The world indeed is a small place. This goes perfectly with the fact that communication today has brought people very close. One way of communication is the use of social networking sites. Statistics indicate that it is the youth who use these sites to a great extent. The present study aims to study the use of social networking sites among junior college students for their personal and academic work and compare the use of these sites on the basis of gender. The sample was selected using random sampling techniques. The sample included 202 males and 278 females studying in junior colleges in Greater Mumbai. The tool used for this study was a questionnaire constructed to measure the use of social networking sites for personal and academic work and the data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis (descriptive analysis and t-test). Findings suggest that male students used social networking sites more than female students for both personal and academic work. Further, findings also indicate that Facebook and YouTube were the most preferred social networking sites for personal work while Google and Wikipedia were preferred for academic work. An important finding was the increasing use of the mobile messaging application, WhatsApp, for both personal and academic work.


I. INTRODUCTIONIn the midst of immigration debates in the United States today, the topic of immigration detention often draws significant attention. Scholars question the conditions of detention centers, the constitutionality of detaining immigrants, and, more broadly, the actual effectiveness of detention in the United States.1 Current debates began to take shape in 1996 when Congress passed the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act ("IIRIRA").2 IIRIRA, one of the most recent overhauls of the immigration system, enhanced immigration enforcement procedures, established new and expanded grounds of inadmissibility and forms of relief, and re-defined criminal actions as ways in which to remove immigrants from the United States.3 Significantly, IIRIRA provided for new forms of detention procedures under the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), leading to an increased use of detention in the United States for immigrants of all ages, nationalities, and prior immigration statuses.4 Yet under IIRIRA and our current immigration enforcement priorities,5 detention procedures are not functioning as Congress envisioned them.During fiscal year 2013, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") apprehended 662,000 immigrants.6 Of those 662,000, some 441,000 were detained.7 Most of these immigrants violated an immigration law and were therefore placed into removal proceedings. In the same period, many more immigrants were also placed in removal proceedings but were not detained. Under the law, detained and non-detained immigrants should receive the same amount of process during removal proceedings: the same ability to build their case and find support for their claim, regardless of whether or not they are detained.8 But due to their detainment, detained immigrants are less likely to obtain counsel and less likely to be able to gather evidence to support their claims than non-detained immigrants.9 As such, detained immigrants are much more likely to lose their case in immigration court.10Immigration advocates often note that detained immigrants are significantly disadvantaged by the immigration system in comparison to non-detained immigrants. In the quest for immigration and detention reform, advocates protest against conditions in detention centers and often cite a detainee's inability to find representation, as well as the struggles in finding and developing evidence to bolster claims for relief from removal.11 Yet few address the effect that docket timelines and enforcement priorities have on this phenomenon in the adult detention setting.As described below, many immigration courts have one docket for the non-detained immigrants and another docket for detained immigrants.12 As it stands, the detained docket moves much faster than the non-detained, both because fewer immigrants are on the detained docket than the non-detained, but also because the immigration system prioritizes the hearing and adjudication of detained cases. Scholars have used the term "rocket dockets" to describe this phenomenon in relation to unaccompanied alien children, yet it is rarely discussed in the context of detained, adult immigrants. This Note places the adult detained docket in the "rocket docket" context, and compares three distinct immigration procedures-expedited removal at the border, formal removal proceedings in immigration courts, and bond procedures-to demonstrate that detained immigrants in the United States do not receive the same process as those immigrants that are not detained, even though the law indicates that they should.13 The reality of the current docket system and administrative removal and enforcement priorities alter detainees' procedural rights, and ultimately, the outcome of their case for immigration relief.14Part II of this Note introduces the role of various agencies involved in these proceedings, then examines the legal justifications and current trends in expedited removal procedures, formal removal procedures, and bond proceedings. …


This reference list includes scientific papers and book chapters focused on main aspects of research of P. australis in Europe and Asia (Japan) since the 1960s to present time. During the International Biological Programme, production ecology and ecotypic variation were the main points of interests. Since the 1980s, focus has moved to factors affecting the stability of Phragmites-dominated vegetation. Main (but not sole) attention was attracted by the decline of P. australis from European wetland habitats. Both eco-physiological and genetic mechanisms were studied.


Mitochondria, subcellular organelles present in virtually all cells of the body, are vital for numerous cellular processes including energy production. Failure in mitochondrial functions can originate from gene defects in the mitochondrial or the nuclear genomes leading to progressive, often early fatal, multi-system disorders (inherited mitochondrial diseases) for which there is no effective treatment (1). Khondrion is a Dutch biotech company with the mission to develop clinical relevant treatments to combat mitochondrial diseases. A common feature of mitochondrial patients is an imbalance cellular redox status (2), hence one of Khondrion's R&D projects focuses on the discovery and optimization of small molecules with antioxidant/redox regulating properties. Out of 250 newly developed chemical entities, KH176 has been selected as the lead molecule (3). KH176 proves to be an effective antioxidant and redox modulator in primary cell models of patients with different mitochondrial diseases. Moreover, it can ameliorate the severe phenotype of a mitochondrial disease mouse model, providing altogether the basis for the granting of the Orphan Drug Designation by the EMA and FDA. A phase I clinical trial is ongoing which will grant the following phases in patients and, in the end, the launching of an effective treatment for mitochondrial patients.


The effect of: l-epinephrine, acetylcholine, histamine, aminophylline, and serotonin on Ihe pulmonary circulation and ventilation was studied in anesthetized dogs. The following observations were noted: Serotonin produced an increase in arterial oxygen saturation, the other drugs a decrease. Although reduced, the effect was not eliminated by controlling the volume of ventilation or by the inhalation of 25 or 30 percent oxygen. The administration of 100 percent oxygen eliminated the response in all dogs studied. The effect was not abolished by controlling blood flow in addition to ventilation. Changes in the over-all ventilation/perfusion ratio appeared of major importance. In addition, these drugs apparently produced local changes in ventilation/perfusion ratios (physiologic shunting) and/or in the degree of anatomic intrapulmonary shunting of blood. The effects of changes in pulmonary blood flow on peripheral arterial oxygen saturation were also investigated. With the volume of ventilation constant, the following was observed: Increasing pulmonary blood flow by whatever means decreased SaO2; decreasing blood flow resulted in an increase in SaO2.


