On November 1, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center released details of a proposed alternative payment model for medical oncology care, called Oncology Care First (OCF), for public comment.1 The OCF model will succeed the Oncology Care Model (OCM), which will expire at the end of 2020. When it started in 2016, the OCM, which was voluntary, was important in oncology due to its emphasis on value-based care transformation. The OCM requires practices to implement the following care transformation activities for patients receiving systemic cancer treatment: (1) 24/7 patient access to a clinician who can view the medical record; (2) patient navigation services; (3) documentation of a care plan that contains all components of the National Academy of Medicine's Care Management Plan; (4) delivery of guideline-recommended care; (5) use of a federally certified electronic health record system; and (6) use of data for continuous quality improvement. There are currently 140 participating practices, which represents about 10% of US oncology practices. Because some of the largest multisite community and academic networks in the country are included, this represents about 25% of patients receiving systemic cancer treatment in the United States. Recognizing that care enhancements can be expensive and cumbersome to implement, the CMS provides OCM practices with upfront monthly payments of $160, in addition to standard fee-for-service, for each patient receiving systemic cancer treatment (chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, or hormonal treatment). Practices can use these funds to support care transformation by hiring patient navigators, social workers, and care coordinators; building acute care alternatives to the emergency department; implementing treatment pathway programs; and creating or licensing software for population management. Practices are incentivized to reduce costs of care via shared savings based on benchmark prices and quality measurement. Although it is still early, there is some evidence that the OCM features have led to reduced emergency department visits, intensive care unit admissions, and hospitalizations at the end of life,3 which provide value and improve the patient experience. The early experience with the OCM also reveals how difficult it is to actualize care transformation because it requires changes in technology, patient engagement, communications, personnel, workflow, data reporting, and perhaps at the most fundamental level, a change in culture and mindset. Building on the success of the OCM, the CMS structured the OCF model as a capitated model with upfront bundled population payments to cover both physician evaluation and management services and all the care enhancementsincludedintheOCM,plusoneadditional,new requirement: implementation of patient-reported outcomes for symptom monitoring during cancer treatment. Patient-reported outcomes in this context encompass serial patient surveys that systematically screen for symptoms and impaired physical function or mental health. Surveys on patient-reported outcomes can be administered electronicallyduringorbetweenvisitsviastand-alonesoftwareplatformsorthroughthepatientportalsofsomeelectronichealthrecordsystems,withreal-timealertstriggered tothecareteamtopromptoutreachwithinterventionsfor severe or worsening symptoms. Including patient-reported outcomes in cancer care is important for several reasons. More than 1.6 million people are diagnosed with cancer in the United States each year. The majority of patients receiving cancer treatment experience symptoms that interfere with daily functioning, and symptoms are a major driver of preventable emergency department visits; yet, clinicians substantiallyunderdetectthesymptomburdensoftheirpatients.4 Research demonstrates that proactively screening for patient-reported outcomes significantly improves symptom detection and control, quality of life, communication, and satisfaction with care; reduces emergency department and hospital visits; improves tolerability of chemotherapy; and improves overall survival.5-7 Moreover, reports on patient-reported outcomes can be aggregated to provide context and essential detail for comparative-effectiveness research, pragmatic trials, quality assessment, and safety surveillance of drugs. The absence of patient-reported information from clinical practice has been a missing piece for many of these areas. This gap prevents clinicians from answering fundamental questions patients want to know when making a treatment decision: "How much better do patients like me feel with this treatment?" or its corollary, "How poorly do patients like me typically feel?" An additional benefit of patient-reported outcomes software systems is that they can efficiently collect information about social determinants of health, food security, health behaviors, financial distress, and treatment adherence, thereby enabling customization of care to the needs of individual patients. The proposed OCF model incentivizes adoption of patientreported outcomes systems and has the potential to further align oncology practice with what matters to patients, payers, and the public. At a public session held by the CMS on November 4, 2019, several current participants in the OCM emphasized that the model design and payments should Ethan Basch, MD, MSc Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and Associate Editor, JAMA.


In springtime 1948, the President was in good high humor, cheerful, chipper, but also very busy. Among new appointments he named Perle Mesta to be the new minister to Luxembourg, an appointment of no great importance but remembered fondly because it inspired a hit Broadway musical, Call Me Madam, with music by Irving Berlin and starring Ethel Merman…


Numerous recent researches point out that religion has the most powerful influence on an individual's sexual behavior. It is thus established that religious and non-religious people differ not only in sexual behaviors, but also in attitudes and moral standards. One of the most well known constructs that include attitudes towards engaging in sexual relationships with no feeling of closeness and commitment is called sociosexuality. While most authors regard sociosexuality as a stable feature of personality, on the other hand, it is considered that religion increases with age. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between sociosexuality and religiosity with age, more specifically in emerging adulthood and adulthood. An additional aim was to determine whether religiosity and sociosexuality change with the age of the participant. The survey was conducted on a random sample of 344 people, of which 264 were females and 80 males. Participants were people from different regions of Croatia aged 18 to 55. Two questionnaires were applied in the study: Expanded multidimensional sociosexual orientation inventory and the Questionnaire of Religiosity. The obtained data indicate that there is a significant difference between the emerging adult and the adult age on the subscale of the short-term mating strategy but not on the subscale of attitudes towards the long-term strategy. Attitudes towards short-term mating strategy were more positive in adult participants than in the emerging adults group. In addition, adults had on average more previous sexual behaviors compared to emerging adults. The difference was not determined between emerging adult and adult participants in the results on the Questionnaire of Religiosity. When investigating the relationship between religiosity and sociosexuality, it has been found that participants who had achieved higher results on the Questionnaire of Religiosity, ie, more religious people have had negative attitudes towards the short-term mating strategy and lower results on previous sexual behavior. Participants who achieved higher results on the Questionnaire of Religiosity have had more positive attitudes towards long-term strategies.


The report has not undergone review accorded to official World Bank publications. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/the World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.


Theses of this dissertation thesis titled "Design of flexible manufacturing systems"deals with questions of usage of industrial engineering in practice, concretely in analysis and design of manufacturing systems in the mass customization environment. Dissertation thesis analyses the main competitive factors of manufacturing systems and as the main element defines the flexibility. Different manufacturing concepts are compared - computer integration, digital factory, Just in Time, Lean Production, Lean Management, Lean Consumption, Toyota Production System, Lean Six Sigma, World Class Manufacturing, World Class Business, Theory of Constraints (TOC), Fractal company, enterprise networks, segmented factory, modular factory, focused factory, virtual enterprises, Also the different approaches to design of manufacturing systems and their weaknesses are discussed The goals of the dissertation thesis are: Defining of the structure and elements of flexible enterprise, design of basic metrics for production flexibility measurement, design of integrated methodology for design of flexible factory, enhancement of structure and components of a flexible factory, proposal of basic metrics for measurement company flexibility, development of integrated mechanic of planning flexible factory, current methodology of production systems projecting to be finalized concerning elements of workers planning, their organization and involvement into continuous system of improving, connection of product development, technical preparation of production and projecting of productions systems into an integrated system, integration of systematic accesses (system engineering, project leading, DMAIC) with the methods of slim company and with the tools of dynamic simulation, methodic verification in practice.


Since the discovery of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) in the central nervous system of man, numerous attempts have been made t o determine its functional role. Available evidence indicates that this monoamine may serve as a neurotransmitter in specific pathways within brain and spinal cord. Serotonin is largely confined to vesicular structures in the axonal ramifications of certain neurons. ,z Enzymes for its synthesis and d e g r a d a t i ~ n , ~ as well as neuronal reuptake mechanisms for terminating its postsynaptic effects, are available in brain.4 There is indirect evidence in vitro5 as well as in the living animal6 ,7 to suggest that intraneuronal serotonin may be released during nerve stimulation. Furthermore, the microelectrophoretic application of this monoamine substantially alters the spontaneous firing rates of some neurons.8 I t remains uncertain, however, whether the postsynaptic actions of serotonin correspond to the effects of stimulating the presynaptic neurons. A relationship between serotonin and extrap y r a m i d a l function is suggested by both anatomic and behavioral observations. In man, highest serotonin concentrations occur in the striatum, thalamus, hypothalamus, substantia nigra, and other midbrain n ~ c l e i . ~ Brain serotonin levels are substantially reduced in parkins o n i a n Unilaterally placed mesencephalic lesions in several animal species induce extrapyramidal signs in the contralateral limbs and reduce serotonin concentrations in the ipsilateral striatum.' 2-1 Reserpine, which depletes brain serotonin as well as other monoamines, may produce parkinsonian symptoms both in man and in the experimental animal.' Conversely, tricyclic antidepressants such as imipramine and desmethylimipramine, which inhibit the uptake of serotonin into neural tissue and thus may act t o potentiate the effects of serotonin released into the synaptic cleft,4 9 reportedly ameliorate parkinsonian rigidity and tremor.' The foregoing observations suggest that pharmacoloBc attempts t o increase brain serotonin might have therapeutic value in patients with Parkinson's disease. Here we report clinical and biochemical effects of L-5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), the immediate precursor of serotonin, given in comb i n a t i o n w i t h a peripheral decarboxylase inhibitor, alpha-methyldopahydrazine (HMD), in I parkinsonian patients.


