shows that RyRs are the essential regulators of T cell Ca2+ signalling and can be potentially used as molecular targets for immunomodulation or T cell‐based diagnostics of the disorders associated with RyRs dysregulation.


Abstract: Extract from different parts of medicinal plant contains lots of phytochemicals and helps to cure different types of diseases. Vigna unguiculata and Cynodon dactylon both are annual herbs and found all over the country. Both annual herbs are numerous used in Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha medicines. Vigna unguiculata is a leguminous plant and contain various phytochemicals like alkaloids, flavonoids, Amino acid, phenols, and phytic acid. Vigna unguiculata extract have been reported to cure different type of diseases like anthelmintic activity, antibacterial activity, antimicrobial activity, antidiabetic activity, antiviral and antifungal activity, antioxidant activity ,hypocholesteerolemic activity and hypolipidemic activites. Extracts from different parts of Cynodon dactylon are widely used to prevent different kinds of diseases like antiviral and antimicrobial activity, against snake bites, gout and rheumatic affection, anthelmintic activity, anti-inflammatory activity, reduce burning sensation, hyperdipsia, haematuria, leprosy, bronchitis, piles, asthma, enlargement of the spleen, tumors, dysentery, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, vomiting etc due to the lot of phytochemical likes flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides, terpenoids, saponins, resins, tannins, reducing sugar, phytosterols, proteins, carbohydrates, volatile oil and fixed oils presents in the plant.


Murine double minute-2 inhibitors offer a durable treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration by inducing apoptosis in pathologically proliferating cells, a similar effect as radiation therapy, but with potentially a more favorable side-effect profile since it does not induce DNA damage. Murine double minute-2 inhibitors may be complementary to current anti-VEGF treatments and potentially reduce the cumulative number of intravitreal injections.


Stray field from an eddy current septum magnet adversely affects the circulating beam and can be reduced using several techniques. The stray field time history typically has a fast rise section followed by a long exponential decay section when pulsed with a half sine drive current. Changing the drive current pulse to a full sine has the effect of both reducing peak stray field magnitude by ∼ 3x and producing a quick decay from this peak to a lower field level which then has a similar long decay time constant as that from the half sine drive current pulse. A method for tuning the second half-sine (reverse) current pulse to eliminate the long exponential decay section is given. A method for halving the remaining brief peak is also given.


The development of the system is important because SGIFENIX optimize time in the processes of enterprise deployments ADS, helping to oversee the work of the technicians are met in an efficient, effective and timely manner.


The study of gravity and magnetism has a long history in Earth sciences and continues to play an important role in exploration geophysics. Fundamental knowledge about our planet has been gained from the processing of potential field data at all scales: from large tectonic processes, down to the size of mineral deposits. Attempting to model density and magnetization through the inverse process remains challenging however as it is a highly non-unique problem. Conventional unconstrained inversions generally yield either smooth models with poor edge definition or sparse and compact models that are too simplistic to represent subtle features. In this doctoral dissertation, I provide three technical innovations to enhance the capabilities of potential data inversion. First, I propose to explore a wider range of solutions by independently varying the sparsity assumption imposed on the model values and its gradients. At the core of this research is the use of mixed `p-norm regularization solved by a scaled Iterative Re-weighted Least Squares algorithm. I provide a path to extract dominant features from the solution space with a Principal Component Analysis and pattern recognition strategy. Secondly, I provide modification to the magnetic vector inversion in spherical coordinates to process magnetic field data affected by remanent magnetization. I tackle long-lasting issues related to the non-linear trigonometric coordinate transformation with an iterative sensitivity re-weighting strategy. The spherical formulation allows me to impose sparsity constraints on the amplitude and orientation of the magnetization vector independently. The algorithm can recover anomalies with a coherent magnetization direction. Lastly, I incorporate soft geological information in the inversion through the rotation of the objective function. Combined with sparsity assumptions, the rotated


Research on parental involvement in homework and its effects have recently been addressed. Some studies support a significantly positivecorrelation between parents' involvement in the homework proc ...


We present a novel audiovisual emotion recognition solution using multimodal information fusion based on entropy estimation. Considering the limitations of existing methods, we propose a new dual-level fusion framework which consists of feature level fusion module based on kernel entropy component analysis and score level fusion module based on maximum correntropy criterion. In our system, audio and visual channels are utilized to detect and classify emotional states for intelligent human computer interfaces. Our extensive experimental study on eNTERFACE database and RML database demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed multimodal emotion recognition framework based on integrated analysis of speech and facial expression. The experimental results show that the proposed methods are capable of providing improved performance. The comparison with other methods shows that the proposed two-stage fusion platform outperforms the traditional algorithms in terms of both accuracy and reliability.


This study aimed to determine the understanding of health care towards social phenomena related to the dominance of non-communicable diseases which were increased in the community and to identify what efforts were made by health workers in preventing non-communicable diseases. The long-term goal of this study was to control the risk factors for PTM in Indonesia, especially in Campurejo Health Center, Mojoroto District, Kediri City. This study used a qualitative method with 72 populations and 10 samples. The data was collected through purposive sampling and in-depth interviews. The study informants were health workers from Kediri city health office, health workers at the Campurejo Health Center, community leaders and health cadres. The data analysis used interactive qualitative methods (Milles and Hebberman) and the instrument was recorder. The results of the study showed the concept of objectivation in opposing the flow of public understanding of PTM could be seen from the results of the socialization conducted by health workers. This new fact could be seen from one of the efforts of health workers in disseminating PTM in society. Other forms of socialization that were still general in nature could be seen in a variety of activity formats, for example: early detection, health promotion, counseling, mobile Posbindu, and door to door systems. The five micro activities were derived from the grand design of socialization in the perspective of social construction theory as a form of externalization by health workers.


EDITOR—Greenhalgh is right to highlight the idiocies of the new game to obtain "ethical approval" for a research project.1 As a comparatively new member of a committee I hate the new system, which seems to generate far too much paper. The weight that comes through …


Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band is increasingly widely used in military maritime satellite communications due to its good communication performance. When the electromagnetic wave reaches the sea surface, it is reflected. The reflected wave and direct wave enter the receiver in the form of a superimposed vector, which will inevitably produces multipath fading at the receiving end. This paper followed the general principles of modeling in multipath effects, and the UHF band multipath effects of sea surface were studied. The judgment basis was obtained which determines whether the specula reflected wave dominates in the reflected wave based on Rayleigh criterion, and then the reflection coefficient of sea surface were calculated. Finally, the power attenuation of reflected wave relative to direct wave for different wind speeds were simulated and analyzed.


We construct a self-starting Simpson's type block hybrid method (BHM) consisting of very closely accurate members each of order p=q+2 as a block. The higher order members of each were obtained by increasing the number k in the multi-step collocation (MC) used to derive the k-step continuous formula (k≥2) through the aid of MAPLE soft wire program. The stability analysis is poorer as the step size k increases, as expected with the linear multi-step methods (lmms), discrete or continuous. In this paper we identify a continuous hybrid block schemes (CHBS) through the addition of one off-mesh collocation points in the MC. The (CHBS) is evaluated along with it's first derivative where necessary to give continuous hybrid block schemes for a simultaneous application to the stiff ordinary differential equations (SODEs} with initial, boundary or mixed conditions.