Clarence Jordan (1912-1969) was a white Southern Baptist minister who advocated social equality in the United States from a Christian stance. A native of Georgia, Jordan saw firsthand the social injustices and inequalities of racial segregation that was prevalent in the American South of the Jim Crow era. Increasing modernization and industrialization allowed unprecedented material affluence for some ; yet, social dislocation and unequal opportunities left many poor and socially disconnected. Clarence Jordan believed that the mainstream society and church culture of his time failed to follow the principles of Christian life as taught in the Bible. Jordan insisted that the Gospel of Jesus Christ needs to be proclaimed in ways that are relevant and meaningful to contemporary people, in both word and deed. Calling American society to faithfully put into practice the message of Jesus Christ, Clarence Jordan established Koinonia Farm in 1942 in Americus, southwestern Georgia. Koinonia (Greek word for fellowship) Farm became an intentional community promoting racial integration, simple living, pacifism, sustainable agriculture and Christian community life. Koinonia Farm was thus intended to Recontextualizing Christian practice in the American South : Interracialism discourse in the work of Clarence Jordan (1912-1969)


The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb) crops in recovering soil aggregation, and quantify the nutrient contents in aggregates considering their formation pathways (biogenic and physicogenic) in crop areas in a mountains environment in the municipality of Nova Friburgo, RJ, Brazil. The landscape was stratified into two sections for the study: upper, two areas with black oat crops, one fertilized and one not fertilized one not fertilized, and one adjacent forest area representing the original soil conditions; and lower: one fertilized area with black oat, and one fertilized area with black oat intercrops with oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus L.) and vetch (Vicia sativa L.), and one adjacent forest area representing the original soil conditions. The aggregates were separated according to their formation pathways, quantifying the weight percentage of each formation pathway. The aggregate stability and nutrient and organic carbon contents were evaluated. The fertilized area in the upper section had the highest biogenic aggregate percentage, which was associated with the highest total organic carbon contents, and soil fertility. This area also had the highest weighted mean diameter (WMD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD) of aggregates. The intercrop area in the lower section had the highest biogenic aggregate percentage and the lowest P, Ca, Mg, and K contents in the aggregates. The management systems affected the aggregate formation pathways. Morphological classification is an important tool for the monitoring of soil management. The black oat crops increased the biogenic aggregate formation, which become reservoir of nutrients.


CORTISONE and corticotropin have been widfely and successfully used in control¬ ling human reactions to rabies vaccination, particularly the neuroparalytic and anaphylactoid reactions induced by the rabbit brain tissue in the vaccine mixture. Although both drugs are used to control these reactions, this study may indicate that cortisone actually in¬ terferes with the production of immunity and thus defeats the objective of vaccination. ACTH, on the other hand, does not appear to significantly impair neutralizing antibody re¬ sponse to rabies vaccine, and would seem to be the drug of choice should the need for such treatment arise. Interest in this problem was aroused when


Chronic pain is a major economic and social health problem. Up to 79% of chronic pain patients are unsatisfied with their pain management. Meeting patients' expectations is likely to produce greater satisfaction with care. The challenge is to explore patients' genuine expectations and needs. However, the term expectation encompasses several concepts and may concern different aspects of health‐care provision.


Embodied Cognition theory is the essential psychology theoretical foundation of metaphor.Metaphor reveals both the nature of mathematics and its inherent regularity from a unique combination perspective of empiricism and system theory,and it inevitably encounters some suspicious and criticism.Its philosophy of mathematics education should be attributes to social constructivism,which reminds us to understand the mathematics education in a procedural view of mathematical knowledge production and construction.Metaphor exactly could unify objective and subjective,social and individual knowledge,and also,provide stage for the interaction and communication between them.


Maintaining a normal burning temperature is essential to ensuring the quality of nonferrous metals and cement clinker in a rotary kiln. Recognition of the temperature condition is an important component of a temperature control system. Because of the interference of smoke and dust in the kiln, the temperature of the burning zone is difficult to be measured accurately using traditional methods. Focusing on blurry images from which only the flame region can be segmented, an image recognition system for the detection of the temperature condition in a rotary kiln is presented. First, the flame region is segmented employing a region-growing method with a dynamic seed point. Seven features, comprising three luminous features and four dynamic features, are then extracted from the flame region. Dynamic features constructed from luminous feature sequences are proposed to overcome the problem of mis-recognition when the temperature of the flame region changes rapidly. Finally, classifiers are trained to recognize the temperature state of the burning zone using its features. Experimental results using real datasets demonstrate that the proposed image-based systems for recognizing the temperature condition are effective and robust.


Objective: This in vitro study was carried out to assess the microleakage properties of nano-filled glass ionomer in comparison to resin-reinforced glass ionomers. Material and Methods: 40 deciduous molar teeth were included in this study. Class-II cavity was prepared in a standard form for all the specimens. The teeth were randomly distributed into two groups (20 per group) according to the restorative material used either nano-glass ionomer or Photac Fill glass ionomer restoration. All specimens were thermocycled for 1000 cycles between 5 and 55 °C. After that, the teeth were immersed in 2% methylene blue dye then sectioned and evaluated under a stereomicroscope. Microleakage was assessed using linear dye penetration and on a scale from zero to five. Results: Two way ANOVA test revealed a statistically significant lower degree of microleakage in both occlusal and gingival restorations (0.4±0.2), (0.9±0.1) for nano-filled glass ionomer group in comparison to resin modified glass ionomer (2.3±0.7), (2.4±0.5). No statistical difference was found between gingival and occlusal leakage regarding the effect of the measured site. Conclusion: Nanofilled glass ionomer shows superior sealing ability which enables this type of restoration to be used in minimum invasive treatment. Keywords—Microleakage, nano-ionomer, resin-reinforced glass ionomer, proximal cavity preparation.


Article history: Received: 1 Nov 2011 Accepted: 16 Nov 2011 Available online: 24 Oct 2012 ZJRMS 2012; 14(10): 1-9 Background: 6TIn recent years, psychologists and psychiatrists in the field of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity-Disorder (ADHD) have been research doing for measurement of validity and efficiency of available treatment and. In this regard, meta-analysis integrates the results of different studies then determines the effect size of drug treatment.This study seeks to investigate the effective rate of methylphenidateon on reducing ADHD symptoms by following the meta-analysis model. Materials and Methods: 6T21 Studies which were methodologically accepted were selected and meta-analysis was done on them. The research tool was metaanalysis check list. Results: 6Tthe result indicated that rate of effect size drug treatment on reducing ADHD symptoms was 0.71 (p≤ 0.001). This rate of effective size according to Cohen table was higher than average and considered. Conclusion: 6T herefore, it seems that methylphenidateon can be applied as proper treatments for individuals suffering from ADHD symptoms. Copyright © 2012 Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.