Recognizing the risk of disease to cultured and wild fish, including losses of fish products and fishing opportunities to the public and diminished economic returns to Great Lakes communities, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) established a policy that (1) encourages agencies to work toward controlling fish diseases in the Great Lakes basin, and (2) coordinates the fish-disease control programs of the fish management agencies. To implement this policy, the GLFC's Great Lakes Fish Disease Control Committee developed a Model Program for achieving fish-disease control objectives in the Great Lakes. The Model Program calls upon member agencies to classify salmonid fish hatcheries based upon disease history of all lots of fish on the station. Categories' of infectious disease are established based upon their presence (restricted) or absence (emergency) in the Great Lakes basin. Agencies are counselled to undertake all available measures to prevent the introduction of diseases not yet established in the Great Lakes basin. Measures to minimize the spread of or prevent the introduction of diseases are also recommended. These measures include procedures for detection, treatment, and/or appropriate disposition of affected fish.


Women in the developed world have different transport and travel patterns from men. Women are often involved in poorly resourced, highly complex, multiple-purpose trips (trip chaining); men tend to make single-purpose trips at higher cost and using superior modes of transport. These differences in transport and travel patterns are generated out of differential access by gender to economic resources, social resources and time resources. Women are time poor as a consequence of the disproportionate level of household tasks they are required to perform within present social structures. This research note identifies gaps in current UK social policy development around getting single mothers from welfare into work. It suggests a range of information technology based solutions which could assist single mothers in accomplishing the complex coordinatory task set them by the new policies on lone parenthood which need to be accompanied by improvements in transport if the `welfare to work' policy is to be successful.


An engine oil capacitor which allows a larger volume of oil to be used in an internal combustion engine without reducing fuel economy or increasing engine package size. Oil flow through the normal oil drainback holes (34) is partially restricted, resulting in a substantial quantity of oil being temporarily stored in the camshaft compartment (32), during engine operation.


The paper considers an important scientific and practical problem, aimed at the restoration and surface hardening of worn car parts, based on the use of electroerosive materials, including nanoscale particles.


The two dimensional electrophoresis(2-DE)technology was used to demonstrate the protein profile of leaves in peanut cultivar Luhua14.High quality and repeatable maps were obtained on according to TCA/acetone precipitation method with some improvement,such as sample extraction and dissolution,the pH rang of the immobilized gradient strips(IPG),the protein quantity of sample-loading and SDS-PAGE.This method and improvement will be helpful to proteomic research in peanut.


In VHDL it is difficult to implement mutual exclusion at an abstract level since atomic actions are required. A local status model and an arbiter model are presented to achieve mutual exclusion in VHDL. Shared data, protected by a mutual exclusion mechanism, cannot be modelled as a simple, resolved VHDL signal since no resolution function is able to return the correct value. By changing the signal type to a special record type this problem can be solved, using the arbiter model. The specification language Task Level VHDL (TLVHDL) has been developed to specify communication and synchronization mechanisms at an abstract level. In TLVHDL the abovementioned problems are not encountered. A back end compiler converts the abstract TLVHDL description into a VHDL specification, according to a chosen mutual exclusion model. All modifications are handled by the computer and are of no concern to the designer.


Learning media are developed based on the needs in learning to support the pursuit. Media needs in the banking industry because of material problems, inadequate school infrastructure. The study aimed to study the characteristics of the development of instructional media to strengthen the eco-literacy students at Al Islam 1 High School Surakarta. Development of learning media is included in R & D research (research and development) that can be done with the 4D model which consists of defining, designing, developing, and analyzing. Determination of the characteristics of the media is carried out on a set of definitions consisting of the initial analysis, task analysis, student analysis, and analysis. Analysis of instruments used in the form of draft interviews, questionnaires, questions, and NEP instruments. The subjects of the study were taken by purposive random sampling technique on the XI grade students totaling 50 students. The results of the study indicate the fact that learning media that need to be developed are made in the form of digital learning to support school facilities and are equipped with material specifically for ecosystems. Learning media as much as possible facilitates student practical activities so that they continue to carry out practicum outside the school, but still under the supervision of the teacher in the form of a database.


Abstract : Based on historical analysis and personal interviews with a number of aides and representatives of the grand ayatollah in Iran and Iraq since 2005, this report examines the role of Ayatollah Ali Hussaini Sistani in the democratization of post-Ba'athist Iraq.


The application of reliability analysis if investigated as a probabilistic approach to the assessment of ship's structural strength and to the establishment of design format for longitudinal strength. Reliability analysis is carried out for 34 tankers and bulk carriers for some failure modes such as tensile yielding, compressive buckling, ultimate strength of hull girder and fatigue failure. Reliability indices with respect to ship type and ship size are discussed and a target reliability index is suggested. System reliability is calculated for stiffened plate. The partial safety factors corresponding to the specified target reliability levels for the design format are obtained. Finally, a design format using partial safety factors is proposed to provide more uniform levels of safety.


Abstract The depth-wise depletion of soil organic carbon (OC), macro, micro, and secondary nutrients under the rice-wheat system has resulted in multi-nutrient deficiencies and a decline in crop productivity, emphasizing the replacement of rice-wheat with alternate cropping systems like maize-wheat, cotton-wheat, soybean-wheat, and moongbean-wheat to restore soil fertility and productivity. Long-term investigations (since 2016) revealed that there was a depth-wise decline in pH, EC, OC, and nutrients in soil profile (Udic Ustrochept, Inceptisols) among different cropping systems. The practice of deep-rooted cropping systems (maize-wheat and cotton-wheat) led to maximum OC, soluble calcium, and magnesium, while legume-based systems (especially soybean-wheat) led to maximum available phosphorus (30.86 kg ha−1), boron (0.49 mg kg−1), and DTPA-zinc (1.82 mg kg−1) in soil profile (0–120 cm). This system also led to the maximum surface soil OC, available phosphorus, soluble magnesium, DTPA-zinc, and boron. From the production point of view, soybean-wheat system (115.65 q ha−1) led to higher system grain productivity as compared to rice-wheat system (109.60 q ha−1). Therefore, the practice of alternative cropping systems like soybean-wheat and cotton-wheat helps in the build-up of nutrient status by playing a pivotal role in influencing the surface and depth-wise distribution of organic carbon and nutrients in the soil.


This study measures the efficiency of three different best management practices (BMPs) with and without the application of polyacrylamide (PAM) in three distinct regions of South Carolina. Sediment tubes, rock ditch checks (RDC), and rock ditch checks with washed stone (RDC-WS) were evaluated to determine the effects of adding PAM. These BMPs were placed within constructed channels on active highway construction projects. Half-inch rain events or greater that produced runoff were analyzed to determine the removal efficiency of these BMPs on turbidity and TSS. Analyses were conducted to not only determine the effects of PAM, but also each BMP. Results from this study demonstrate that treating construction runoff with combinations of BMPs and PAM reduces sediment discharge from active linear construction sites. Based on collected data, it was observed that both RDC and RDC-WS with a PAM treatment were most effective in reducing turbidity with an average turbidity decrease of 58-63%. Wattles with a PAM treatment reduced turbidity values on average by 36%. Without PAM, a small increase in turbidity by an average of 5% occurred for RDC-WS while RDCs showed a 57% increase. These increases are thought to be partially caused by resuspension of sediment in the channel. Wattles without PAM decreased turbidity by an average of 26%. Across the state, if no PAM was applied,


OF THE DISCLOSURE Biaxially-oriented polyester film base having uniform high optical density and free of pinholes or other opacity defects is produced by forming a dispersion of carbon black and polyvinylpyrrollidone (PVP) in ethylene glycol in a high shear mill, adding the dispersion along with polyester forming reactants to an ester exchange reactor, and carrying out the production of the polyester mon omer and its subsequent conversion to polyester prepoly mer and polyester in the presence of the dispersed carbon and PVP. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a process for uniformly dis persing carbon black particles in a liquid vehicle to form a stable dispersion and to manufacture of biaxially oriented, opaque polyester film base comprising said car bon black. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Many methods for producing opaque poly(ethylene ter ephthalate) foils, fibers, filaments, ribbons and other shaped bodies by means of dispersions of pigments, such as carbon black, and the like, are known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. 3,007,891, for example, teaches finely dispersed pigment-glycol dispersions prepared by using specific con densation products as dispersing agents in order to en hance the admixing of the dispersions into the reaction mixture used in the manufacture of foils of polyesters containing the pigment. British Pat. 1,202,636 teaches using high shear forces in forming pigment formulations from carbon black, diglycol terephthalate and a surfactant, and subsequently using the formulations to mass color a thermoplastic material, e.g. a polyester, which can be made into uniformly colored filaments or threads. Also, U.S. Pat. 3,002,942 teaches a formulation consisting of carbon black dispersed in ethylene glycol in the presence of an ionic dispersing agent which may be added to the reaction mass of a polyester forming process before or during the ester exchange or polycondensation process to manufacture a pigmented polyester which is useful for the manufacture of threads, fibers, and other shaped articles. Preparation of carbon black dispersions in ethyl ene glycol by ball milling for use in preparing a polyester and a film support of improved total diffuse density from the pigmented polyester is taught by U.S. Pat. 3,340,062. Also, U.S. Pat. 2,882,255 teaches modified linear poly esters containing from 5 to 40% by weight of a polymer derived in whole or in part from N-vinylpyrrollidone. The modified resins are used to make cast films and spun fibers having improved receptivity to cellulose acetate type dyes and to acid wool dyes. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION When finely-divided carbon black is milled in a dis persing mill under high shear conditions in a minimum amount of ethylene glycol vehicle, the highly concen trated dispersion has a tendency to form a gel in the mill, making further uniform dispersing of the carbon particles difficult. It has now been found that by carrying out the high-shear milling of carbon black, preferably a furnace 10


This article provides empirical evidence of policy adoption, outcomes and consequences of decentralization and school autonomy initiatives enacted in Argentina during the 1990s. The study examines what school autonomy meant in Argentina and how it was adopted at the provincial and school levels. Using qualitative data on school districts of the Greater Buenos Aires, the study analyzes the role that organizational and political factors play in the implementation of school autonomy reform. Given that previous studies showed that reform praxis varies across environments, this research looks comparatively at the outcomes of the reform process across organizational systems (i.e. provincial and former national) and diverse local sociopolitical environments.