This article explores the notion that different types of entrepreneurs exist, distinguishable not only by the types of business activities undertaken, but also by certain personality traits they possess. Selected personality traits of franchised entrepreneurs are compared to those of independent entrepreneurs using empirical data from 127 franchised owner-managers from ten restaurant franchises. The study findings suggest that, while high need for achievement motivates entrepreneurial endeavours of various types, the distinctive conditions of franchising mean that franchisees neither possess, nor require, such high degrees of internal locus of control and ambiguity tolerance as do independent entrepreneurs.


There are large numbers of chemistry and chemical engineering information resources on the Internet;therefore grasping the methods and approaches of the access to the related resources is the basis to make full use of those information resources.This article describes some of the free information resources and their characteristics.Some useful websites are also provided,which supply some reference for the chemistry and chemical engineering researchers.


This paper concerns the seismic design procedure for a new type of steel concentrically braced frame system with a special type of bracing element termed self-centering friction damping brace (SFDB). This new seismic resistant system demonstrates a few desirable characteristics such as minimal residual drift and potential to be damage free after frequent and design basis earthquakes. A displacement-based design (DBD) approach using inelastic design spectra is adopted for the design of SFDB frame. Two design examples using the proposed design approach are presented in this study. The statistical responses indicate that the SFDB frames can achieve their target performance, and that SFDB frame has the potential to withstand several design level earthquakes without the need for repair or replacement of SFDBs if properly designed.


A wind-driven electricity generation device is provided with a tower, a nacelle which is mounted on the tower, at least one cable which is suspended within the tower from the nacelle, a protective tube which is mounted to the cable so as to surround the cable, and a cable retention support which is attached to the tower at a position facing the protective tube so as to surround the protective tube. The protective tube can move relative to the cable retention support.


Intracellular Mg(2+) (Mg(i)(2+)) inhibits the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subtype of glutamate receptors in cultured cortical neurons. To examine the effects of Mg(i)(2+) on recombinant NMDA receptors composed of subunit combinations found in cortical neurons, we expressed heteromeric receptors composed of NR1/NR2A and of NR1/NR2B subunits in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. We recorded whole-cell currents from the recombinant receptors in the absence and presence of Mg(i)(2+). The voltage dependence of control (0 Mg(i)(2+)) NMDA-activated currents obtained from CHO cells transfected with NR1/NR2A and with NR1/NR2B receptors showed outward rectification, a property that has been observed previously in native cortical NMDA receptors. The magnitude and voltage dependence of inhibition by Mg(i)(2+) of NMDA-activated currents were similar in CHO cells transfected with NR1/NR2A receptors, CHO cells transfected with NR1/NR2B receptors, and in cultured neurons expressing native NMDA receptors. These observations suggest that Mg(i)(2+) has uniform effects on the native NMDA receptors expressed in cortical neurons. Furthermore, inhibition by Mg(i)(2+) must not depend on intracellular factors or post-translational receptor modifications that are specific to neurons. Finally, the results indicate that the previously observed differences between whole-cell and outside-out patch measurements of Mg(i)(2+) inhibition could not result from poor control of voltage or Mg(i)(2+) concentration in the dendrites of neurons. The most likely alternative explanation is that patch excision causes an alteration in NMDA receptors that results in more effective inhibition by Mg(i)(2+).


Contact email@example.com Available online: https://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/posters.html Crowding distance is roughly 0.15 deg at fovea (Pelli et al. 2016) and is independent of letter size. Masking distance roughly equals letter radius, and is independent of eccentricity. The ratio of crowding to masking distance ranges widely, e.g., from just 2 for a 0.3 deg letter at 1 deg eccentricity, to 10 for a 2 deg letter at 32 deg eccentricity.


In the field,under different irrigation conditions,the secondary substances of Lycium barbarumaccumulation were studied. The results showed that adequate water supply was conducive to the accumulation of total sugar and Vc,and drought treatment was conducive to the accumulation of betaine and carotenoids,but not conducive to the accumulation of Vc,flavonoids and sugar. Correlation analysis showed that there was positive correlation between polysaccharides content and betaine content,no significant negative correlation between betaine content and carotenoids content,significantly positive correlation between betain contente and total sugar content. There was very significantly negative correlation between moisture content and polysaccharide / Vc content,significantly negative correlation between moisture content and polysaccharide / flavone content,negative correlation between moisture content and polysaccharide/betaine content,negative correlation between moisture content and polysaccharide/carotenoid content. Resurts indicated,proper irrigation could not only guarantee the quality of L. barbarum L.,but also decreased the output reduction of L. barbarum L. In this experiment,the reasonable frequency of irrigation for L. barbarum L., growing period was 2-3 times,the amount of water per 667 m2 was 75m3.


The recent wave of populism is different from the previous ones, thus generating the demand for noneconomic explanations, such as identity politics and cultural factors. In this paper, I discuss several pieces of evidence that show that economic factors, such as an increase in unemployment during the Great Recession, skill-biased trade and inequality (especially inequality of opportunity), have also played an important role in the recent rise of antiestablishment sentiment.


Qualtrics is a powerful online survey tool that allows one to build surveys, distribute surveys and analyze responses from one convenient online location! It's available to all faculty, staff and students at CSULB.


To be able to survive in the long run the medical device industry of today needs effective development processes and ways to secure quality. These development processes and quality assurance processes must follow the different laws and regulations over the world depending on what market the organisations are established on. Organisations have been developing medical devices and systems over many years but now this type of products contain more and more software. The development of software is often appended in to the existing development and quality assurance processes and these processes may not be the most efficient and correct processes when it comes to software. This paper presents the results from an interview study with the purpose to survey how the medical device companies work today, what development processes and quality assurance techniques they use and how laws and regulations affect their way of working. Safety is very essential for the medical device organisations and all the interviewed organisations consider the software in their medical device as safety critical. Risk and risk analysis is an important part of the safety thinking and is frequently performed by the organisations. However established and systematic techniques to analyse risks of the medical devices are not so frequently used as expected. The intension is that the results from the study could be used as a help to find more adapted processes and techniques for software development in the medical device domain. The results have also been used to derive a set of requirements on new techniques and methods in the area. The derived requirements can serve as guidance to researchers aiming at improving processes, methods and techniques in the medical device domain. (Less)


Short range order effects on the optical birefringence were investigated in an antiferromagnetically coupled linear-chain S =1/2 Heisenberg ferromagnet CsCuCl 3 in a temperature range between 6 K and 450 K. A nearly isomorphic diamagnet CsMgCl 3 was used to extract the magnetic part of birefringence in CsCuCl 3 . The magnetic birefringence was found to have a broad maximum at about 32 K. The effect of the interchain interaction on the birefringence was calculated in terms of a perturbation approach. By comparing the results with the observed temperature dependence of the birefringence, the ratio of inter- to intrachain exchange integrals was obtained as -0.07.


The full flow field numerical simulation of the axial-flow pump model is carried out to predict the pump performance based on RNG k-ε model and SIMPLE algorithm and the method of calculating head and efficiency. The numerical results show that the head and efficiency prediction curves have a good agreement with the experimental results. In the optimal operating condition, the prediction error of head is 0.04% and the efficiency error is 0.39% which could meet the requirements of engineering applications. The prediction error based on RNG k-ε turbulence model is larger in the off-design condition owing to the complex flow field of axial-flow pump. The predicted head is lower than the experimental results in the small flow rate conditions and its maximum error is 5.12%, while is higher than the experimental data in the large flow rate conditions and its maximum error is 17.39%. The conclusions will provide the basis and reference for the performance prediction of axial-flow pumps based on CFD.