When the intrathoracic pressure is raised above that of the great extrathoracic veins which pass the blood back to the chest, definite changes based on elementary physical principles follow. If a person shuts off the outlet of air by closing the larynx or nose and lips and makes a forced expiratory effort (blowing), the intrathoracic pressure rises, and the blood cannot flow into the chest; hence, the right side of the heart does not fill, the blood is soon pumped out of the lungs, and the left ventricle likewise becomes empty, arterial circulation is momentarily suspended, and the systolic blood pressure falls to zero. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Experiment 1. —Place within the lips a tube connected with a manometer and make a blowing effort till the manometer registers from 40 to 60. If this can be held for a sufficient length of time there follows a general venous engorgement, the subject


Political party is one of structural pillars and operating instruments of modern democracy.Modern commodity economy is the source of political party being one of structural pillars and operating irstruments of modern democracy. Under modern democracy conditions,democratic structure and instrument is essential property of political party. It is of significance with the development of theory and practice to understand and stress essential property of political party in structure and instrument.


In order to slow down the corrosion and wear of offshore equipment, the Zn-Al 10 composite coating was prepared on Q345 substrate by cold spray technique. The mass fraction of 11 Zn and Al in the raw material was 2:3. The microstructure of the original coating was observed by 12 scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and was characterized by Energy Dispersive Spectrometer 13 (EDS). From the composite alloy coating obtained by cold spraying, it was observed that the Zn and 14 Al particles were uniformly distributed without oxidation product, and the powder particles were 15 significantly plastically deformed. The microstructure of the composite coating is very dense and 16 has strong adhesion to the substrate. Neutral salt spray test (NSS) and electrochemical accelerated 17 corrosion test results showed that Zn-Al composite coating can effectively provide corrosion 18 protection. 19


Aim: To compare of the efficacy and safety of prophylactic bolus doses of intravenous Phenylephrine, Ephedrine, and Mephentermine for maintenance of arterial pressure during spinal anesthesia in caesarean section and their effects on neonate. Settings and Design: The present Prospective Randomized study was carried out in a tertiary care teaching hospital. A total of 90 pregnant women posted for elective caesarean section under spinal anesthesia were enrolled and randomly divided into three groups. Group P (phenylephrine) Group E (ephedrine) Group M (mephentermine) with 30 patients in each group. Materials and Methods: Group E received prophylactic bolus of ephedrine 6 mg IV, group M 6 mg IV mephentermine and group P 100 mcg IV of phenylephrine at the time of subarachnoid block. Hemodynamic variables like blood pressure and heart rate were recorded every 2 minutes up to delivery of baby and then every 5 minutes. Neonatal outcome was assessed using Apgar score at 1 and 5 minutes and neonatal umbilical cord blood pH values. Statistical Analysis Used: Comparitibility of groups are analyzed with analysis variance test to analyzed parametric data 'P' value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: There was no difference found in managing hypotension between three groups. The differences in umbilical cord pH and Apgar score between three groups were found statistically insignificant. Conclusion: All the three vasopressors were equally effective in maintaining maternal blood pressure when given prophylactically IV bolus at the time of SAB, without any detrimental effects on fetal and maternal outcome though phenylephrine has quicker peak effect in comparison.


The purpose of this paper is to reconcile previous findings of prolonged asymmetrical relationships between interest rates and stock returns, where a reduction in interest rates in one month was shown to produce positive stock returns over a twelve-month period. This study provides evidence that the puzzling relationships suggested by a previous study are sample-dependent and cannot withstand further scrutiny. Test results presented in this study show that investors are not likely to earn abnormal returns through an investment strategy constructed on the expectation of long-term positivie returns following a reduction in interest rates.


This study aims to reveal students' perceptions of Native English-Speaking Teachers (NEST) and Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers (NNEST). The study involved students from the Agriculture Faculty of the Riau State Islamic University. This is a quantitative research that employs a survey design. The examination of the data reveals that students had a good assessment of teachers who were either native or non-native speakers. On the other hand, students encountered difficulties when learning with native and non-native professors. Students believe that NEST and NNEST will be more effective if native speakers also study and understand their original language and culture. Instructors who are not natural English speakers should pursue additional education in countries where English is the primary language to hone their abilities. The ideal non-native teachers are those who have reached a level of English proficiency comparable to that of a native speaker. Assuming the talents of the non-native English instructor are optimal, the majority of students believe that as long as instructors display a high level of competence and professionalism, there should be no discrimination between native speakers and non-native English teachers. However, when properly prepared and competent, both native and non-native English teachers can increase the enthusiasm for the student's English skill development. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and they should collaborate to aid students in becoming successful English learners.


At present,in undergraduate program,the Collaborative Innovation of financial training mode just is start- up phase. The financial undergraduate program usually neglects the cultivation of practicing. The cooperation between university and enterprises is short of the long and deep mechanism. This article describes the major imperfection of cooperation between university and enterprises,and points out the necessity and advice of strategic alliance of collaborative innovation.


The Employees Retraining Programme in Hong Kong was promoted as the solution to structural unemployment resulting from rapid transformation of the economy. However, our study of the labour market performance of a group of trainees shows no evidence of any positive programme effect, more than three years after the completion of training, when compared to a group of job searchers. In particular, full time training is found to be less effective than part time training, and training in general skills is significantly less effective than training in specific occupational skills. This suggests problems in the design and implementation of retraining in Hong Kong.