One kind of switchable, tri-band, terahertz linear polarizing rotator is presented in this paper, which consists of sandwiched metal chiral metamaterial structure composed of twisted electric field-coupled resonators in C4 symmetry and a VO2 film on substrate for active controlling. The polarizing rotation is switchable with the state change of VO2 from an insulator to metal. Simulated results consistently demonstrate that the switchable rotator exhibits extremely low loss, high polarization conversion ratio and optical activity at the three resonance frequencies. The influence of different geometric parameters of the chiral metamaterial structure is investigated to optimize the multiband rotating response of the polarizing rotator. This switchable terahertz metamaterial-based rotator has various potential applications in terahertz wave controlling and the terahertz functional devices.


As the magnetic data storage industry continues to pursue aggressive miniaturization of sensors and write elements in thin-film recording heads, it faces serious thermal management challenges. The present work develops theoretical models of heat conduction and power dissipation in current-in-plane and current-perpendicular-to-plane sensors to highlight key physics and help examine the influence of various parameters. Fundamental physics of heat conduction in thin films and across interfaces is discussed to facilitate systematic exploration of novel high thermal conductivity materials and methods to minimize the thermal interface resistance. Experimental techniques for thermal characterization of recording heads and constituent thin films are also presented.


This paper constitutes a brief introduction to the main topics dealt with at a panel on "International Norm-Making on Forced Displacement: Challenges and Complexity", held at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law in March 2012. The panel highlighted normative developments to address climate change and other forms of forced displacement; the use and legal significance of soft law in international refugee law; and the relevance and implementation of the principle of international cooperation with respect to refugee protection.


Fundamental to the study of turbogenerator shaft torsional vibrations, as occur in subsynchronous resonance and high speed reclosing, is the calculation of the characteristic frequencies and associated mode shapes of the vibrations. A calculation procedure is discussed which is based on distributed ed system concepts and does not require matrix eigenvalue-eigenvector routines as does the conventional method based on lumped inertia and compliance. The procedure is of value in the analysis and simulation of torsional vibrations.


Introduction The REDUCe study is a mixed methods feasibility randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing palliative long term abdominal drains (LTAD) with standard care, recurrent large volume paracentesis (LVP) in advanced cirrhosis and refractory ascites (RA), where ineligible for liver transplantation (LT). Qualitative findings are reported here. Methods Multicentre feasibility RCT with 1:1 randomisation between LTAD vs. LVP with 12 weeks follow up. This was a concurrent embedded qualitative study using telephone interviews with patients and health care professionals (HCP). All patient participants were offered an interview conducted post randomisation at a time preferred by them. The interviews explored experiences of participation (LTAD/LVP), benefit/risks and end of life care (EoLC). Thematic data analysis was supported by NVIvo software. Results A total of 14 patient (LTAD n=6, LVP n=8) and eight HCP (five community and three hospital nurses) interviews were conducted. An additional five participants died rapidly. Interview uptake by patient participants was 88%. Two (14%), seven (50%) and five (36%) of the patient interviews occurred in the first, second and third month respectively after randomisation. LTAD appeared to transform multiple aspects of the patient pathway. Perceived benefits revolved around mitigating practical challenges associated with navigating hospital services, avoiding the tedium of lengthy waits inside the hospital and the inconvenience of spending whole days out of the house. Those in the LVP group expressed they would have preferred the LTAD. LTAD participants reported acceptability of the drain insertion process and aftercare. LTAD appeared to promote independence and mobility. However, one participant and two nurses reported temporary leakage problems which caused embarrassment and distress. Interviews suggested that continuity of care across the community and hospital was key. Regular home visits/telephone consultations provided valuable emotional support to patients/carers. Although the study participants had a limited life expectancy, nurse interviewees reported that some appeared not to have fully assimilated this information, and sometimes understood the LTAD as part of on-going active treatment rather than palliative care. Conclusions Participants and nurses expressed acceptability of palliative LTAD, and preference for this approach in enabling receipt of care at home. Study design enabled participation for patients with advanced cirrhosis. Some individuals however remained unaware of their limited life expectancy and palliative management. LTAD merit further assessment in advanced cirrhosis.


A series of experiments devoted to the study of the neutron‐rich N∼426 region have been performed at GSI, Darmstadt, within the Rare Isotopes Investigations at GSI (RISING) project. The highlights of the experimental results from these highly successful experiments include the first observation of excited states in three neutron‐rich N = 126 closed shell nuclei: (i) In 205Au79 the conversion electron decay of the πh11/2−1 seconds lived isomeric state into the πd3/2−1 ground‐state has been observed. In addition the yrast structure has been established up to spin‐parity (19/2+) via the observation of the decay of an isomeric state with configuration π(h11/2−1)10(s1/2−1); (ii) In 204Pt78, the yrast sequence has been observed following the internal decay of Iπ = (5−), (7−) and (10+) isomeric states; (iii) In 203Ir77 excited states have been observed following the decay of an isomeric state with structure 'similar' to that in its 205Au isotone. Shell model calculations have been performed in order to get a dee...


Background Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have widely been used in advanced cancer. However, these drugs may also lead to serious adverse events. The present meta-analysis aimed to determine the overall incidence and risk of deaths due to VEGFR-TKIs with more detailed subgroup analysis. Materials and methods PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared VEGFR-TKIs with non-VEGFR-TKIs in the treatment of solid cancer. Pooled incidence, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random-effects or fixed-effects models based on the heterogeneity of included trials. Results A total of 14,139 participants from 41 RCTs were enrolled. The pooled incidence of death due to VEGFR-TKIs was 1.9% (95% CI: 1.6%–2.3%) with an OR of 1.85 (95% CI: 1.33–2.58; P<0.01) when compared with control groups. On subgroup analysis, significantly increased risk of death was found in patients with nonsmall-cell lung cancer (OR: 2.37; 95% CI: 1.19–4.73; P=0.01) and colorectal cancer (OR: 2.84; 95% CI: 1.02–7.96; P=0.05). Among different VEGFR-TKIs, sorafenib and sunitinib had significant risk of death when compared with control arms, respectively. VEGFR-TKIs in combination with other antineoplastic agents, but not VEGFR-TKI monotherapy, significantly increased the risk of treatment-related deaths. No heterogeneity was noted across all the prespecified subgroups regarding ORs. Conclusion The present work pointed out a significantly increased risk of death due to VEGFR-TKIs. Close monitoring should be emphasized in patients receiving these drugs.


During 10 years from 1996 to 2006,Women International of Social Party has held more than 30 conferences focused on eradicating any behavior damaging women rights and striving for their rights in universal rules,development and equality.She also thinks that the rise of new liberalism implementation of country-administrating concept,lack of educational resources,as well as the stereotypes of traditional society engender serious practices of damaging women rights expressed in violence,sex maltreatment,unemployment,child labor,diseases and migration.The main approaches to protecting women rights include:improve their educational levels,economic status,technique experiences and medical care;perfect national laws and international treaty assuring women's rights and take coordinating role into full play of United Nations,International of Social Party together with their member party and governments of all levels to integrate world resources.


Abstract This article focusses on Fatma Shanan, one of the groundbreaking Druze women artists in Israel. The article presents an analysis of four of the artist's self-portraits, made between the years 2010–2017, relating to Shanan's work as an emotional process. The authors examine how the artist relates to the complexity of her experience as a woman and as an artist active within the patriarchal Druze community and as a woman artist from an ethnic minority acting in the Israeli Western-oriented artworld. The article looks at her struggle through her intersectional experience and studies the strategies of action she has used in this struggle, focusing on the artist undergoing process of transformation from being a young student and artist (functioning under this multiple oppression) to her identification of herself as an individual artist and a pioneering feminist.


The process of the senescence in Oryza glaberrima Steud. strains and Oryza sativa L. cultivars were examined in terms of SPAD value(chlorophyll content) and photosynthetic rate. SPAD values and photosynthetic rates of flag leaves for 10 genotypes of each species was measured at the 1, 3 and 5 weeks after heading. SPAD values and photosynthetic rates of O. glaberrima strains tended to decrease rapidly after heading. O. sativa cultivars showed slower decrease as compared to O. glaberrima strains, in particular during the period from 1 to 3 weeks after heading. Although there was no significant difference between the two species in the mean value of photosynthetic rate and SPAD value at 1 weeks after heading, O. glaberrima had lower values after 3 weeks after heading. There were significant positive correlation coefficients between the photosynthetic rate and the SPAD value at 1 and 3 weeks after heading for O. glaberrima strains, and at 1 and 5 weeks after heading for O. sativa cultivars. There were significant positive correlation between the decreasing rates of the photosynthetic rates and the decreasing rates of the SPAD values at the period from the 1 to 3 weeks after heading for both species. At the period from 3 to 5 weeks after heading, only O. glaberrima showed a significant correlation between two traits, indicating that rapid decrease in chlorophyll content would affect the photosynthesis in O. glaberrima.