Three clusters of measles cases occurred between June and September 2006, in the Roma/Sinti populations in three different Italian regions: the Bolzano-South Tyrol in northern Italy; Lazio in central Italy; and the island of Sardinia in the southwest.


Nowadays, the crypto-biometric schemes are commonly studied to deal with the key management problem existing in cryptographic systems. In the paper we consider a well-known fuzzy vault scheme working on non-standard biometric data associated with palm-oriented gestures. We discuss the usefulness of the touch-less palm tracking system focused on handling the biomechanical characteristics of one's hand to protect the cryptographic key or other secret data. As a behavioral template the fixed finger-based gesture is applied. In order to generate unordered sets for fuzzy vault we use the global approach where features are decoded from fingertip position and velocity. Both the raw and DCT-calculated time series are preprocessed to solve the instability and variability problem strictly related to behavioral character of the data. We provide the experimental results and discuss the security issues.


The technology is a division circuit with decreased circuit area. An embodiment includes an integrated circuit implementing multiplicative division of a dividend input and a divisor input. The integrated circuit includes a lookup table circuit and multiplier circuits. The lookup table circuit providing an approximation of a reciprocal of a divisor input. The multiplier circuits receive the approximation and refine a quotient output of the dividend input and a divisor input. At least one of the multiplier circuits is a squaring circuit implementing multiplication with a reduced number of intermediate partial products. The reduced number of intermediate partial products prevent the squaring circuit from multiplication of any two unequal numbers and limiting the squaring circuit to multiplication of a same number by the same number.


Peter A.W. Figge works as a students' counsellor at Hamburg University. His book is based on practical experience with dramatherapy groups over a period of four years. The groups involved 41 students altogether. An interesting feature of his publication is the attempt to monitor scientifically the therapeutic group process and to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of specific aspects of dramatherapy. The research into the effects of dramatherapy on the experimental group as compared to any changes in the control group has been carried out carefully and extensively. Figge explains that he sees dramatherapy as a useful, complimentary approach within behaviour therapy. He criticises that traditional behaviour therapy neglects the uniqueness of each individual in favour of scientific control and secondly the dimension of therapy as a process and an experience in the here and now. Figge explains why he chose the level of behaviour as a starting point for therapy which is to affect the other levels (cognitivie and emotional) of human functioning as well. With the vocabulary of learning theory Figge analyses the genesis of maladaption which presents itself as impairment of the ability to create and maintain satisfying interpersonal and social relationships. Figge defines these disturbances as the inability to strike the appropriate balance between the need for intimacy/ closeness and the need for distance. This balance cannot be defined objectively. Apart from different strategies of avoidance and flight there is a common feeling among the clients of loneliness, helplessness and frustration. Figge proposes four stereotypes: the person who clings, the one who suffers quietly, the person who is timid and the one who is engaged in flight. Figge states the hypothesis that a parentchild relationship in which the parental need for a dependent child stifles the child's maturation and growth, which implies external and internal separation, may lead to problems in asserting oneself and in maintaining relationships on an equal basis. Figge points out that he has mainly been influenced by Iljine's concept of "Therapeutic Theatre" and by dramatherapy concepts which originate in Scandinavia. For the purpose of diagnosis, selection and preparation of prospective group members Figge did four individual sessions. Drawings, rdle reversal were used to clarify the clients' expectations and commitment. Criteria for accepting people for group therapy was a certain degree of awareness and of verbal expressiveness, the wish to use active exploration of new ways of experiencing and coping with reality and thirdly an anticipation of the therapists' r61e which is more or less in line with their real r61e as supportive assistants.


An attempt has been made to associate the characteristics of major geomagnetic storms and forbush decreases at 1 AU between 1999 and 2009. Most probable value for the Onset time difference is found between -1 to + 5 hours. It was also observed that majority of geomagnetic storms lag Forbush decreases only few geomagnetic storms lead Forbush decreases. 48.9% geomagnetic storms are found in the range of 0 to 10 hours, so that most probable value of main phase duration is 0 to 10 hours and recovery of geomagnetic storms are much faster than forbush decreases.


How much does urban form affect levels of active travel and transport carbon emissions? It is all too easy for policy-makers to jump to simple conclusions, but the answer is both complex and contested. Here Hugh Barton, Marcus Grant and Michael Horswell report on recent research which casts new light on the impact of neighbourhood planning.


Barrie Irving has a research and teaching background in careers. Until recently he was a Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Department for Career and Personal Development, Canterbury Christ Church University College, UK. He has written widely on social justice and related issues and recently co-authored In good faith: Schools, religion and public funding, published in 2004 by Ashgate. With Beatriz Malik, he has also co-edited Critical reflections on career education and guidance. Promoting social justice within a global economy, published by Routledge-Falmer in 2005. Beatriz Malik is Assistant Professor in Educational and Career Guidance at the National University of Distance Education (UNED) in Madrid. Her fields of research and teaching include intercultural education, social mediation and counsellor qualifications. She is also interested in multiculturalism in guidance, career guidance programs (specifically how they address career diversity), students with disabilities and the promotion of social justice. In this interview, the AJCD discusses a range of issues with career researchers and writers, Barrie Irving (BI) and Beatriz Malik (BM).


Valencian historic textiles were commonly woven with coloured silks and natural dyes in the 18th century. The opti- misation of analytical methods to extract and classify the dyes used is required to understand not only their degradation process, but also the state of conservation of these textiles. This paper shows the results obtained in the optimisation of the preparation process of the two main colouring components in annatto (Bixa Orellana L.), namely, bixin and norbixin, prior to analysis by means of UV-Vis Spectrophotometry and FTIR spectroscopy. The results of the analysis were also satisfactor


The review of the researches devoted to studying of structural components of an internal position of the school student in psychology is presented in article, various approaches to definition of structure of an internal position of the school student, proceeding from understanding of essence of an internal position are considered, questions of transformation of structural components of an internal position in the course of ontogene-tichesky development of the person are discussed. Affective, reflexive and motivational components in structure of an internal position are allocated. The substantial characteristic is given to the allocated components. The applied aspect of a problem of research of structural components of an internal position of the school student can be realized when developing criteria and indicators of studying of an internal position at the trained different age groups.


The work here presented demonstrates theoretically that it is possible to create optical resonators based on levitation properties of thin films subjected to repulsive Casimir-Lifshitz forces. Our optical cavity design is made up of commonly found materials, such as silicon oxide, polystyrene or gold, with glycerol as a mediating medium, which supports high Q-factor optical modes at visible frequencies. The balance between flotation and repulsive Casimir-Lifshitz forces in the system allows the fine-tuning of the optical cavity thickness and hence its modes. Finally, we show that well-defined spectral features in the reflectivity allows by indirect means, an accurate prediction of the estimated equilibrium distance at which some part of the optical cavity arrangement levitates.


AbstractStructural and documentary evidence is examined for the position of the principal chamber in houses of the richer peasantry between the Norman Conquest and the seventeenth century. It appears that in several parts of southern England the chamber was successively on the ground floor, the first floor, the ground floor again, and finally the upper floor again, although those phases were not simultaneous in different areas. The evidence for the second phase and the transition to the third phase is considered in detail.