Commentary on : Hasemann W, Tolson D, Godwin JA, et al. A before and after study of a nurse led comprehensive delirium management programme (DemDel) for older acute care inpatients with cognitive impairment. Int J Nurs Stud 2016;53:27–38.[OpenUrl][1]

Older people with cognitive impairment are at particular risk of developing delirium when unwell; but screening is not routine and delirium is under recognised, resulting in adverse outcomes. Delirium is preventable in a third of cases; therefore, spotting, treating and stopping delirium are priorities. Nurses are well placed to identify risk factors and signs of delirium and communicate them to the clinical team. …

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The legal community's unenthusiastic acceptance of electronic boilerplate "wrap" contracts is pervasive. Boilerplate and wrap contracts are generally justified as cost-reducing and a fair result of parties' freedom to contract. But only a small share of internet users are aware that clicking "I Agree" creates contractual obligations, and the overwhelming majority of those users fail to read or appreciate the obligations contained in wrap contracts. Certain forms of "wrap" contracts are widely recognized in the legal community, like browsewrap and clickwrap, and others are exotic, like hybridwrap, tapwrap, and installwrap. The problem, though, is these defined forms should bear no legal consequence because they all boil down to the same three considerations: Does the presentation of the terms provide reasonable notice of their existence? Does the user have a fair opportunity to read the terms? What terms did the user accept by an express manifestation of assent? This article surveys the inappropriate proliferation of "wrap" contract characterizations. The proliferation muddles the predictable course of contract formation and allows divergent application of precedent. The article covers seminal cases like ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg and Ariz. Retail Sys. v. Software Link, Inc., and recent decisions like Savetsky v. Pre-Paid Legal Servs. and Berkson v. Gogo LLC. The article lays out a simple alternative to avoid the 'wrap' nomenclature – retaining the "shrinkwrap" characterization and calling all other electronic contracts of adhesion "clickthrough agreements." Clickthrough agreements are further characterized by three necessary elements: (1) the agreement's presentation must provide reasonable notice of the terms, (2) the agreement includes only those terms which the user had a fair opportunity to read, and (3) the user's express manifestation of assent must evidence acceptance of the terms qualifying under (1) and (2).


This paper proposes a rapid and automatic calibration method for puncture surgery robot, via which the hand-eye and tool calibration can be accomplished automatically in a short time. A new method for coordinate conversion between robot flange and needle tip is proposed, based on the method of spherical fitting and singular value decomposition. The experimental results show that the calibration accuracy and stability of this method can meet clinical requirements. There are good prospects for this method using in surgical calibration application.


In this study, the authors sought to examine factors that contribute to the overall development of supervisors in the substance abuse field. Significant predictors for supervisor development were found as were differences in these predictors that were based on supervisor recovery status.


The features and system layout modes of the cool,heat,and electricity co-generation system have been systematically presented,the progress situation in research of said triple co-generation system in recent years at home and abroad in aspects of residual heat recycling utilization,evaluation criterion of triple co-generation system,design optimization,and energy-saving analysis etc.being emphatically analysed.


Scanning probe microscopy of a cleaved semiconductor surface provides a direct measurement of the elastic field of buried, strained structures such as quantum wells or dots, but allowance must be made for relaxation at the surface. We have calculated this relaxation analytically for the exposed edge of a strained quantum well within classical elastic theory for a linear, isotropic, homogeneous medium. The surface bulges outward if the quantum well has a larger natural lattice constant and the dilation changes sign near the surface, which may enhance recombination. Results are given for a well of constant composition or an arbitrary variation along the growth direction and compared with cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy of InGaAs quantum wells in GaAs. Consistent values for the composition of the wells were obtained from counting In atoms, x-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence. The lattice constant on the surface and the normal relaxation were compared with the calculation. Qualitative agree...


Otomycosis is a fungal infection, which leads to a damage of the external auditory canal. The objective was to study the epidemiological and clinical aspects of otomycosis at Souro SANOU University Hospital in Bobo-Dioulasso. A prospective study was performed in the Department of Oto Rhino Laryngology and the Department of Parasitology-Mycology. Using sterile swabs under otoscopic examination allowed collecting samples. Germ tube Test, Chromogenic Medium and Latex Reagents for Rapid identification Testwere performed identifying yeast fungi. Filamentous fungi were identified on macroscopic and microscopic criteria. Out of 216 patients with infectious otitis, 159 showed a positive culture in 73.6% (159/216). The prevalence of otomycosis was 59.3%. A female predominance was observed in 53.5% with a sex ratio of 0.9. The age group from 0 to 20 years old was mostly involved in 49,7% of cases followed by the age group from 21-40 years old (22%). The most commonly isolated species were Candida albicans (20.9%), Aspergillus niger (20.3%), Aspergillus fumigatus (19%), Aspergillus flavus (16%), and Candida non-albicans (7.9%). Management of otomycosis should include clinical as well as mycological diagnosis and information for changing behavior patterns leading to infection.


Terror, fascination, uncertainty: a reading of freud's essay das unheimliche - Freud begun writing Das Unheimliche (The Uncanny, 1919) while he was writing Totem and Taboo, and concluded it interrupting his writing of Jenzeit der Lustprinzip (Beyond the Pleasure Principle, 1920). Das Unheimliche is seen as a chapter of a larger work, whose other chapters are the two over mentioned works and those on Leonardo (1910) and on Michleangelo (1914). Das Unheimliche is considered the expression of Freud's attempt to overcome an obstacle which prevented him to formulate the law of repetition compulsion: the obstacle rising from his experience of the works of art of Italian Renaissance and of their opening the internal space of uncertainty. It is maintained that the contemporary significance of Freud's work lies in the result of that attempt. KEY WORDS: uncanny, terror, art, new, uncertainty


The relationship between large-disturbance stability region Ω LDSR and small-signal sta-bility region Ω SSSR is studied and it is suggested based on several rational assumes to approximately identify Ω LDSR by shrinking the corresponding post-contingency Ω SSSR,which is applied in large-disturbance stability control based on optimal bifurcation control.The optimal Hopf bifurcation con-trol is used in WSCC 9-bus test system to improve the large-disturbance stability by the optimal control of AVR gains through three steps.The optimal saddle-node bifurcation control is used in New England 39-bus test system to improve the large-disturbance stability with the AVR reference voltages as optimization parameters.Simulation results show the effectiveness of proposed large- disturbance stability control strategy.


Abstract Despite containing only 14% of the Greenland ice sheet by area, the southeastern sector has the highest accumulation rates, and hence receives ∼30% of the total snow accumulation. We present accumulation rates obtained during our 2010 Arctic Circle Traverse derived from three 50 m firn cores dated using geochemical analysis. We tracked continuous internal reflection horizons between the firn cores using a 400 MHz ground-penetrating radar (GPR). GPR data combined with depth-age scales from the firn cores provide accumulation rates along a 70 km transect. We followed an elevation gradient from ∼2350 to ∼1830m to understand how progressive surface melt may affect the ability to chemically date the firn cores and trace the internal layers with GPR. From the firn cores, we find a 52% (∼0.43 m w.e. a-1) increase in average snow accumulation and greater interannual variability at the lower site than the upper site. The GPR profiling reveals that accumulation rates are influenced by topographic undulations on the surface, with up to 23% variability over 7 km. These measurements confirm the presence of high accumulation rates in the southeast as predicted by the calibrated regional climate model Polar MM5.