The traction blockade in the depots of multiple electric multiple units (EMUs) is caused by the low-frequency oscillation (LFO) of high-speed railway traction network overvoltage. To suppress LFO, a strategy for optimizing the load characteristics of EMUs rectifier using the auto-disturbance rejection control (ADRC) is put forward. First, a first-order mathematical model is established to describe the characteristics of EMUs rectifier. Second, the nonlinear state observer and feedback control law are designed for state observation and disturbance estimation. By constructing a new nonlinear state-error feedback function, the ADRC is improved. This function's convergence effect is better than the linear state-error feedback function, and it can solve the problem of the jitter problem of control force to some extent. Third, the outer-loop controller for pulsewidth modulation (PWM) rectifier voltage is designed. The improved ADRC can effectively deal with the contradiction between overshoot and rapidity. Its performance is better than the traditional proportional integral (PI) controller, which is applied in all of the EMUs at present. Finally, the full model of EMUs-traction network electrical coupling system (ETNECS) is constructed. Compared with multivariable controller, the simulation results show that the improved ADRC can ensure the ETNECS stability and suppress the LFO more efficiently.


1. Introduction 2. Training session for staff 3. How to deliver the programme and structure of the sessions 4. The Activities 5. Guidelines for building a whole school approach to flourishing and involving parents 6. Recommended reading, references and web resources


Monitor system of explosion pressure for internal combustion engine(ICE) is developed based on the MCS-51 microcontroller.The system realizes acquisition of explosion pressure,calculation for explosion pressure and pressure rise rate,display on the LED and communication with the host computer.With timer interrupt mode,the system may achieve acquisition of explosion pressure with no crank angle signal.Test results prove that the system meets the monitor requirements while I.C.E in different conditions and gets good results.


The American Cancer Society estimates that this year there will be approximately 1.9 million new cases of cancer and nearly 610,000 cancer‐related deaths. The need for new and innovative anticancer drugs is increasingly crucial. One attractive anti‐cancer target is tubulin, which is involved in many cellular functions including cell shape, mitosis, migration, and movement of organelles. While anti‐tubulin drugs have been used to treat cancer for ~70 years, they tend to be complex molecules (derived from natural products), plus suffer from multi‐drug resistance, low solubility, toxicity issues, and/or the lack of multi‐cancer efficacy. These limitations highlight the continued need for the discovery and development of new and novel drugs to enter the pipeline, especially with the significant increase in understanding of tubulin and the mode of action of inhibitors.


The fabricated In-doped ZnO gas sensors with different ratios (1, 5 and 10 %) were successfully synthesized via sol gel technique. ZnO is a sensitive material to different kinds of gases especially to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). The morphological structures of the prepared ZnO were revealed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns exhibited a highly crystallized wurtzite structure and were used for identifying phase structure and chemical state of both ZnO and ZnO doped with In. The gas sensitivity and voltage are measured as a function of temperature for the fabricated In-doped and un-doped ZnO gas sensor devices for the LPG gas. The maximum sensitivity is recorded at Zn/In = 95:5 is 111%. This concentration has a good voltage variation. By increasing the load resistances the voltage will decreases.


Photoswitching of conductance through both stable isomers of salicylidene methylamine was investigated using nonequilibrium Green's function method combined with density functional theory. This study demonstrates how the optically induced intramolecular proton transfer between the hydroxyl group and the amino group of salicylidene methylamine can lead to molecular size photodiode with on/off current ratio of 1 order of magnitude. It was further elucidated that the optical switching alone is not sufficient to realize the molecular switch. Of primary importance was found to be the anchoring between the molecule and the metal electrodes. When the anchoring groups were connected to the benzene ring in para-orientation, minimal on/off current ratio was estimated. When the anchoring groups were connected to the benzene ring in meta-orientation, 1 order of magnitude on/off current ratio was calculated. Molecular orbital analysis was successfully employed to elucidate the difference in the photoswitching properti...


Previous papers in this series have dealt with the fractionation and activity of ,-glucuronidase in mouse-liver suspensions ('homogenates'). Identical fractionation of the enzyme was achieved by centrifuging at high speeds or by buffering to slightly acid pH. The sedimentable fraction was associated with subcellular particles of all sizes, and these were agglutinated in acid buffers. In water suspensions (Kerr & Levvy, 1951; Walker & Levvy, 1951), the sedimentable fraction was fully active at the usual tissue concentrations employed for ,B-glucuronidase assay with phenolphthalein glucuronide, and accounted for slightly less than half the total enzyme activity in preparations of normal adult liver. In suspensions ofmouse liver prepared in isotonic media (Walker, 1952), nearly all the enzyme was in the sedimentable fraction. These preparations, however, did not display full glucuronidase activity until some measure of disruption of the subeellular particles had occurred, with release of part of their enzyme content to the solution. This process of activation was irreversible, andwas considered to be due to readier access of the substrate to the enzyme remaining in the particles. Soluble enzyme in mouse-liver suspensions was fully active under all conditions of assay. In this connexion, soluble enzyme was defined as that fraction which was not sedimented after 15 min. at 25 000 g nor precipitated by acetate buffer, and which gave optically clear preparations under the phase-contrast microscope (Walker & Levvy, 1951). A similar approach has been made to the study of ,-glucuronidase in rat liver, in which part of the enzyme is known to be precipitable at acid pH (Becker & Friedenwald, 1949). A complication was encountered at an early stage due to reversible inhibition of soluble and insoluble enzyme by material present in the tissue.


This study evaluates the interpersonal problem-solving abilities of 5-8 years old children in terms of different variables. The differentiation of interpersonal problem solving skills of 5-8 years old children attending preschool and 1st grade of primary school according to the demographic characteristics (child's gender, parents' age, parents' education, parents' occupation) was investigated. From among the quantitative research methods the survey model was employed. The research study group is composed of 5-8 years old children during the 2020-2021 school year in independent kindergarten, preschool and the first two grades of primary school, which are affiliated with the Directorate of National Education in Ercis District of Van-Turkey. The data of the research was collected by the "Personal Information Form" developed by the researcher and the "Child Interpersonal Relations and Attitudes Assessment (CIRAA)" developed by Holliman (2010) which was adapted to Turkish after being tested for validity and reliability. 452 children were subjected to the "Child Interpersonal Relations and Attitudes Assessment (CIRAA)" and "Personal Information Form" during the data collection process. Materials in the scale were directed to only one of the parents of 452 children and the answers given were marked. According to the research results, children's interpersonal problem-solving abilities differ significantly in terms of gender as a variable. It has been observed that the interpersonal problem-solving abilities of children differs significantly in terms of the occupation of the father, as well as the the age and education level of the mother. In subsequent studies, comparative studies are recommended, together with the measurement tools applied by children.


Skeletal dysplasias induced by mutations in the collagen 2 gene (the so‐called "type 2 collagenopathies") form a wide spectrum in severity and are distinguished by subtle clinical and radiographic differential signs. The unifying features are predominant involvement of the vertebral bodies and the epiphyses of the long bones ("spondylo‐epiphyseal" pattern). A mild degree of metaphyseal dysplasia can be seen in the so‐called Strudwick variant of spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia and is generally mild or absent in other forms.


It is the premise for colleges and universities to promote their Marxism theory education,propaganda and popularization,and teacher team construction.We should fully understand the current socialist core value system and its popularization,recognize the importance and the requirements of team construction,and actively explore the effective ways to build the teams.


Resources and capabilities that align with the demands of the environment in which an organization operates conduce to successful performance. Physical, human, and organizational capital resources that are valuable, rare, inimitable, and organizable can provide the firm with unique capabilities that lead to competitive advantage and value creation. Seven generic strategic capabilities are related to organizational success. These are service quality; visionary leadership; innovation and creativity; selection and retention of good staff with good technical skills; credibility, integrity, and honesty; excellent differentiated products or services; and adaptability and flexibility. Dynamic capabilities are defined generally as the ability of the firm to reconfigure its resources in changing times and thus allow the organization to adapt and evolve. Specific dynamic capabilities include team and product development processes; customer retention; leadership; organizational culture; redeployment of assets; strategic thinking; and knowledge management. Hard and soft business success measures are profitability, growth, improved teamwork, customer and employee satisfaction, and quality. There is very little literature reporting empirical testing of the relationship between resources, capabilities, and success. Thus the authors discuss the findings of the few studies that have done so, and they deduce from them that the relationship between capabilities and success is a complex one. This is because a common thread across all the studies is that many capabilities are linked to many success measures in a complicated matrix of statistically significant relationships. This suggests that in order for organizations to score highly on both financial and non-financial success measures, they need to deploy the many capabilities discussed in this chapter. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-0077-5.ch018


Under the influence of light, quinones are capable of undergoing numerous reactions. Some of the photochemical reactions (for example photochemical reduction) are components of important processes such as photosynthesis in green plants and photochemical degradation of materials coloured by vat dyes. Other photoinitiated reactions of quinones can also be of considerable theoretical and practical interest, since many of them have no analogues among dark chemical reactions. Attempts to survey the light-induced reactions of quinones were made outside the Soviet Union in 1947, 1967, and 1969, the last review dealing with o -quinones only. However, since the publication of these reports, a series of new photochemical reactions of quinones have been discovered and those already known have been investigated in greater detail, which has led to the revision of old views and to the appearance of new ones in this field. Bearing in mind these factors and the fact that similar reviews have not been published in the Soviet Union, we attempted to survey the published data (up to 1974 inclusive) and to demonstrate as fully as possible the entire wide variety of the photochemical reactions of quinones. Equal attention has been devoted both to the primary photochemical steps and to the secondary processes leading to the final photolysis products.


The conversion of the diphenylphosphine complex [Ru2(CO)4(µ-O2CEt)2(PPh2H)2]1 into the diphenylphosphido complex [Ru2(CO)6(µ-PPh2)2]2 under a pressure of CO and the conversion of 2 into the ethyldiphenylphosphine complex [Ru2(CO)4(µ-O2CEt)2(PPh2Et)2]3 in the presence of ethylene and water have been studied; high-yield syntheses for the known complex 2 are also reported.