Objective To establish a method for determining the content of inostiol in Citri Grandis.Methods The content was determined by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light-scattering detector(HPLC-ELSD) method.The operation was performed on a Rezex RCM-Monosaccharide Ca2+(8%)cloumn(Phenomenex,300 mm×7.8 mm) using deionized water as the mobile phase at the flow rate of 0.45 mL·min-1.The temperature of drift tube and the column was set at 100 ℃ and 35 ℃,respectively.The gas flow rate was 2.0 L·min-1.Results The calibration curve of inositol displayed ideal linearity over the range of 0.25-8.00 mg·mL-1(r=0.999 8),and the average recovery was 99.32% with RSD of 3.34%.The other ingredients in the sample showed no interference.Conclusion The method established could be used for determination of inostiol in Citri Grandis due to its convenience,good reproducibility and high accuracy.


This paper is the elaboration of some interviews and reflections on the dialogic capacity of doctors working in a specific transplant center, San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi d'Aragona Hospital, to get in touch with transplant-waiting patients, their families, and the families of the potential donor. The use of narrative based medicine with the ethnographic metodology are a means of social analysis to know how the work on doctor, nurses and social assistant can be helped in their daily work. The essay is, also, an understanding support to how we can know the global society with a narrative approach.


The article aims at describing main aspects of linguacultural approach to the foreign language teaching. Analyzing the key notions such as linguacultural competence, linguacultural field, linguacultural units and others, the author comes to conclusion that linguaculture is essential and integral part of the process of teaching, which enhances the efficiency of developing general communicative competence of students.


It's the key to allocate the well point in developing affluent tectonic crack water in rockbase mountain area.Refering to the domestic and oversea advanced method to investigate underground water,according to the practice situation in Daxinganling and Xiaoxinganling area,this paper summerizes and researches the new feasible way to find water in geophysical prospecting. And it also introduces some practical step and precausions. for all kinds of geophysical prospecting water investigation methods and provids the proper garantee for the development of tectonic crack water in rockbase mountain area.


AbstractReinforcement learning (RL) has been applied to solve ramp-metering problems and attracted increasing attention in recent studies. However, improving traffic efficiency is the main concern ...


The newly established Working Group 2 was a vivid forum for presenting and discussing research on the teaching and learning of number systems and arithmetic (including models for operations in the number systems, ratio and proportion, rational numbers and number-theoretical aspects). Twelve papers addressed research for different ages from kindergarten up to pre-service teachers, with a focus on grades 2 6. The thematic emphasis was put on research-based specifications of domainspecific goals of what should and can be learned, and in which priority; on the analysis of learning processes and learning outcomes in domain-specific learning environments and classroom cultures; and on new approaches to the design of meaningful and rich learning environments and assessments. The research questions studied in the twelve papers provided new insights into some priorities of current research in the domain of arithmetic. A first series of new insights relates to the characteristics of students' thinking at a certain moment. Peltenburg and Van den Heuvel Panhuizen as well as Rezat described strategies which students apply in subtraction tasks. Pelczer, Voica and Singer reconstructed students' typical difficulties while solving word problems. Beyond these descriptions of phenomena is the search for internal connections, including connections between students' strategy use and their number sense, as discussed by Ferreira and Serrazina. In line with the latter theme, Rezat analysed the models students refer to for explaining their strategies, and Nikolaou and PittaPantazi investigated how different components of students' knowledge of fractions are connected. Finally, Chrysostomou, Tsingi and Cleanthous searched for external connections by analysing how students' strategies are related to their preference for referring to structures in spatial representations. A second series of insights relates to the didactical means, conditions, and contexts for supporting or hindering students' thinking and its development. Ejersbo and Misfeldt specified linguistic structures that might hinder students in applying number concepts. Peltenburg and Van den Heuvel Panhuizen investigated different ways how different representations and models support students' use of different strategies. Murphy analysed how explorative talk in small group situations can help


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of Qihong capsule (QH) on HeLa cells infected by coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) in vitro and its potential antiviral mechanism.

METHODS
HeLa cells were infected by CVB3 in vitro. XTT assay and plaque inhibition assay were performed to determine the 50 % effective dose, (ED50), 50 % inhibitory concentration (IC50), and 50% cytotoxicity concentration (CC50) of QH and the control drug, ribavirin. The total therapeutic index (TI) was calculated. Anti-viral time-course experiments were performed to compare the anti-viral effects at different time points. The inhibitory effects of QH on the attachment and penetration of CVB3 were also observed.

RESULTS
XTT assay and plaque inhibition assay showed that the ED50 and IC50 were (7.16+/-0.80) mg/L and (2.63+/-0.50) mg/L in QH group and (4.35+/-0.40) mg/L and (1.92+/-0.30) mg/L in ribavirin group, respectively. CC50 was 16-fold higher in QH group than in ribavirin group QH: (1 648+/-219) mg/L vs. Ribavirin: (103+/-14) mg/L. Time-course studies demonstrated that antiviral effect of QH was mainly found 0-4 hours after infection. QH effectively blocked the attachment and penetration of CVB3 into cells.

CONCLUSION
By inhibiting the attachment and penetration of CVB3, QH can effectively inhibit the invasion of virus in vitro with low toxicity.


The optimum total carotenoids (TC) extraction from rapeseed with solvent extraction method by UV-visible spectrophotometer determination was investigated by using response surface methodology (RSM). Extraction duration, re-peated extraction cycles, solvent-solid ratio and extraction temperature were assumed to be the most important factors affecting solvent extrac-tion for the determination of TC. Optimum sol-vent extraction conditions for maximizing the determination of TC were: extraction duration 7.3h, repeated extraction three times, ratio of solvent-solid (v/w, mL/mg) 29:1, extraction temperature 42°C. Under the optimal conditions, the yield of TC was up to 4.79 mg /100g. The model had a satisfactory coefficient of R2 (= 0.912) and verified experimentally. The results showed that the conditions were mild and use-ful for maximizing a quantitative spectropho-tometer determination of TC in rapeseed.


In this work we consider a real-world environmental monitoring scenario that requires uninterrupted system operation over time periods on the order of multiple years. To achieve this goal, we propose a novel approach to dynamically adjust the system's performance level such that energy neutral operation, and thus long-term uninterrupted operation can be achieved. We first consider the annual dynamics of the energy source to design an appropriate power subsystem (i.e., solar panel size and energy store capacity), and then dynamically compute the long-term sustainable performance level at runtime. We show through trace-driven simulations using eleven years of real-world data that our approach outperforms existing predictive, e.g., EWMA, WCMA, and reactive, e.g., ENO-MAX, approaches in terms of average performance level by up to 177%, while reducing duty-cycle variance by up to three orders of magnitude. We further demonstrate the benefits of the dynamic power management scheme using a wireless sensor system deployed for environmental monitoring in a remote, high-alpine environment as a case study. A performance evaluation over two years reveals that the dynamic power management scheme achieves a two-fold improvement in system utility when compared to only applying appropriate capacity planning.