Abstract: In the Na,K‐ATPase the charge‐translocating reaction steps were found to be binding of the third Na+ ion to the cytoplasmic side and the release of all three Na+ ions to the extracellular side as well as binding of the two K+ ions on the extracellular side. The conformation transition E1→ E2 was only of minor electrogenicity; all other reaction steps produced no significant charge movements. In the SR Ca‐ATPase and the gastric H,K‐ATPase, all ion‐binding and ‐release steps were identified to move charge through the membrane. The high‐resolution structure of the SR Ca‐ATPase in state E1 revealed the position of the ion‐binding sites in the transmembrane part of the protein. If the same arrangement is assumed for the Na pump, the missing expected charge movements in state E1 may to be assumed to be apparent effects. With the proposal that binding of 2 Na+ or 2 K+ is compensated correspondingly by H+ ions, agreement between structural and functional aspects is obtained. Investigations of the pH‐dependence of ion‐binding steps indicate competition between the ions and electrogenic H+ binding in support of this concept.


Peri-arthritis (PA) shoulder is a common cause of shoulder pain and disability. The optimum management of peri-arthritis shoulder has been the subject of great debate, particularly since the condition tends to resolve spontaneously over months to years leaving behind stiff shoulder. Objectives of this study was to prospectively evaluate the comparative efficacy of intra-articular steroid (methylprednisolone) injection, intra-articular sodium hyaluronate injection and deep heat in patients with peri-arthritis shoulder who were also taught a simple home exercise programme. A total of 75 subjects were enrolled in the study. Patients of peri-arthritis of shoulder joint were randomly assigned to three groups: Inj. sodium hyaluronate 20mg (group1), inj. methylprednisolone 40mg (group2), ultrasonic therapy (group3). Evaluation was done at 3 weeks, 6weeks and 12 weeks and 24 weeks after starting the treatment. Outcomes were determined by the assessment of subjective and objective parameters viz. shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI), range of motion. All three groups showed improvement with respect to time. Steroid group and sodium hyaluronate group showed significant improvement as compared to other ultrasonic group (p=0.02) with respect to shoulder pain and disability index and range of motion. Improvement in pain was equal with all three types of treatment. .


Two types of membranes of glutamic acid-methyl L-glutamate copolymers were obtained by the saponification of poly (γ-methyl L-glutamate) (PMLG) membranes in aqueous alcoholic systems. One is iM membrane and the other is E membrane. The iM membranes were obtained by the saponification in a mixture (2:2:1 in volume fraction) of methyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol and water containing NaOH at various concentrations. The E membranes were obtained in a mixture (4:1 in volume fraction) of ethyl alcohol and NaOH aqueous solution. The sorption and the permeation behavior of these copolymer membranes depends on the glutamic acid content in these membranes, but not on the membrane preparing process. The membrane potential, however, depends on the membrane preparing method. That is, the absolute values of membrane potential of the E membranes were higher than those of the iM membranes. This difference could be ascribed to the difference in the surface character of the iM and of the E membranes.


Seaweeds were collected from along Sheva creek, Peerwadi coast and Dharamtar creek of Uran (Raigad), Navi Mumbai, west coast of India. Seaweeds attached to the boulders, jetties, rocks on the shores, stones, pebbles, fishing nets and pneumatophores of mangrove were removed by scrapping and collected monthly from June 2013 to May 2015 during spring low tides. 19 species of seaweeds representing 16 genera, 15 families and 13 orders were identified from Uran coast. Of these, 7 species belongs each to Chlorophyta and Rhodophyta, 2 each to Cyanobacteria and Ochrophyta and 1 to Charophyta. Maximum species diversity of seaweeds is recorded during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon than monsoon periods at all sites. Diverse species composition of seaweeds is recorded at Peerwadi coast than the Sheva creek and Dharamtar creek. Lower species diversity at Sheva creek and Dharamtar creek is attributed to the nonavailability of rocky substratum for settlement and unregulated disposal of wastes and effluents and also to maritime activities of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). This study reveals that seaweeds from Uran coast are under stress due to industrial pollution and anthropogenic stresses like over-exploitation, reclamation and hazardous chemicals.


The environmental impacts of five waste management scenarios for polylactic acid (PLA)-based bioplastics and food waste were quantified using life cycle assessment. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated the potential for a pretreatment process to accelerate the degradation of bioplastics and were modeled in two of the five scenarios assessed. The five scenarios analyzed in this study were: (1a) Anaerobic digestion (1b) Anaerobic digestion with pretreatment; (2a) Compost; (2a) Compost with pretreatment; (3) Landfill. Results suggested that food waste and pretreated bioplastics disposed of with an anaerobic digester offers life cycle and environmental net total benefits (environmental advantages/offsets) in several areas: ecotoxicity (−81.38 CTUe), eutrophication (0 kg N eq), cumulative energy demand (−1.79 MJ), global warming potential (0.19 kg CO2), and human health non-carcinogenic (−2.52 CTuh). Normalized results across all impact categories show that anaerobically digesting food waste and bioplastics offer the most offsets for ecotoxicity, eutrophication, cumulative energy demand and non-carcinogenic. Implications from this study can lead to nutrient and energy recovery from an anaerobic digester that can diversify the types of fertilizers and decrease landfill waste while decreasing dependency on non-renewable technologies. Thus, using anaerobic digestion to manage bioplastics and food waste should be further explored as a viable and sustainable solution for waste management.


As a response to the America's need for alternate energy sources, the United States Department of Energy has a Geothermal Program. Within this program is a category to study Geopressured Energy. Today many activities are taking place under the Geopressured Program. These activities for the most part fall under one of the following categories: Well Operations, Geoscience and Engineering Support and Energy Conversion. To date this program has had many successes. However, there is still more information needed concerning the Geopressured Resource. It is thought that continued research will give the developer a better understanding of the Geopressured resource and in turn increase the likelihood of its development. 3 refs.