: Amorphous MoS 2 thin films have been prepared by thermal deposition on glass, quartz, and FTO substrates and investigated by UV-VIS – NIR spectroscopy. The type of substrate has a minor impact on the film's spectral absorption and band gap values. The investigation of MB – dye degradation by MoS 2 catalyst under UV – irradiation demonstrates high efficiency of 86%. MoS 2 films deposited on glass substrates have been experienced as CO 2 , HCl, and I 2 gas sensors. The films revealed promises for CO 2 sensing at high temperatures (T ≥ 300 ℃ ) in terms of relatively good response ( ~ 3 min) and moderate recovery of ~ 12 min. Besides, MoS 2 films revealed a quick response within 1 min for both HCl and I 2 gases, while their entire recovery needs a time period longer than one hour.


Contaminated water flowing from abandoned mines is one of the most significant contributors to water pollution. Acid mine drainage (AMD) can have severe impacts on aquatic resources, can stunt terrestrial plant growth and harm wetlands, contaminate groundwater, raise water treatment costs, and damage concrete and metal structures. Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) are one of the passive treatment technologies widely accepted for sustainable in situ remediation of contaminated groundwater and may be used in the management of localised seepage plumes from mine residues that contaminate shallow groundwater. These barriers provide chemical interactions with AMD as the polluted water flows through it. The ability of PRBs to remediate contaminants is dependent on the type of reactive material used. Some of the reactive media remove contaminants through physical contact while others work by altering the biogeochemical processes in the treatment zone, thus providing conditions conducive for contaminant immobilization or (bio) degradation. A variety of materials has been employed to remove contaminants including heavy metals, chlorinated solvents, aromatic hydrocarbons, and pesticides. This paper gives an overview of the PRB technology, which includes the advantages and limitations of the PRB, the types of reactive materials used, laboratory treatability tests used to evaluate suitable reactive materials and to aid in the designing and the implementation of the PRB and the installations schemes used in PRB field application.


J H Ferziger and H G Kaper Amsterdam: North-Holland 1972 pp xiii + 578 price Hfl 120 This book has developed out of a postgraduate course for various categories of engineers and physicists concerned with the theory of transport processes in gases. Hitherto research workers entering this field have relied heavily on two well known standard works both of which present some difficulties to the reader on account of the abstruse or condensed nature of their mathematical arguments.


A H-shape is a tree with exactly two of its vertices having maximal degree 3. In this paper, we show that 2≤λ1 (H)<√ 5, where λ1 (H) is the spectral radius of H.


Mineral matter transformation is a specific property of coal which is crucial to the suitability during combustion or gasification. Three low-temperature ashes (LTA) were prepared by incinerating three coals at low temperature (<200 °C) in an electronically excited oxygen plasma which is considered as the most efficient method to remove the organic matter of coal. High-temperature X-ray diffraction (HT-XRD) was applied to analyze the in situ mineral transformation of LTA during the heating process with quantitative determination using the reference intensity ratio method. The fusion characteristics of the ashes were studied by ash fusion temperature test. Thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry was used to acquire both the mass and heat signal from which we can analyze different reaction phases. The results show that weight loss rate reaches most in the temperature range 400–800 °C during which kaolinite decomposes and then calcite later. After 800 °C, different matters recrystallize formi...


Part 1 Customer service in context: evaluating the profitability of customer service, Merlin Stone delivering service internationally, Merlin Stone and Alison Bond delivering competitive advantage, Laurie Young business process re-engineering, Bill Martin the role of benchmarking, Allan Trayes a framework for delivering service, Peter Murley the role of logistics, James Ensor "Due diligence", Peter Murley. Part 2 Measuring, modelling, planning: using customer surveys, Peter Murley standards, measures and performance indicators, Allison Grant focus groups, Julia Hall mystery shopping, David Limbrick activity based costing, Nick Gazzard delivering customer service through projects, David Honey. Part 3 Marketing customer service: customer service as a product, Jan E. Smith lifetime values and database marketing, Kevin Gavaghan using the customer database, Merlin Stone direct marketing, Tony Williams telemarketing, Peter Murley encouraging customer feedback, Charles Weiser public sector service standards, Merlin Stone. Part 4 The cultural dimension: culture - the prime differentiator, Christine Barclay new strategies for customer service, Laurie Young roles not jobs, Paul Chapman quality as a mind-set, Tony Bendell and Roger Penson using control groups, Peter Murley internal service for internal customers, Howard Kendall learning from successful companies, Jane Carroll. Part 5 The human ingredient: selection NOT recruitment, Stephanie Craig incentivizing success, Peter Murley the training journey, David Harris accreditation, Elizabeth Harris empowerment, Colin Apthorpe teamwork - the FedEx experience, Thomas O'Hearn. Part 6 Making the most of technology: the Call-Centre concept, Eve Carwardine harnessing technology, Martin Meikle-Small toll-free and local charge rates, Jamie Clyde meeting the fulfilment challenge, Peter Hardingham forecasting volumes in a Call Centre, Peter Murley using telephone techniques, Mary Ann Moran.


With the increase of Web services on the Internet, the services available to users have also become diversified. How to quickly and accurately provide the appropriate services for users has become a research hotspot. Therefore, this paper proposes a service composition optimization method based on the extended Petri net. This method realizes the automatic mapping from the user functional requirements to the service process of the abstract layer firstly. Secondly, the user's non-functional requirements constraints are labeled on the service process by means of the service contract semantics of the extended Petri net, and then the service composition optimization model is fully and accurately defined. At last, in order to efficiently solving the optimization model, the SCoriented fuzzy matching algorithm and the SC-oriented service composition optimization genetic algorithm are designed. The proposed method can quickly and accurately provide the highquality service solutions for users.


lslamic banking has gained its foothold in Malaysia since the early 1980s. Ever since its establishment, various lslamic banking products have been introduced and practised in Malaysia.One of the products is lslamic partnership product of venture capital facility using Musharakah or Mudarabah. It is a trite practice that for lslamic banking product to be legal and shariah compliant, the product must fulfill the requirements of the shariah (Islamic law) and Malaysian law.Under the Malaysian law, Partnership Act 1961 (Act 135)('PA1) governs the creations and existence of all partnership undertakings.However, there is no corresponding statute which controls the creations of lslamic partnership products including the Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital.Pursuant to the provisions under the Civil Law Act 1956 (Act 67)(Revised - 1972), unless there is a written law, the applicable law for states in Malaysia for the partnership undertaking is the law of England as that enforced in 1956 (for states in Malaya), 1951 (for Sabah) and 1949 (for Sarawak).As there is a written law on partnership viz the PA, then the PA, being the written law, will be the governing law.The issue is this: Does Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital, being an Islamic partnership, likewise subject to the PA? There is nothing in the PA to indicate that Islamic Partnership falls under it.Nevertheless, the lslamic Financial Services Act 2013 (Act 759)('IFSA1) provides that all lslamic banking products must comply with Shariah (Islamic Law). Hence, Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital must comply with the requirements of the Shariah to become a shariah compliant product.But, how if Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital does not comply with the requirements of the PA? Will this not affect the validity of Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital and thus it cannot be enforceable in the Malaysian court of law? This paper will highlight the intricacies and issues in the provisions of the existing PA with regard to the Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital.The research methodology of this paper is a hybrid of shariah and legal research methods.The authors will also provide some suggestions in dealing with the intricacies and issues to warrant the validity of the Musharakah/Mudarabah Venture Capital, both in the law and shariah perspectives.


In this note we introduce and consider new types of categories: 54-categories and their particular cases 5-affine categories and 5-affine Grothendieck categories, whose connection with the categories of affine modules (see [1]) is in a certain sense analogous to the connection of additive Abelian and Grothendieck categories with the category of modules. The theory we develop is in many ways parallel to the theories of Abelian and additive categories. A key role in this theory is played by Theorem 1, which is used to obtain all the main results. Theorem 2 generalizes the result of Zhozhikashvili [1]. The place of the Gabriel-Popescu theorem ([2], 169) in the affine case is taken by Theorem 3. Theorem 5 is analogous to the standard result of Barr [3], which states that an exact additive category is Abelian. Various characterizations of the categories of affine modules are given in Theorems 4 and 6. All rings are assumed to be associative and to have identity elements, modules are left unitary, functors covariant. If Λ is a ring, we denote by Αΐί-R the category of all affine modules over R, and by Mod-Λ the category of all modules over R. We say that Ji is an 5/4-category if: 1. Jt has a terminal object /; 2. for any pair A, Β e Obji the set Jl{A, B) of morphisms is a non-empty Abelian group with addition + and zero element 0^B> where for any / j , / 2 S Jt(A, B), £j, g2 e ji{B, Q (gi + gi)h = gift + 8Ji>


The Naranan interpretation of the original form of Bradford's Law does not follow from a stochastic argument based on his assumptions.


A technique of general anasthesia is described which has been used for trans‐bronchial lung biopsy in 100 patients. Sixty‐seven were day cases. An early pneumothorax was detected in four patients, but only one needed tube drainage.


Marketing Locally? Think Globally Marketing globally ... Think Global Act Local – What does it mean? This international marketing principle urges companies to have a consistent strategy when selling internationally (a global strategy) while adapting their tactical approach to the local market they are targeting (a local approach). It is a best practice approach used by nearly every successful international brand and can touch on almost every area of sales and marketing including product features, packaging, pricing, message, the types of sales ...