Monomer 2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate containing small amounts of poly(caprolactone) and poly(ethylene glycol) incorporated with an antibiotic ofloxacin was polymerized by photopolymerization technique using 2,4,6 trimethyl benzoyl diphenyl phosphine oxide (TPO) as photoinitiator. Encapsulation efficiency and in vitro drug release was studied using UV-visible spectroscopy.  Swelling analysis was resorted to compare fluid uptake ability of hydrogel containing the drug with bare polymer. Zone of inhibition assay showed hydrogel containing 1% Ofloxacin to possess strong antimicrobial property Hemolysis assay demonstrated the hydrogel system to be non-hemolytic. Non-cytotoxic character of the hydrogel was confirmed using fibroblast cells. Cell adhesion studies showed non-attachment of fibroblasts to the polymer and improved cell proliferation simultaneously. Key words: Ofloxacin, Encapsulation efficiency, Hydrogel, Antimicrobial


Undoped ZnO and 0.5−5.0 at.% Sn-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) using zinc naphthenate and tin (II) 2-ethylhexanoate dissolved in xylene as the precursors under a 5/5 (precursor/oxygen) flame condition. UV-Vis absorption characteristics of the samples were investigated for understanding and relating with the physiochemical characteristics in photocatalytic applications. Kinetic analyzes indicated that the photodegradation rates of phenol could be approximated as pseudo-first-order and zero-order kinetics in the case of undoped ZnO and Sn-doped ZnO nanoparticles respectively, according to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. The effect of Sn doping revealed the deterioration of the phenol photodegradation performance over ZnO-based catalysts, possibly due to the formation of a deep state in the ZnO band gap energy.


Although there are many sources of electric energy, there are various waste phenomena in various occasions, especially the waste of electric energy in building corridors is often ignored. This paper introduces a corridor intelligent light system, which includes several sensors, the gateway, core controller and cloud platform. The system can effectively save energy and has intelligent lighting control such as automatic induction of people, automatic switching of corresponding upper and lower floor lights, etc.


The cult to the body is present in all the cultures and epochs historical, as well as "the experience of the pain" that has led the human beings to the exercise of the domain and of the power of some over others by means of the pain application on the bodies; for example the ideological mastery of religious dye exercised by the Hebrew patriarchs, the educated Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Aztec, Mayan, Inca, etc. During the Middle Ages, this one was stated realize with more clarity. A body tortured, submitted to the pain and to the torture is not but a pedagogic modality for its congeners. The fear, the terror are bosses who design a type of human conduct, they do of the human beings a few instruments of utility of the powerful ones, of the delinquents, of the drug traffickers whose only intention is to increase its empire of the capital for the power of the weapon.


With the exception of Anthony Smith's Nationalldelltity to which I will refer later, this review article concerns works that to varying degrees are held captive by their authors' national affiliations or personal convictions. Thus, Alex Dragnich makes no bones about his Serbian loyalties, Ivo Banac renders his genesis of Yugoslavia with a Croatian slant, Jim Brown betrays his predilection for predictions that are avidly consumed by US policy-makers, and Misha Glenny's eyewitness account is coloured by his liberal humanitarian position. However understandable or even commendable their predispositions may be, it would be fair to assume that scholarly objectivity in these instances has made no progress compared to the prototype provided by Thucydides. Having said that. they are of course different in every other respect, including worth and scholarship. Thus, Banac has offered a major reference work, the diligent craftsmanship of which cannot be ignored by friend or foe. and Glenny's descent into the current Yugoslav hell is a chronicle that future historians will have to consult.


with this work we tried to tackle the delicate task on identity of the property, the real subject property rights. this task is particularly complex because, historically, are three institutions responsible for the identification of the property, each in pursuit of its aims and objectives, with little interoperability or sharing of information: the Portuguese institute of cartography and the directorate General contributions and taxes and the land registry. it also tries to demonstrate that what is fundamental is that the property are not easily confused with each other, so therefore it is not necessary, that their area is found math and millimeter measure. it is also clear that the property is not a primary quality of assets, but the legal expression of a consensus on them economically important, and the law is the one that defines the instrument and makes the capital run.


Calvin Black was a folk artist who lived in California's Mojave Desert and created more than 80 life-size female dolls, each with its own personality, function, and costume.


In compliance with the factor structure of the efficiency in dance as well as on the basis of previous research (Oreb, 1989 ; Oreb, 1992 ; Oreb & Marusic, 1994 ; Brkic, 1997), it has been posited that balance is a relevant factor in the efficiency of dance. To test this claim, the authors have for the first time applied a balance platform on which three static balance tests were performed by 123 students of the Faculty of Kinesiology, who have passed the practical part of the examination in the subject Dance (folk and social dances). Correlation analysis was used to determine that there was no statistically significant correlation between any of the three balance tests on the one hand and success in this examination on the other. The authors are of the opinion that the absence of correlation is the result of the motor-related selection of the subjects and of the dance-specific teaching and learning methods.


Any exploratory factor analysis model requires at least three indicators (observed variables) for each common factor to ensure model identifiability. If one would make exploratory factor analysis for a data set in which one of common factors would have only two indicators in its population, one would encounter difficulties such as improper solutions and nonconvergence of iterative process in calculating estimates.


AbstractTo prepare for the next-generation North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS), three advanced land surface models [LSMs; i.e., Community Land Model, version 4.0 (CLM4.0); Noah LSM with multiphysics options (Noah-MP); and Catchment LSM-Fortuna 2.5 (CLSM-F2.5)] were run for the 1979–2014 period within the NLDAS-based framework. Unlike the LSMs currently executing in the operational NLDAS, these three advanced LSMs each include a groundwater component. In this study, the model simulations of monthly terrestrial water storage anomaly (TWSA) and its individual water storage components are evaluated against satellite-based and in situ observations, as well as against reference reanalysis products, at basinwide and statewide scales. The quality of these TWSA simulations will contribute to determining the suitability of these models for the next phase of the NLDAS. Overall, it is found that all three models are able to reasonably capture the monthly and interannual variability and magnitudes of ...


The principle and methods of enzyme immunoassay(EIA) were introduced briefly,the application of EIA in analysis of agricultural products quality and safety were commented in details.And the development of EIA and its prospect used in the control of quality and safety for agriculture products were also forward promoted.


Provided is a dental cutting tool which is hard to be broken during use and can be collected easily when the dental cutting tool is broken. A dental cutting tool (10) comprising a columnar shank portion (12) being gripped by the chuck (15) of a rotating tool, a tapered portion (13) which has the diameter gradually decreasing from the shank portion, and a blade portion (11) formed at the tip of the tapered portion and having a maximum diameter smaller than the diameter of the shank portion, wherein a connection surface (13c) is provided at that position of the tapered portion at which the diameter is larger than the maximum diameter of the blade portion, a portion from the blade portion (11) to the connection surface (13c) is formed integrally of cemented carbide, cermet or ceramics, a portion from the connection surface (13c) to the shank portion (12) side is formed of a metal such as stainless steel, steel, a titanium alloy, and the both portions are connected at the connection surface.


Management gurus have indicated human greed to be the reason which actually triggered the event like economic downturn. We may observe that in the long run, such events will reoccur, and many of them will be driven by psychological make of human race. We can avoid such consequences to some extent if we keep a track of global consciousness in psychological term. To determine where the risk is high, one should refer to those areas whenever the human attention is high on a given happening, the change process and corrective actions are done hastily to get in to newer level of development, because of which stability gets lost, post which the entire process becomes unpredictable and unmanageable.It is the time we should try to work upon Consciousness Quotient. We have learn how can we align our consciousness positively to stop such events.