Since the American Association of Anatomists (AAA) published its last survey in 2009, related to the status of courses in Gross Anatomy, Microscopic Anatomy, Neuroscience and Embryology, significant curricular changes have occurred. In this session, data obtained in the 2012 AAA Education Course Survey will be discussed. Survey items queried course directors on several aspects of their course including but not limited to course format (integrated vs stand‐alone), course hours, target audience, textbook usage and assessment style. These data reflect current trends in the teaching of these courses in undergraduate medical education.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between body image and the stages of behavioral changes related to physical activity among university students. Two hundred seventeen students were included. We measured the body image (silhouettes scale), the stages of changes in behavior related to physical activity using a questionnaire developed by Marcus et al. We used descriptive analysis, chi-square test, crude and adjusted multinomial regression to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The results showed a high prevalence of individuals dissatisfied with the body image. The males were more dissatisfied with thinness whereas in females there was a similar dissatisfaction for overweight and thinness. The females in the pre-contemplation stage were twice as likely to dissatisfaction for being overweight. In males, individuals in the preparation stage for physical activity had a 3.5 times greater chance of dissatisfaction for being overweight than those satisfied. No association was found between dissatisfaction for being thinness and stages of behavioral changes. We conclude that most students were dissatisfied with the body image. Dissatisfaction with body image had more chances to occur in stages of behavioral changes considered physically inactive in females.


The above comment and a previous letter by the same author reveal a great misunderstanding of what Eulerian and Lagrangian quantities are, and a confusion between the deformation of an element of a surface and the creation of a new element of a surface. Surface thermodynamics is complex because the surface quantities are not 'intuitive' (as surface excesses on some dividing surface) and the thermodynamic variables of the state of a surface are a priori completely unknown. This is why we introduced a new concept ('ideal transformation') and presented detailed proof, leading to the determination of the 'local' thermodynamic variables of the state of the surface, the exact expression of the work of deformation of the surface, and the definition of surface stress, for any deformable body (Olives 2010 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 22 085005). These results are not obvious (despite their similarity with some expressions in volume thermodynamics). We explicitly write the Eulerian forms of (i) the relation between the surface grand potential per unit area, the surface stress and the surface strain, showing its exact equivalence with the Lagrangian form, and (ii) the variation of the surface energy due to both the deformation of an element of the surface and the creation of a new element of the surface.


Does Decline Make Sense? TheWest Indian Economy and the Abolition of the British Slave Trade One of the most lively and long-lived historical controversies centers on the causes of British anti-slavery policies during the arst years of the nineteenth century. Participants in this debate dispute whether the health of the West Indian sugar industry had any impact on the decision to abolish the slave trade in 1807. Advocates of what is commonly referred to as the "Decline Thesis" believe that slavery's faltering proatability mandated abolition, whereas the opposition tends to reject the very notion of economic hardship in the West Indies. Recent historians tend to fall into this latter camp, their research focusing on how social and cultural changes within England provided a fertile environment for reform movements to oourish. This line of thought argues that the industrialization of Britain introduced new systems of production, trade, and politics that fostered the emergence of the antislavery movement as the major philanthropic agenda of the day. Despite these two differing opinions regarding the fundamental cause of Britain's arst major assault on slavery, both positions have relied upon economic theory and application to bolster their points of view. New evidence presented in this article resurrects the argument that planters were facing rapid decline at the turn of the nineteenth century. Both sugar prices and estimated slave prices culled from the Jamaica Archives conarm the contemporary commentary that outlines the problem of "overproduction," which Journal of Interdisciplinary History, xxxi:3 (Winter, 2001), 347–374.


Reviews the application of time domain integral equation (TDIE) methods to the prediction of current flow and radiated fields in antenna and scatterer systems with nonlinear loads. Typical applications include the prediction of currents and voltages induced in printed circuit boards by external fields and the prediction of radar cross section (RCS) of wire antennas with nonlinear loads.


In this project the authors study new nanocrystalline and nanocomposite structures that have high potential for permanent-magnet development. These materials, which can be synthesized to have either very high or intermediate coercivities, have many applications in electric power, transportation, and information-storage industries. There is great interest in further development of understanding and application of these materials. Brief discussions are given for the following research highlights: (A) Fundamental electronic, magnetic and micromagnetic studies; (B) Intrinsic and magnet hardening studies of carbides and alloys; and (C) Nanostructured and nanocomposite films.


The Propulsion Systems Lab (PSL) at the NASA Glenn Research Center contains two large engine test cells (PSL-3 and PSL-4) capable of simulating flight conditions up to 70,000 ft with a maximum forward air speed of Mach 3.0. Part of flight simulation consists of accurate thrust measurement. Recently, PSL-3 customers have a need for measurement of the dynamic response from the thrust measurement system. During the collection of dynamic thrust measurements, there was an unwanted response of the thrust system, which made it impossible to collect dynamic thrust data. The data presented in this report demonstrates an improvement in the capability to measure dynamic thrust from a jet engine test article in NASA Glenn's Propulsion Systems Lab Cell 3. The results show that dynamic thrust can accurately be collected at low frequencies, with the limiting factor being the natural frequency of the test article assembly. This report also demonstrates the ability to measure and model the dynamic response of a large test chamber, with a test article running in the facility. Based on these measurements, one can develop plans to reduce unwanted dynamic response based on computer modeling and field verification.


Summary This article shows how Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" engages the reader in something akin to a dialectic process of making sense of the mariner's seascape. Analysis reveals that the poem does this by constantly confronting the reader within the same image with familiar and unfamiliar phenomena that she/he has to synthesise into a meaningful whole. The meaningful whole that comes into being as a result of the synthesis of opposites, suggests the idea that the whole is, as Coleridge put it, "grander" and "vaster" than we can comprehend, an idea that Coleridge advocated in several of his nonpoetic writings. Very specifically, the anti-thetical presence of familiarity and unfamiliarity creates confusion about the realm's visible features, until the imagination eliminates this confusion by synthesising the underlying antitheses. This argument is contextualised firstly (and briefly) against the background of the history of the idea of the dialectic, or the synthesis of opposites, and especially its development in German transcendental thought, and secondly, against aspects of Coleridge's own ars poetica, which was greatly influenced by German transcendental thought. Coleridge's indebtedness to the German thinkers of the time is the subject of much scholarly work. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", however, predates most of the important idealist writings. The article points out parallels between the composition of Coleridge's images in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and the underpinnings of German transcendental thought. These parallels could indicate that Coleridge was influenced by early idealist writing or that he did indeed – as he claimed – think simultaneously and independently the same thoughts as the important German idealist thinkers of his time. Either way, the parallels indicate a Zeitgeist so strong that it found expression also in Coleridge's poetic output.