We study the transmission problem in bounded domains with dissipative boundary conditions. Under some natural assumptions, we prove uniform bounds of the corresponding resolvents on the real axis at high frequency and, as a consequence, we obtain regions free of eigenvalue. To this end, we extend the result of Cardoso et al. ["Distribution of resonances and local energy decay in the transmission problem. II," Math. Res. Lett. 6, 377 (1999)] under more general assumptions. As an application, we get exponential decay of the energy of the solutions of the corresponding mixed boundary value problems.


Abstract We measured field metabolic rate of nestling Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in northern Wisconsin, using doubly-labeled water. In inland northern Wisconsin and along the Wisconsin Lake Superior shore, eaglets aged 39–60 days, weighing 3.08–4.85 kg, expended an average of 2,427 ± 100 kJ day−1. Nestling field metabolic rate was weakly correlated with nestling age, but not with mass. Field metabolic rate of eaglets can be used to estimate the biomass of food that adult eagles must provide from their environment, a datum that is important for determination of habitat suitability.


This thesis aims to basis the lān-than-hi (or luantanxi in Mandarin) performance in Wu Yuehting's Graduate Concert, and discuss how differences between the ostentation of Pak-koan' music ('Beiguan' in Mandarin) and drama via the practice in lān-than-hi's. It is also illustrate the application of the music in Hok-lōo-hi and Pān-sian- hi and the music processing mode which adjusts in accordance to the actor/ actress' performance. Finally, this thesis will take for examples in Story of Poisonous Tea, to analyze the differences of the arrangement and melodic patterns.


Soil degradation and high environmental costs impede agricultural production in North China. A 6-year field experiment was conducted to determine the effects of tillage practice and nitrogen application rate on changes in soil fertility and wheat yield. Four tillage systems (rotary tillage without maize straw return through 6 years, RT; rotary tillage with maize straw return through 6 years, RS; deep tillage with maize straw return through 6 years, DS; and rotary tillage through 2 years followed by deep tillage next year with maize straw applied for two cycles, RS/DS) and three N levels (HN, 300 kg N ha−1, refers to traditional farming practice; MN, 0.75 × HN, 225 kg N ha−1, to recommended N rate; and LN, 0.5 × HN, 150 kg N ha−1, to reduced N rate) were tested. The soil organic carbon, labile organic carbon, inorganic N, available phosphorus, and available potassium under straw return treatments were significantly higher than RT in the 0–30 cm soil layer (p < 0.05). The microbial diversity, invertase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase activities also increased when maize straw was returned. Tillage practices could distribute maize straw in different depths of the soil and then affect soil nutrients, enzyme activity, and microbial diversity. The RS treatment presented the greatest effects in the 0–10 cm layer, while more significant impacts were observed in DS and RS/DS treatments at the 10–30 cm depths. The levels of soil nutrients and enzyme activity increased with an increased N rate. Compared to that under LN, wheat yields increased under HN and MN treatments, whereas there were no significant differences between HN and MN (p > 0.05). An increasing tendency of grain yield was observed in DS and RS/DS, while conversely so in RS. RS/DS had lower farm costs than DS during the study duration. Thus, RS/DS at 225 kg N ha−1 is the best method for improving soil fertility and wheat yield.


This research of class' action is occurred in TK Srijaya Km 5,5 Palembang with the participants of 25 children. With a problem formulation: "Is it possible for the use of Flavell's Principal in numeracy: 1) could increasing the children's motivation for studying? 2) increasing the numeracy of the children?". This research is aimed for increasing the motivation of studying and the numeracy for the cognitive development of children in TK B Srijaya Palembang. The data collecting are the observation and test for each cycle. At the first cycle, achieved for 60 score, and the average ability of children's numeracy is 50 with the deficient category, for eleven children or 44%. The weaknesses of first cycle are: the lack of children's motivation for studying, the lack of curiosity and confidence. In numeracy, there was a child who repeated the specific number and skip the other numbers, so he couldn't able to say the numbers of things which has been counted. Therefore, this condition is fixed in the second cycle by giving the verbal or non verbal enhancements and the various playing activities and more motivations, so it could reached for the good category for 18 children (72%) with average score 70 or the numeracy is 66 with good category for 16 children or 64%. The weakness of this cycle is "The abstraction principle and The Order Irrelevance Principle" where the children were still not confident for doing the task. So, the children couldn't differ the countable things and uncountable things like water, sand, flour. And, the children couldn't represent the things that has been counted as the ordinal symbol of numbers which has been said. This thing is fixed in the third cycle as by giving the maximum motivation and giving the various playing facilities, so the children are motivated for doing the task. It has been proved in the 3rd cycle, as 21 children (87,5%) who are in the good minimum category (score >= 70) and the average numeracy in the good minimum category (score>= 60) as 20 children (83,33%). Therefore, in TK Srijaya Palembang is suggested for apply the Flavell principal for counting learninf of cognitive development.


Abstract Aim/purpose – The aim of the paper is to identify and assess the strategic factors that determine the absorption process of support instruments by SMEs sector companies. Design/methodology/approach – Strategic factors were identified on the basis of the literature review and opinions of ten experts representing management sciences. Further empirical verification of the proposed assumptions was carried out on a random sample of 1,741 micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises from 22 European Union countries. Findings – The obtained results indicate a significant positive influence of five identified strategic factors, i.e. social, support environment, resource, management system and organisational, on the support absorption process. This impact is slightly stronger in the acquisition phase than in the use of support instruments by the SMEs. Research implications/limitations – The results provide a basis for improving efforts to acquire and use external support for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises. The limitations of the study include respondents' high subjectivity of opinions and complex character of considered theoretical constructs. Originality/value/contribution – The contribution of research to the development of management sciences primarily includes the formulation and empirical verification of a set of strategic factors determining the support absorption process in SMEs.


The redox state in fault rocks provide valuable information on the physicochemical properties related to the fluids during seismic activity (O'hara and Huggins, 2005). However, there are very few studies on direct clues for fluid activities obtained from fluid inclusion (Boullier et al. 2001) and estimation of fluid contents using micro-FTIR (Famin et al. 2008). It is usually difficult to distinguish between syngenetic and postgenetic fluid activities from altered and hydrated fault rocks and pseudotachylytes that indicate paleo-seismic activity (Kirkpatrick and Rowe 2013). Here we focus on carbonand sulfur-bearing minerals in fault zones in order to understand the dynamic changes of oxygen fugacity (fO2) and sulfur fugacity (fS2). The study area, located in the Hidaka metamorphic belt, Hokkaido, Japan, is a metasedimentary unit where cataclasites, ultracataclasites and two different types of pseudotachylytes; Pst I and Pst II are distributed. Pyrrhotite (N[FeS] = 0.92–0.94) + Kfs assemblage is found in Pst I matrix, whereas biotite microlite + Kfs assemblages with fluid deposited graphite is only found in Pst II matrix. The fluid deposited graphite is only observed in the Pst II matrix, which was generated at around 1200 degree C, and characterized by the breakdown of plagioclase and apatite. The carbon isotope composition of the fluid deposited graphite were between –18.2 and –25.4 permil, shifting the carbon isotope values of +2 ~ +3 permil from the metamorphic graphite in protolith, cataclasite and Pst I. Our observations suggest that the graphite and sulfide minerals converted to COHS fluids by frictional melting, and then reprecipitate as secondary minerals under favorable fO2-fS2 environments. In order to assess the redox state, we attempt to estimate the P-T-fO2-fS2 phase diagram during frictional melting. The thermal decomposition of biotite coexisting with graphite and sulfide minerals are deduced as: Annite in biotite + 3Pyrite + 1.5Graphite = Sanidine + 6Pyrrhotite + H2O + 1.5 CO2 The breakdown of biotite changes the redox state to the more oxidation state at ranges between delta FMQ +0.5 ~ + 3.0. Under a high-temperature condition (> 1200 degree C), biotite microlite + Kfs with fluid deposited graphite are usually observed instead of pyrrhotite in pseudotachylytes. This suggests the negative shift to biotite stability field by lowering fS2 and fO2. In addition, using the positive 2~3 permil shift by carbon isotope fractionation, the calculated xCO2 (= CO2 / CH4 + CO2) ranges between 0.12 and 0.03. The calculated fO2 is evaluated between –21.6 and –22.0 log 10 units, suggesting the CH4 dominant fluid based on the estimated ideal fluid mixing model. When the fluid composition encounters the graphite saturation surface in COH diagram by supersaturation, the fluid deposited graphite begins to precipitate with hydrous silicates such as hydroxyapatite and titanite, and shift the large carbon isotope fractionation by small fluctuation in xH2O. Such precipitation model is in good agreement with the microtextural observations in pseudotachylyte matrix. The most important implication of our finding is that the redox state in both types of pseudotachylytes are controlled by graphite breakdown. Our finding of fluid deposited graphite in pseudotachylytes suggest that sediments can produce the COHS fluids by frictional melting and the graphite play as a reducing agent in fault rocks. References: Boullier et al. (2001), JGR, 106, 21965-21977. Famin et al. (2008), EPSL, 265, 487–497. Kirkpatrick and Rowe, (2013), JSG, 52, 183-198. O'hara and Huggins (2005), CMP, 148, 602-614. SSS27-16 Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2016


retail services." Proliferation of retail services, for example, has characterized department-store operation for two decades. Similarly, supermarkets have increased their expenses through more costly buildings, fixtures, and locations. The relative strength of these opposing forces-one tending to increase price competition and the other to decrease it-is hard to appraise in a general way. Probably in some retail fields one force will predominate, while in others the opposing force will be stronger. (3) Intertype competition has contributed to pressure by organized groups of retailers, especially the independents, to defend their share of the market by legal restrictions such as resale price maintenance laws, unfair practices acts, the Robinson-Patman Act, and antichain store taxes. This is the direct approach. It is an attempt to legislate competition out of the market, or at least to restrain it from more aggressive tactics. Where resale price maintenance laws have standardized prices on identical lines, this has led to "wider diffusion of the retail business with narrower selling radii and smaller sales per store. "17


Social work education in China has undergone rapid development during last two decades. However, methods to define, measure, and evaluate social work students' competency remain largely unexplored. In this study, we evaluated competency in graduate social work students in China and examined factors that impacted competency, based on learning theory. Findings indicated that knowledge and skills learned in class, field placement, and social context all have effects on competency. How students think about individual development and the social work profession has the most significant effect. These findings carry implications for social work education in the Chinese context. The rapid development of social work education in China requires the effective measurement and evaluation of students' core competencies.