Firms facing uncertainty about demand at the time of production expose their shareholders to volatile returns. Risk-averse investors trading multiple assets will favor stocks that tend to yield high returns in bad times, that is, when marginal utility of consumption is high. In this paper, I develop a firm-level gravity model of trade with risk-averse investors to show that firms seeking to maximize their present value will take into account that expected profits on a given destination market will be discounted by shareholders depending on the correlation with their expected marginal utility of consumption. The model predicts that, ceteris paribus, firms sell more to markets where profits covary less with the income of their investors. To test this prediction empirically, I use data on stock returns to estimate the correlation between demand growth in destination markets with expected marginal utility growth of investors in the home country. Then, I use bilateral trade data to test whether exports to markets where demand tends to be high at times when investors' expected marginal utility of consumption is high are larger compared to sales on markets where demand tends to be high at times when investors in the home country are well off anyway.


End 2004, the Archives and Records Management Section of the VVBAD decided to conduct a survey among its members The objective was to get feedback on questions like: Why do people become member of the section? Are they sufficiently acquainted with the section's working? What issues are important to them? Does the section serve their needs? The results of the survey serve as a guideline tor the section committee, for instance when drawing up its plan of action for 2006.


The generic placement of Gyrosigma obscurum (W. Smith) Griffith & Henfrey has been questioned in recent years, its position moving between Gyrosigma and Pleurosigma. The recent paper of Reid (2002a) caused some concern and Sterrenburg proposed that obscurum should be placed in Pleurosigma. This paper reinvestigates the claims of both Reid and Sterrenburg to conclude that the generic placement of obscurum is clearly more closely related to species of Gyrosigma than to species of Pleurosigma. Reanalyses of Reid's data set substituting the character coding advocated by Sterrenburg for striae arrangement and using the concepts of Sterrenburg in the cladistic analysis still shows that obscurum is more closely related to species of Gyrosigma than to species of Pleurosigma.


Although the association of some congenital malformations and specific genetic syndromes is well understood, the association between minor anomalies and cancer is not well known. In recent years some researchers have reported studies establishing this association in different types of cancer. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence and patterns of age‐independent minor anomalies in childhood cancer patients.


Two-dimensional infiltration of water from finite trenches was observed in three soil samples with different textures. The vertical infiltration is slowed by the lateral infiltration and the slowing is inversely proportional to the width of the trench. Furthermore, the vertical infiltration is about twice as fast as the lateral infiltration for all soils tesed. At the same relative distance from the trench, the soil was drier beside than below the trench. Our observations and interpretations agree with numerical simulations of Selim and Kirkham.


Amorphous NixZr1-x alloys with the nominal compositions x=0.241, 0.333 and 0.365 are investigated by means of extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). Spectra were taken at both the Ni and the Zr K-absorption edges. Significant differences show up in the nearest-neighbour environment of the amorphous alloys compared with the crystalline state. The amorphous compound with x=0.333 is compared with the corresponding crystalline phase with well known CuAl2 (C16)-type structure. The Ni-Zr bond length in this amorphous alloy is 0.14 AA shorter than in the crystalline state. The small widths of the Ni-Zr atomic pair distributions in the amorphous alloys indicate a significant short-range order. A comparison of the amorphous alloys investigated shows no significant change in the environment of Ni with changing composition whereas in the Zr environment an increase of the Ni coordination number is observed with increasing Ni content.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of aerobic exercise on body composition, body circumference, abdominal fat area, blood lipid and serum leptin in pre-menopausal middle-aged women. The cycle ergometer training(50%O2max) was conducted 30-60min/day, 3 times a week through 12 weeks. I...


It was conducted to investigate the use of authentic texts in the teaching of reading comprehension. The design of the study was quasi-experimental with nonrandomized pretest-posttest control group. The samples of this study were the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 1 Lawang – Malang in the 2017/2018 academic year. The sampling technique applied was simple random sampling which was taken by using lottery. The result of the lottery was class VIII-I as the experimental group and class VIII-G as the control group. In collecting data, pretest – posttest used was in the form of multiple choice tests which covered the subject matter of reading comprehension. The pretest means of both groups were analyzed statistically by using Lavene's. Lavene's test revealed the significant value was .553. It was higher than .05. This result indicated that the difference between variances was not significant. This indicated that the subjects of experimental and control groups were not significantly different before the experiment in their pretest scores of reading comprehension test. Therefore, an independent t-test was used to analyze the posttest means. The result of research findings, it could be concluded that using authentic texts in teaching reading comprehension proved to be effective in increasing the students' reading comprehension achievement. Thus, it was suggested that English teacher to utilize authentic texts in teaching reading comprehension.


Abstract This paper considers the successive dimensions of the spectral test for a kth-order multiple recursive generator based on three types of the upper bound on the center density. According to the experiments we perform, the appropriate dimensions for implementing the spectral test are k + 1, k +2, …, 8 with the objectives of maximizing the number of bits of accuracy.


Based on the software ADAMS/Aircraft, the virtual prototype model of the gear, the tire, the airframe and the full aircraft were built in this paper, and the bolter process was simulated. The results show that the aircraft possesses excellent bolter capability, and the ADAMS/Aircraft provides an effective method to the dynamical analysis.


Abstract : This dissertation describes an experimental study of optical elements with ultra-high spatial-frequency surface corrugations in both photoresist and quartz. Details of element fabrication are given and two new applications are suggested. For the photoresist gratings, angular selectivity, wavelength selectivity, and peak efficiency are investigated. The study shows that optical elements with spatial frequencies in excess of 3000 l/mm and efficiencies greater than 88% can be recorded in subwavelength thick layers of Shipley AZ-1300 series photoresist. The quartz elements are made via reactive ion etching which faithfully transfers a pattern from a photoresist mask to a fused quartz substrate. The quartz gratings have withstood laser fluxes of 4.17 GW/cm2 without sustaining damage and have efficiencies greater than 85%. Two new applications for substrates with ultra-high spatial-frequency surface corrugations are reported. Such elements at normal incidence are antireflective (AR) with broadband reflection coefficients less than 0.045%. (Author)


Abstract : Field repair of composites presents special problems for the Army where the repair might literally be performed in a field or other remote location. In such a situation, access to electric power both for refrigeration to preserve reactive resin systems and for heating to cure the patch, is severely limited. In order to circumvent these problems, we have investigated some novel approaches to the packaging and curing composite patches. One approach involves a self-contained kit in which all of the patch components including the reinforcement are separate from one another until the patch is needed, at which time they are combined in the proper ratio by means of a simple operation. Shelf-life for such a system, even without refrigeration is thus indefinite. Another approach makes use of optical fibers to carry light energy into the interior of an otherwise opaque graphite fiber-reinforced patch thereby permitting the use of a photochemically curable matrix resin. This paper will describe initial efforts to implement these approaches, some of the difficulties encountered, and current attempts to circumvent them. Some new approaches will also be outlined.