July-August AN INNOVATIVE BUSINESS MODEL THROUGH KNOWLEDGE TRANSFORMATION WITHIN VIRTUAL "ba": INTERSECTION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 1 Rashid Saleem, 2 Ch. Abdul Rehman, 3 Nausheen Shakeel, Fatima Aleem, 5 Yasir Arafat 1,2,5 The Superior University, Lahore, Pakistan 3,4 University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan. ABSTRACT: Contemporary progress in information technology, such as internet and decline in computing and communication costs, have promoted new ways to form and transfer value to stake holder. The theme of this concept paper is 'collaborative research' through web platform (called 'virtual ba' by Nonaka and Konno). The paper is grounded on literature review and discussion, with the objective to develop a business model. This business model is based on organization knowledge and leads to innovation in the form of collaborative research and problem solving, using the web platform. We formed the business canvas that shows our Value Proposition, Customer Segment, Customer Relationships, Channels, Cost Structure, Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partnerships, and Revenue Streams. Our conceptual model displays various knowledge types (potential, tacit, implicit, explicit, and phronesis), their hypothetical relations, and how these types of knowledge approach to collaborative research within virtual ba. We end up by formulating nine propositions about the conceptual model of this study. Besides its limitations, the suggested model in this study will not only provide a common place for geographically distant and academically diversified researchers, but also bridge the gap between academic researchers and practitioners from the corporate world. Key terms: knowledge management, entrepreneurship, business model, collaborative research, virtual ba


Pictures and other visio-spatial signs with iconicity diverge in expression, and in how they operate on meaning. Like all signs, pictures are polysemous (Groupe µ 1992) and have several layers of m ...


In this paper a new idea to solve the traveling salesman problem is introduced. The idea is categorized within meta-heur istic algorithms and is based on a normal wise human-being thinking method. Star ting from an arbitr ary star ting point, three factor s ar e considered to generate a score vector by which the next position is selected. Distance from the non-visited points, successful previous exper iments, and a randomly changing factor are the components that make the scor e vector. The effect of each factor can be adjusted by a weighting parameter. The algorithm is implemented and tested on many small (less than 100 cities) benchmarks. The pr imary surpr ising results obtained by this soft computing approach, in compar ison to many other recently developed methods, turn a light on its bright per spective to be known as an efficient simple solution to the problem.


We examine in analytic and numeric ways the imaging effects of temporal neutron lenses created by traveling magnetic fields. For fields of parabolic shape we derive the imaging equations, investigate the time magnification, the evolution of the phase-space element, the gain factor, and the effect of finite beam size. The main aberration effects are calculated numerically. The system is technologically feasible and should convert neutron time-of-flight instruments from pinhole to imaging configuration in time, thus enhancing intensity and/or time resolution. Further fields of application for high-resolution spectrometry may be opened.


AIM To investigate the association between a recent gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy and the subsequent risk of pyogenic liver abscess (PLA). METHODS We designed a nested case control study. Using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, 2135 patients with a first diagnosis of PLA were identified from 1998 to 2011. Another 10675 patients without PLA matched by age and sex were selected as reference controls. We identified and compared the possible risk factors for PLA and GI endoscopies performed before the index date (when PLA was diagnosed) between the two cohorts. Multivariate analysis was conducted to examine the risk of PLA within the 90 d after the GI endoscopies. RESULTS Patients with a history of diabetes [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 4.92, 95%CI: 1.78-13.61], end-stage renal disease (aOR = 3.98, 95%CI: 1.45-10.91), biliary tract infection (aOR = 2.68, 95%CI: 2.11-3.40), liver cirrhosis (aOR = 2.19, 95%CI: 1.39-3.46), GI malignancies (aOR = 5.68, 95%CI: 4.23-7.64), appendicitis (aOR = 3.16, 95%CI: 2.27-4.41), diverticulitis (aOR = 1.64, 95%CI: 1.01-2.64), and recent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (aOR = 27.04, 95%CI: 11.65-62.72) were significantly associated with an increased risk of PLA. After adjusting for the above risk factors and the frequency of outpatient department visits and abdominal ultrasounds during 90 d before the index date, an upper GI panendoscopy (aOR = 2.75, 95%CI: 2.05-3.69) but not a lower GI endoscopy (aOR = 1.07, 95%CI: 0.62-1.86) was significantly associated with PLA. CONCLUSION An upper GI panendoscopy performed before 90 d may increase the risk of PLA.


Flame height variations of a laminar stagnating premixed flame with gas component transition between fuel mixture A (methane:92%, ethane:6.7%, propane:1.3%) and B(methane:84%, ethane:13.3%, propane:2.7%), and between A and C (methane:76%, ethane:20.0%, propane:4.0%) are discussed. The estimation of the flame speed and the flame temperature of fuel mixtures A, B and C by the Chemkin-Pro show almost the same values for all fuel mixtures. In experiments, the transition between A and B and between A and C were performed. The transition time changes from 1 s to 10 s, keeping flow velocity and equivalence ratio constant at 0.8 m/s and 0.7 respectively. The flame position was measured by using images taken by a high speed camera with 125 fps. Two transition patterns are examined, keeping the total flow rate of premixed mixture constant. One is the constant flow rate transition, which changes the gas component, keeping the fuel mixture flow rate constant. The other is the constant equivalence ratio transition, keeping the equivalence ratio constant. In the case of the constant flow rate transition, the equivalence ratio changes which results in the variation in the flame speed, the flame temperature and the flame height. It means that the combustion state changes with the transition. On the other hand, in the case of the constant equivalence ratio transition, the flame speed, the flame temperature and the flame height keep almost the same state, which means that the gas component can be changed, keeping the combustion state the same.


This paper proposes a method to discuss the stability analysis of multiple models. The proposed stability analysis is based on the use of scalar Lyapunov functions and the properties of M-matrices. An example is included to illustrate the proposed method.


The study investigated the effects of Circadian Typology, Emotional Intelligence and Creativity on the achievement of 300 Senior Secondary School III Students in Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria. The participants responded to three valid scales. A correspondence of the participants academic achievement was retrieved from their schools. Using Pearson Product Correlation and Multiple Regression procedures to investigate the predictive capacity of the independent variables on the dependent variables, the result indicated that the three independent variables, when taken together were effective in predicting academic achievement. However while circadian typology had no significant contributive effect, other variables contributed significantly to achievement. It was recommended that emotional intelligence and creativity should be fostered and encouraged among students in accordance of enhancing students positivity in the academic.