SUMMARY by the presence or absence of spreading macro-hairs at the leaf margins, termed hairy-edge (HE) and non-hairy-edge (NHE), are described. The two morphs differ in their field distribution in respect of vegetational shade; the NHE morph is confined to shaded sites, whereas the HE morph is found in both open and shaded habitats but is generally the less-frequent morph in shaded conditions. (2) Plants of the two morphs were transplanted into a deciduous woodland and into an adjacent unshaded grassland and their survival and growth monitored over a 27-month period. (3) At the woodland site 77% of the NHE transplants survived to 27 months compared with 45% of the HE plants. In contrast, at the unshaded site, 90% of the HE plants survived to 27 months compared with 60% of the NHE plants. (4) There were large differences in a number of measures of growth between the two morphs at each site. The NHE morph grew better at the shaded site whilst the HE morph grew better at the unshaded site. The NHE morph allocated a greater proportion of the above-ground dry matter to reproductive tillers than the HE morph at both sites. (5) The fitness of the 'alien morph' at each site (HE in the shaded site; NHE in the open site) was calculated relative to that of the 'native morph'. The relative fitness of the alien morph declined with time for survival and tiller number and was also low for characters measured at the final harvest. The values indicate that strong selection pressures operate against the HE morph in shaded habitats and against the NHE morph in unshaded habitats.


We present the design and implementation of MultiKron PCI, a hardware performance monitor that can be plugged into any computer with a free PCI bus slot. The monitor provides a series of high-resolution timers, and the ability to monitor the utilization of the PCI bus. We also demonstrate how the monitor can be integrated with online performance monitoring tools such as the Paradyn parallel performance measurement tools to improve the overhead of key timer operations by a factor of 25. In addition, we present a series of case studies using the MultiKron hardware performance monitor to measure and tune high-performance parallel completing applications. By using the monitor, we were able to find and correct a performance bug in a popular implementation of the MPI message passing library that caused some communication primitives to run at one half their potential speed.


Research of natural antioxidants on the lipin in recent five years was summarized.Current problems in the application of natural antioxidants and some preventing methods were put forward,which was aimed to providing some guidance for the development of lipin industry.


The environment in that companies of an industry operate
is a key factor regarding to the action-reaction
interdependence that such companies have, in order to
obtain advantages and a superior performance. In
particular, the stage of the cycle of life in which the
industry is, it is a relevant issue to completely understand
competitive interaction due to its moderating effect over
the competitive event. The cycle of life in the industry
affects the way information in the action is interpreted
and used to respond. This work shows empirically these
differences considering competitive interaction in mature
and in growth markets


In this research, the impact of three organizational justice perception of employees on their trust in manager and organization is examined. The effect of trust toward manager and organization on organizational satisfaction is analyzed. In order to collect data, questionarries were sent to 131 employees who work at administrative units of Abant Izzet Baysal University. Following findings are reached by analyzing of 109 returned questionarries. In order to collect data, distributive justice measuring organizational justice perception, instruments of procedural and interactional justice, trust in manager and organization and organizational satisfaction instruments were used. Among three justice perceptions, finding demonstrate that interactional justice perception is more effective in terms of trust in manager and organization than others. However, trust in organization rather than trust in manager is more effective on the organizational satisfaction.


The invention discloses a degumming method for skipjack crude oil, and belongs to the field of food processing. The degumming method is used for solving the problems that the phosphoric acid degumming effect is poor and the degummed skipjack oil is low in transparency and dark in color. The degumming method for the skipjack crude oil comprises the following steps: compounding and adding citric acid and acetic acid in a ratio of (2:1) to (1:1) into the skipjack crude oil, and stirring at 40-60 DEG C for at least 20 minutes; and then, centrifuging at a speed of 5000r/min for at least 10 minutes, wherein the mass of the added citric acid and acetic acid is 1.5% of that of the oil. The compounding proportion of the citric acid to the acetic acid is preferably 1.5:1, the mass of the added citric acid and the acetic acid is preferably 1.5% of that of the skipjack crude oil, the stirring temperature is preferably 50 DEG C and the degumming time is preferably 25 minutes. According to the technical scheme adopted in the invention, gum in the skipjack oil is removed, so that the degumming efficiency is as high as 3.93%; and the obtained degummed skipjack oil is good in transparency, lighter in color than the crude oil, lighter in fishlike smell than the crude oil, and better in phosphoric acid degumming effect in comparison with that in the prior art.


Room-temperature Mn K-edge extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies were carried out on La1−xSrxMnO3+δ (x = 0.1–0.9) compounds. It is found from the detailed EXAFS analysis that the local structure around Mn sites is different from the global structure inferred from x-ray diffraction, especially for x≤0.4, indicating the presence of local distortions in MnO6 octahedra. For the rhombohedral compounds, x = 0.1 to 0.3, the distortion is maximum for x = 0.1 and two bond lengths are seen: a short one in the basal plane and a long one in the apical plane. For compounds with x = 0.4–0.8 two short bonds in the basal plane and four long bonds (two in the basal plane and the remaining two in the apical plane) are seen. For the compounds with compositions up to x = 0.3, the long bond length decreases and the short bond length increases with increase in x, whereas for the compounds with 0.4≤x≤0.8 both types of bond length decrease. Such behaviour of bond lengths is an indication of the changed nature of distortion from Jahn–Teller type to breathing type at x = 0.4 composition.


Frequently, accelerator facilities make use of products and services offered by the industry. This paper's focus is on such outsourcing of control system hardware and software. Firstly, an attempt is made to explain the facility's motivation for seeking outside help, which is typically due to lack of resources, technology or knowledge. Then, the risks of outsourcing are enumerated. To mitigate them, the industrial partner should have not only the adequate technical expertise, but also a reliable, yet agile management and quality assurance process that meets the facility's expectations, schedule, budget constraints, maintenance and support needs. Finally, Cosylab's business model is presented, designed to provide lasting open-source solutions that help not only a single facility, but the entire community.


The on-line spoof fingers detection algorithm presented here adopting ridge tracing features as input to Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. The wavelet transforms the coefficients of ridge data along ridges into sequences. The derived information relates to geometrical distribution of pores on ridges. As a result, it is more effective to distinguish pore information between spoof and live fingers. The features of pore information on several ridges are inputted to typical SVM system to evaluate the proposed system. The results with benchmark database show the improvement on spoof finger detection.


Background and Purpose: The major obstacles to treatment of pancreatic cancer are the highly invasive capacity and resistance to chemoand radiotherapy. Glycogen synthase kinase 3b (GSK3b) regulates multiple cellular pathways and is implicated in various diseases including cancer. Here we investigate a pathological role for GSK3b in the invasive and treatment resistant phenotype of pancreatic cancer. Methods: Pancreatic cancer cells were examined for GSK3b expression, phosphorylation and activity using Western blotting and in vitro kinase assay. The effects of GSK3b inhibition on cancer cell survival, proliferation, invasive ability and susceptibility to gemcitabine and radiation were examined following treatment with a pharmacological inhibitor or by RNA interference. Effects of GSK3b inhibition on cancer cell xenografts were also examined. Results: Pancreatic cancer cells showed higher expression and activity of GSK3b than non-neoplastic cells, which were associated with changes in its differential phosphorylation. Inhibition of GSK3b significantly reduced the proliferation and survival of cancer cells, sensitized them to gemcitabine and ionizing radiation, and attenuated their migration and invasion. These effects were associated with decreases in cyclin D1 expression and Rb phosphorylation. Inhibition of GSK3b also altered the subcellular localization of Rac1 and F-actin and the cellular microarchitecture, including lamellipodia. Coincident with these changes were the reduced secretion of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and decreased phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK). The effects of GSK3b inhibition on tumor invasion, susceptibility to gemcitabine, MMP-2 expression and FAK phosphorylation were observed in tumor xenografts. Conclusion: The targeting of GSK3b represents an effective strategy to overcome the dual challenges of invasiveness and treatment resistance in pancreatic cancer. Citation: Kitano A, Shimasaki T, Chikano Y, Nakada M, Hirose M, et al. (2013) Aberrant Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3b Is Involved in Pancreatic Cancer Cell Invasion and Resistance to Therapy. PLoS ONE 8(2): e55289. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055289 Editor: Sharmila Shankar, University of Kansas Medical Center, United States of America Received August 22, 2012; Accepted December 20, 2012; Published February 8, 2013 Copyright: 2013 Kitano et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This study was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, Technology and Culture; the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (to KK, TM); the Japan Society for Technology (to KK, TM); the Extramural Collaborative Research Grant of Kanazawa University Cancer Research Institute. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com . These authors contributed equally to this work.