In the first blog on osteoporosis, we focused in on how to stimulate bone mass accrual via our diet. This is by far the best way to fight osteoporosis and least used way, but it is not the only way to treat it. Eating a diet that is plentiful in proteins and saturated fats are smart moves to stave off bone loss as one ages. Eating a diet laden in carbohydrates or filled with a lot of fowl like turkey and chicken is not going to help your bone mass in the long run. The last blog demonstrated that vitamin K2 supplementation (for just 4 weeks) will not only increase your insulin sensitivity, but raise your sex steroid hormones as well to support your bone metabolism. Both mechanisms seem to be related to increased amounts of serum carboxylated osteocalcin (cOC), is made rather than just modulating inflammation in our body. The study I mentioned in part one, had too small a sample size to make firm interpretation on Î2-cell function result for a population, but the implications are huge for T2D with bad bone, bad heart or bad teeth. It is clear that vitamin K2 is biochemically quite helpful to a T2D with bone loss. The results of this study are consistent with previous studies found in the literature that demonstrated improved insulin resistance by treatment with vitamin K1 or vitamin K2, respectively. The preponderance of the research to date, is pointing out to us that cOC rather than uncarboxylated OC, is the endocrine hormone that increases insulin sensitivity in humans and eventually leads to increased bone mass. It appears the underlying mechanism for this uses inflammatory cytokines and involves leptin receptor dysfunction. It appears that cOC and/or vitamin K2 likely modulates several adipokines and inflammatory pathways other than the classic IL-6 pathways to offset bone loss seen in leptin receptor disease states. Since Vitamin K2 is a critical component of arterial, gut, and bone health, we need to spend some time talking about how the human body handles vitamin K2 in part two of this series. Vitamin K2 up regulates testosterone and it helps both sexes remain somewhat hydrated. This will become important when we hit quantum biology in the blog.


Selected stable carbon isotope measurements published in Radiocarbon over a 12-year period have been abstracted, plotted, and summarized, to give more reliable estimates of the mean value and range of δ13C for five classes of natural material (human bone collagen, non-human animal bone collagen, plant materials, wood, and charcoal), and to provide a firmer base line for stable carbon isotope dietary and environmental studies.


LINDA LAIKRE,∗ FRED W. ALLENDORF,† LAUREL C. ARONER,† C. SCOTT BAKER,‡ DAVID P. GREGOVICH,§ MICHAEL M. HANSEN,∗∗ JENNIFER A. JACKSON,‡ KATHERINE C. KENDALL,†† KEVIN McKELVEY,‡‡ MAILE C. NEEL,§§ ISABELLE OLIVIERI,∗∗∗ NILS RYMAN,∗ MICHAEL K. SCHWARTZ,‡‡ RUTH SHORT BULL,† JEFFREY B. STETZ,†† DAVID A. TALLMON,††† BARBARA L. TAYLOR,§ CHRISTINA D. VOJTA,‡‡‡ DONALD M. WALLER,§§§ AND ROBIN S. WAPLES∗∗∗∗ ∗Department of Zoology, Division of Population Genetics, Stockholm University, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden †Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, U.S.A. ‡Marine Mammal Institute and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Newport, OR 97365, U.S.A. §Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, 3333 N. Torrey Pines Court, La Jolla, CA 92038, U.S.A. ∗∗Department of Biological Sciences, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark ††Ecologist, 2730 Columbia Falls Stage Road, Columbia Falls, MT 59912, U.S.A. ‡‡USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 800 E. Beckwith Avenue, Missoula, MT 59801, U.S.A. §§Departments of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, and Entomology, 2116 Plant Sciences Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, U.S.A. ∗∗∗University of Montpellier 2, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Place eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France †††Biology & Marine Biology Program, University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, AK 99801, U.S.A. ‡‡‡USDA Forest Service, 1400 Independence Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20250, U.S.A. §§§Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A. ∗∗∗∗National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake Boulevard East, Seattle, WA 98112, U.S.A.


The article introduce the accelerated degenerating test on reinforced concrete component by the method of reinforcement accelerated corrosion through current and study on the strengthened component by CFRP after degeneration.The condition of mechanical property degenerating and the result of strengthening by CFRP are studied and the reliable conclusion are also put forward after contrasting with the mechanical prop-erty of control,degenerated and strengthened component.


Constructability should be an important objective in all phases of a construction project, and designers play an important role in achieving superior constructability. Most projects, however, do not receive constructability input though prior research has demonstrated the benefits of such input. One reason for this lack of constructability input, we argue, is the lack of formal, explicit constructability knowledge bases that link constructability issues to design decisions and that can be made available on-line to interested parties. This paper describes research that compiled and formalized constructability knowledge related to reinforced concrete structures. To ensure appropriate and specific constructability input, we classified the knowledge by construction methods and structural elements. To make this specific knowledge available to designers at the right time during design development, we further divided it into the five groups: application heuristics, layout knowledge, dimensioning knowledge, detai...


Marchantia polymorpha has been associated with many pharmaceutical applications in Asian countries, such as treating inflammation, liver disease, open wounds, boils, fractures, insect and snake bites, etc. This study investigated the phytochemical of M. polymorpha grown in Lam Dong Province. The acetone extract of M. polymorpha was applied to silica gel column chromatography to obtain five compounds. Their chemical structures were elucidated by using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy, as well as by the comparison of their NMR data with reported ones. Five compounds were elucidated as (Z)-dimethomorph ( 1 ), (E)-dimethomorph ( 2) , methyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid ( 3 ), marchantin A ( 4 ), and quercetin ( 5 ).


The present invention relates to synchronizing settings in the home control system, such as lighting scene settings for a lighting system having a plurality of optical units. The basic idea of the invention is to network the lighting scene settings of the home control system such as a device such as an optical unit and the like, and a control apparatus for controlling a plurality of network devices synchronize. Embodiments of the present invention to provide a synchronization control system of the home device settings (Sync), comprising: a memory (12) for setting one or more storage devices of the home control system (L1-L9); a communication means (14) for receiving, from the home control system, a control device (RC3-RC4) signal (16) and a transmission signal (18) to control the home device control system (RC3-RC4); and a processor (10), by transmitting a synchronization signal (18), synchronization settings of the home control system stored in the signal (16) received by the control device (RC3, RC4) from the home control system. Thus, all of the control device can access all the settings. In particular, the user may utilize a control device to control all settings, and the need to remember which control device is provided which is stored.


The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the compromise of the aesthetic plane of Ricketts and the facial profile in patients without growth with open bite that go to the Dental Medical Center "Dr. Elinor Alvarado", Barquisimeto, Lara State. This study is located under the quantitative approach and as regards the nature of the work it is a descriptive field research. The population consisted of 70 patients. Through the intentional sampling, 10 non-growth patients with open bite malocclusion were selected, who underwent radiographic study of lateral cephalic skull and profile photographs. The cephalometric tracing included the Ricketts Aesthetic Plane and the NAPg angle; In turn, the anteroposterior facial profile was determined. After the analysis of the results, it was possible to conclude that there is a compromise of the aesthetic plane of Ricketts in patients without growth with open bite where a significant procheelia was observed, so it is recommended to include the study of this plane and the facial profile as a variable Routine diagnosis since it proved to be a reliable and determinant diagnostic tool in the proper treatment of this malocclusion.


The ideological and political work is the soul of quality oriented education, and the adult students are shouldering heavy responsibilities of the ideological and political work in primary and middle schools. However, there are still some problems in their ideology, their political behaviour and their moral quality. In further education, we must carry out and strengthen the ideological and political work of the students with a clear aim.


The main ingredients of recent semi-analytic models of galaxy formation are summarised. We present predictions for the galaxy clustering properties of a well specified LCDM model whose parameters are constrained by observed local galaxy properties. We present preliminary predictions for evolution of clustering that can be probed with deep pencil beam surveys.


Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm(SFLA) is a new swarm intelligence optimization algorithm.Since basic shuffled frog leaping algorithm has low optimization precision and slow convergence speed,this paper proposes a Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm based on neighborhood Orthogonal Crossover Operator(SFLA-OCO).Simulation results show that the new algorithm improves not only the convergence speed but also the global seach abilities.


This paper studies the time series prediction problem. Artificial intelligence methods are applied to two different time series in order to compare their effectiveness and their producing results. The applied methods are based on the Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) algorithms and the hybrid method of GMDH and Genetic Algorithms, i.e. Genetics-Based Self-Organising Network (GBSON). Finally useful conclusions and the advantages and disadvantages of each method are stated.


Four distinct levels are experienced by a train that operates in an energy efficient manner. These are: energy saving time tabling, energy efficient driving, energy saving planning, and real time multi-train coordination. Train coordination can enhance some system performances, such as, the efficient utilization of regenerative energy. This paper presents a method of coordinating trains that operate in a completely automatic way, by altering the running time between railroad stations. This method results in an increase in the use of regenerative energy.


Objective To describe the distribution and its management of the food waste from by the catering business in Beijing, provide the basis for the development of strategies on food waste management. Methods A descriptive epidemiological study was conducted, and all of 218 catering units were investigated by questionnaire". The questionnaire contained full information on general situation of the catering unit, food waste production. Results The total daily food waste amount was 14822.9 kg. Daily food waste per capita and per meal was associated with different unit categories and meals: Large catering units had most food waste, whereas fast-food restaurant and snack shops had least food waste.Dinner produced the most food waste, while breakfast produced the least food waste. Food waste production tended to be the least during November to February of next year, and increased to the largest amount during June to September. Only42.2% of the catering units classified the food waste, the percent for kitchen waste and waste oil were 85.9% and 14.1%.54.1% of the food residue was disposed safely, of which the proportion of resource utilization was 28.7%. Conclusion Food waste production was on a relatively high level in Beijing and the food waste classification rate and resource utilization rate needed improve. Recommendations included decreasing the source of food waste and make classification of the food waste from publicity, legislation, access to the catering business and regulatory aspects.


Erosion is one of the most serious agricultural problems in the world.It is a primary source of sediments that pollutes streams and fills reservoirs. Erosion also adds to the removal of valuable plant nutrients lost with runoff.There are many model developed to estimate the soil loss.All erosion models try to simulate the movement of sediment on a field or watershed.The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is an erosion model designed to predict the longtime average soil losses in runoff from specific field areas in specified cropping and management system.The objective of
the study was to evaluate the capability of the CREAMS model to simulate soil erosion from in a warm, humid climate.CREAMS (Chemical, Runoff, and Erosion from Agricultural Management Systems) model was developed by a team of USDA-ARS scientists to simulate the effect of management system on nonpoint source water pollution (Knisel et al., 1980).The model consists of three components which describe field hydrology, erosion and sedimentation, and chemistry. The CREAMS model was used to simulate erosion from an experimental plot, located 5.5 km south of Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.Surface runoff was sampled at 20-minute intervals and analyzed for sediment.Seven years of observed data (1 981 to 1987) were used to evaluate the capability of the model in simulating the sediment loss.In general the performance of the CREAMS model in simulating the sediment loss from a flat agricultural field with warm, humid climate is satisfactory.


We sincerely appreciate this editorial opportunity to present our thoughts on the changing concepts of scoliosis and other spinal deformities. The beginning of surgical correction of spinal deformity is marked with Paul Harrington introducing Harrington rod instrumentation in 1955.1 Since then a lot of progress has been made in various fields around spinal deformity management. Importance of early diagnosis has given birth to school screening, intrauterine detection of congenital spinal deformities, and genetic markers. The instrumentation technique progressed through generations from two-point fixation with H-rod, to segmental fixation using hooks with CD instrumentation or sublaminar Luque wiring, spinal and vertebral derotation using pedicle screws, anterior instrumentation, and a combination of any of these techniques. This has further developed into pelvic fixation for neuromuscular deformities, spinal osteotomies for rigid and severe deformities in post-tubercular patients and in adult scoliosis, and growing rods in infants permitting spinal growth. Evolution of neuromonitoring permits more aggressive deformity correction surgeries. Spinal deformity surgery is rightly considered 'Cinderella' in spinal surgery. However, we are still locked in the fact that the deformity surgery converts a physiological mobile spine into a long, rigid, fused spinal segment like a femur! Ideal goal of treatment should be correction of the deformity, but leave it mobile and functional. We are not even close to achieving that goal!


This study extends the of-balance sheet (OBS) banking literature to thrift OBS activities by empirically examining the motivation for thrift institutions to engage in various OBS activities, and to shed light on the risk-based capital requirement of thrift OBS activities. This is the first known study that addresses thrift OBS activities. A probit model is employed to test three hypotheses concerning the determinants of thrift OBS activities, namely, the regulatory tax hypothesis, the moral hazard hypothesis, and the market discipline hypothesis. In general, institutions engaging in off-balance sheet activities tend to be larger, better diversified, have higher capitalizations, hold a higher level of required reserves, and make a higher proportion of commercial and industrial loans. This study also found very strong support for market discipline hypothesis, weak support for regulatory tax hypothesis, and no support for moral hazard hypothesis.


A framework for climate change adaptation decision making by water and wastewater utilities is presented. The framework employs the classic event tree mechanism for defining risk events. In this application, empirically-based event trees are used to describe in detail the probabilistic pathways by which climate risk events can impact a utility, and to define the consequences of these events with and without adaptive actions. Depending on the level of analysis required, the size of the utility, and the availability of data inputs, event trees can be used both qualitatively and quantitatively to provide a robust framework to guide water utilities in their decision making for climate change.


To identify the genetic background of an avian H5N1 influenza virus and construct a system for reverse genetics of avian influenza,the H5N1 avian influenza virus isolated in Guangdong province,was cultured in chicken embryo eggs and purified by plaque test,and its proliferative characters were detected in MDCK cells.The 8 fragments of viral full genome were cloned by RT-PCR using H5N1 virus universal primer and sequenced.And then 8 fragments of H5N1 viral genome were inserted into the reverse genetic vector to construct the infectious clones of H5N1 avian influenza virus.The results showed that this H5N1 strain could proliferate effectively without trypsin and produce typical CPE in MDCK cells.The 8 fragments(PB2,PB1,PA,HA,NP,NA,M,NS) of this H5N1 strain are cloned by RT-PCR and identified by sequencing and analysis.The viral sequence reveal some novel mutations in the genome.The HA connecting peptides are multiple successive basic amino acid,can effective duplicating without trypsin,consistent with viral proliferative characters result in cell.Neither oseltamivir nor rimantadine resistant mutation in the genome is found.PCR and sequencing results indicated that the infectious clones of this H5N1 strain,which inserting 8 full-length genome fragments,are constructed.These researches identify the viral genetic background,establish reverse genetics system of avian influenza and provid research basis for further vaccines development of avian influenza.


A method to determine the harvesting time of kiwifruit with good quality was developed.It was found that fruits were in high quality when they were harvested at the time when the contents of soluble solid were less than 7.00%.They had the highest soluble solid contents after postmaturation to become edible,other indices such as vitamin C content,titrable acids,nutrients,edibility,and storage quality.Compared to the fruits with the contents of soluble solid,more than 7.00%,the final softening and rotting durations of the fruits were postpaned 15 and 27 days respectively.In practice saccharimeter could be used to measure the soluble solid contents.