Introduction: Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL) is a rare, chronic hematological malignancy that makes up approximately 2% of all leukemias. HCL patients are at a markedly increased risk for infection related to a combination of disease-related and treatment-related immunosuppression which has been well described in the literature. However, the significance of infection prior to initiation of HCL therapy and its impact on the subsequent selection of HCL treatment, or outcomes, is not well described. Using the HCL patient data registry, we report here the impact of antecedent infection on the treatment patterns and outcomes of HCL patients.
 Methods: We evaluated adult (≥18 years) patients with HCL who had information regarding antecedent infections and subsequent HCL treatment during 1984-2018. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS-1). Secondary endpoint included time to next treatment (TTNT). PFS-1 was measured from the date of first HCL treatment to date of progression/death or last follow-up. TTNT was defined as the time from first HCL treatment to initiation of second HCL treatment. The study population was stratified into 3 groups based on the presence or absence of antecedent infections: no infection prior to first HCL treatment (no infection group), infection within 30 days prior to first HCL treatment (infection1 group) and infection >30 days prior to first HCL treatment (infection2 group). Fisher's exact test or Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the characteristics among the no infection and infection groups and the Cox proportional hazard model was used to evaluate the association with PFS-1 and TTNT.
 Results: A total of 205 HCL patients who had information regarding antecedent infections and subsequent HCL treatment were eligible for the study. Among these, 144 (70%) belonged to the no infection group, while 26 patients (13%) belonged to infection1 group and 35 (17%) to infection2 group. Patient characteristics are shown in Table 1 with a breakdown between the three groups. The majority of the patients were Caucasian with a male preponderance and had classic HCL.
 The patients in the infection1 group had a lower median WBC (K/uL) (1.9 vs 3.1 vs 2.9), particularly the absolute neutrophil count (K/uL) (0.4 vs 0.7 vs 0.8) and significantly lower median hemoglobin (gm%) (10.1 vs 12.2 vs 12.4) relative to the no infection and infection2 groups, respectively (p=0.01). Similarly, a greater proportion of patients in the infection1 group had significant comorbidities (including pulmonary, gastrointestinal and hepatic disease) relative to no infection and infection2 groups as shown in Table 1. The majority of patients received purine nucleoside analogs as their first HCL treatment (no infection group=92%, infection1 group=85%, infection2 group=94%).
 The median PFS-1 (in years) was better in the no infection group compared to the infection1 group but was not statistically significant (17.0 [95% CI=7.9-not reached (NR)] vs 8.8 [95% CI=4.2-NR], respectively, p=0.98, Figure 1). However, the median TTNT (in years) was significantly longer for HCL patients with no infection versus the infection1 group (6.3 [95% CI=5.4-7.8] vs 3.6 [95% CI=0.7-NR], respectively, p=0.001, Figure 1). On subgroup analysis, relative to the no infection group, median PFS-1 (in years) was not significantly different in infection1 group treated with Pentostatin (10.7 [95% CI=3.53-NR] vs NR [95% CI=1.38-NR], respectively, p=0.43), however, the median PFS-1 (in years) was shorter in the infection1 group treated with Cladribine (17.0 [95% CI=7.67-NR] vs 4.0 [95% CI=2.00-NR], respectively), although not reaching statistical significance (p=0.09) probably due to small sample size.
 Conclusion: In this large series of HCL patients who received treatment, we show that the patients who had infections at the time of HCL treatment have a significantly shorter TTNT. The reasons for this are unclear but may indicate that patients were unable to receive treatment in a timely manner because of the infection, or were unable to complete treatment because of complications. The significant difference in hemoglobin between the infection1 and other groups indicates the possibility that these patients had more advanced HCL at the time of diagnosis. These findings indicate the potential long term negative impact of infections in patients who need treatment for HCL and reinforce the need for careful management in this setting.

 Lozanski: Beckman: Research Funding; Coulter: Research Funding; Stem Line: Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; BI: Research Funding. Andritsos:HCLF: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AstraZeneca: Consultancy.


Characteristics of laser ionization in vacuum and low pressure background gas (He) have been investigated through the measurement of kinetic energy and spatial distributions of copper and tungsten ions. A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with 532 nm wavelength was utilized and the laser irradiance was fixed at 9 × 109 W cm−2. A plume splitting was observed in the low pressure regime investigated (from 100 Pa to 2000 Pa). The plume propagation translates from a free expansion in vacuum to shockwave-like expansion at relative low pressure and finally diffusion into background gas at relative high pressure environment. A measurement of ion spatial distribution in the ion source has also been carried out for characterizing ions at different pressures and the behaviors of doubly charged, singly charged, and polyatomic ions to reveal the effect of plume–background gas interaction.


A. Kreisel, C. A. Marques, L. C. Rhodes, X. Kong, T. Berlijn, R. Fittipaldi, V. Granata, A. Vecchione, P. Wahl, and P. J. Hirschfeld Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Leipzig, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS, United Kingdom Center For Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA CNR-SPIN, UOS Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, Fisciano, I-84084, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica "E. R. Caianiello", Università di Salerno, I-84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA (Dated: March 10, 2021)


A filter element having a first filter media pack having an inlet side and an outlet side and a second filter media pack having an inlet side and an outlet side. The second filter media pack is formed separately from the first filter media pack and is connected to the first filter media pack so that the respective inlet sides and outlet sides of the first and second media packet do not overlap. The first filter media pack and the second filter media package each contain a respective filter media package characteristic, and the filter media pack characteristic of the first filter media package differs from the corresponding filter media pack feature of the second filter media packet. Exemplary filter media package features include length, width, height, shape, media density, layer spacing, bend angle folds, wrinkles density and material composition of the first and second filter media packet.


In this paper, we suggest an advanced algorithm, to recognize pedestrian/non-pedestrian using second-stage cascade method, which applies Adaboost algorithm to make a strong classification from weak classifications. First, we extract two feature vectors: (i) Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG) which includes gradient information and differential magnitude; (ii) Curvature-HOG which is based on four different curvature features per pixel. And then, a strong classification needs to be obtained from weak classifications for composite recognition method using both HOG and curvature-HOG. In the proposed method, we use one feature vector and one strong classification for the first stage of recognition. For the recognition-failed image, the other feature and strong classification will be used for the second stage of recognition. Based on our experiment, the proposed algorithm shows higher recognition rate compared to the traditional method.


Francisella tularensis survives in one of the widest environmental ranges of any pathogen. Numerous mammals and arthropod vectors are infected by this highly virulent organism. How this zoonotic pathogen persists outside of its many hosts remains unexplored. We aimed to examine how F. tularensis interacts with environmental surfaces, and hypothesized that biofilm formation may enable survival of this organism in nature. By understanding the role these surface-attached bacterial communities play in F. tularensis ecology, we hope to gain insight into the mechanisms of environmental persistence and transmission of this pathogen. We identify chitin as a potential non-host niche for F. tularensis in nature using genetic, microscopic, and biochemical techniques. This abundant polysaccharide supported F. tularensis biofilm formation in the absence of an exogenous carbon source. This interaction was dependent on putative chitinase enzymes which hydrolyze the glycosidic bonds that connect GlcNAc monomers. Using a genetic screen, we identified adherence factors, including FTN_0308 and FTN0714 that promote attachment to chitin and colonization of chitin surfaces. We propose that biofilm formation on chitin surfaces in nature enables nutrient scavenging in oligotrophic environments allowing this pathogen to replicate and seed disease transmission. We found that the effect of nutrient limitation on F. tularensis biofilm formation extended beyond chitin utilization. Genetic studies indicated that


The Holy Bible influences almost every area of western culture.Grasping of Bible helps English learners comprehend,master and use the language better,and conduct cross-cultural communication effectively.In China,there have been some explorations and researches into Bible-relevant teaching,but more suitable teaching suggestions need to be raised to improve the quality of English teaching and cultivate the students' English culture and communicative competence as well.


Dry efficient separation of moist fine coal is an important part of the development of clean coal technology. This paper reviewed the research situation of the dry screening theory for moist fine coal and summarized the development status of dry screening equipment. The results show that the moist fine materials have complex physical properties and the theory of dry deep screening needs further improved. Flip-flow screen is a kind of screening equipment with wide application prospects, which can well solve the dry deep screening problem of the moist fine materials.


In this paper, the notion of stability is extended to network flows over time. As a useful device in our proofs, we present an elegant preflow-push variant of the Gale-Shapley algorithm that operates directly on the given network and computes stable flows in pseudo-polynomial time, both in the static flow and the flow over time case. We show periodical properties of stable flows over time on networks with an infinite time horizon. Finally, we discuss the influence of storage at vertices, with different results depending on the priority of the corresponding holdover edges.


Many publications to date, have describe the various adoption of e-commerce among firms small and large. However, although the e-commerce adoption growth has been significant, the e-commerce adoption rate among SMEs has mainly been among the industrialized countries. First objective of this research is to assess the usefulness and ease of using e-commerce perceived by SMEs in both service and manufacturing industries whether there are significant differences between Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand respectively. The second objective is to assess the important technical competencies in terms of technical knowledge and skills in e-commerce setup in both service and manufacturing industry across and to identify whether are there significant difference between Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The relationship among variables has been studied through correlation test. Three dimensions have been analyzed. Technical knowledge related to e-commerce, perceive ease of use of e-commerce and perceive usefulness of e-commerce. From the statistical data analysis output, it is found that technical knowledge related to e-commerce is not significantly different between the countries in both the manufacturing and the service industry but both the manufacturing and service industry reckons that technical knowledge and skill poses to biggest challenge that effect the uptake of e-commerce similarly across the three countries.