The overall DOE program for energy conservation in space heating and cooling, in space heating and cooling, in industrial waste heat utilization, and in power generation through the use of thermal energy storage (TES) and the ORNL activities for building heating and cooling uses and industrial uses of TES are discussed. It is concluded that the DOE TES program is both comprehensive and of significant size and that demonstration projects within the program will show a favorable commercialization potential for TES. (LCL)


In ancient Chinese language,structure " Suo(所)+Dong(动)+Zhe(者)" equals structure " Suo(所)+Dong(动)",and is contrary to structure " Dong(动)+Zhe(者)".Suo(所) is to refer to something "real or tangible" while Zhe(者),as a nominal pronoun,only plays a bridging role completing the sentence.


ABSTRACT Atmospheric pressure pyrolysis for the production of liquids and gases from black liquor and its calcium salts and acidic precipitate have been carried out in a little stainless steel tube. Yields, sum of liquid and gas products, from black liquor and its calcium salts and acidic precipitate were 44.7 %, 52.0 % and 59.1 % of dry basis respectively. The precipitates obtained from black liquor by acidifying with hydrochloric acid and passing carbon dioxide have been polymerized in aqueous acetone containing formaldehyde and ammonia, and converted a polymeric resin.


This article consists of a collection of slides from the authors' conference presentation. Some of the topics discussed included processors and shared memories; on-chip communication; dynamic voltage & clock frequency; and an analysis and summary.


From time immemorial, science and scriptures had been the strongest force in shaping Mankind history and development, though on different platforms, Science, on the platform of observation and testing of facts while religion mainly on blind faith. I intend to show that science and religion with regard to evolution are not demarcated as the agnostic advocated or as the Darwinist's and Creationist's polarized. Rather by invoking the scriptures I will try to show that science and religion are friends rather than foes. With the publication of Darwin's "On the origin of species" in the 1850's, the polarity between the two widened as scientist's looked upon religion as something dogmatic and fatalistic, devoid of any hypothetical construction that can be verified by physical research. Religionist's on the other hand, looked upon science as a materialist philosophy that advocates " Reductionism" and " Nothing buttery " thereby reducing faith (or God) as "… mere delusion ." How about Atheist claim of the non-existence of God? No one is in a better position to defend the existence of God like God himself and citing as proof of his existence and control, God cited four things only HE could do: Creation of matter and life and controlling death and the knowledge of the future.


_____________________________________________________________________________ 3 Introduction ________________________________________________________________________ 3 Literature Review __________________________________________________________________ 3 Terminology _____________________________________________________________________ 3 Eco-Certification Programs ____________________________________________________ 4 Management-side Driving Factors for Eco-Certification __________________ 5 Consumer-side Driving Factors for Eco-Certification _____________________ 6 Problems with Hotel Eco-Certification ______________________________________ 8 Summary of Literature _________________________________________________________ 9 Methodology ________________________________________________________________________ 9 Literature Review _______________________________________________________________ 9 Green Lodging Program Review _____________________________________________ 10 Data Collection _________________________________________________________________ 10 Results and Discussion _________________________________________________________ 11 How Aware are Consumers of Eco-Labels? _________________________________ 12 Consumer Response to Eco-Labels __________________________________________ 18 Trends and Analysis ___________________________________________________________ 23 Conclusion _________________________________________________________________________ 30 References _________________________________________________________________________ 31 Appendix ___________________________________________________________________________ 33 Survey Questions _______________________________________________________________ 33 Question 10 _____________________________________________________________________ 35


A protocol for multiaccess communication over unidirectional bus networks is proposed, and its performance capabilities are determined. Under this protocol, time is slotted with a slot equaling a packet's transmission time. A station with a packet to send persists in transmitting its packet in an empty slot with probability p/sub i/ until it is successful. Three criteria for fairness in selection of the p/sub i/ are modeled using Markov chains, which are solved to obtain the proper p/sub i/ that satisfy each fairness criterion. Unlike previous studies of unidirectional bus networks, stations are allowed to buffer more than one packet. The average packet delay for this protocol is bounded, and the maximum achievable throughput approaches unity with increasing buffer size. Further, the protocol provides better delay versus throughput behavior for fixed packet lengths than previous round-robin schemes, its performance is insensitive to bus characteristics, and it appears to be particularly well suited for fiber-optic network applications requiring long distances and high bandwidths. Simulation results that confirm the predicted performance are included. >


In the Intelligent Transport System (ITS), the vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) system is focused. In VANET, to construct the media access control (MAC) scheme is important. In this paper, the modified binary countdown scheme is proposed as MAC protocol. This scheme is introduced the modified binary countdown scheme to the slotted ALOHA-based scheme. In this scheme, the transmission frame is divided into NS slots. The users choose a slot and a priority code at random. The users countdown at the chosen slot. The user who has the highest priority code transmits a packet. This scheme keeps the fairness of the transmission chance. As the results of the computer simulation, it is shown that the VANET using the modified binary countdown scheme outperforms the conventional binary countdown scheme.


Recently, SBHS (Steels for Bridge High-Performance Structure) has been introduced in Japan because of its remarkable mechanical properties. The main features of SBHS are high yield strength, improved toughness and weldability, which are superior to conventional steel materials at the corresponding E m P F E H l U n G E n d E r r E d a K T I o n Tensile stress-strain relationship comparison between SBHS and conventional steel materials


Dual-band perfect absorbers involving an array of gold nanoellipsoids or nanoellipsoid dimers near a gold film are designed and their resonance absorptions and field enhancements are numerically investigated. It is shown that the multilayer structures combining gold nanoparticles and gold film enable dual-band higher absorption and larger field enhancement than the structures without the metal film, due to the strong coupling between the localized surface plasmon resonance from the particles or particle dimers and the surface plasmon polaritons from the gold film. A field enhancement factor (|E|/|E0|) of more than 102 is achieved at the positions of 2.5 nm from the particle tip at two distinct wavelengths in the surface-plasmon-coupled nanoellipsoid dimer structure. The results suggest that the coupling of the localized surface plasmon resonance and the surface plasmon polaritons excited in the plasmonic metamaterials may have potential applications for multifrequency absorbers, emitters and SERS substrates as well as sensing.


The adsorption of SO2 on alumina used in the aluminium industry, the so-called smelter-grade alumina, was studied in the temperature range 15–120°C. It was found that at temperatures lower than 40°C, sulphur dioxide was bonded to alumina reversibly by physical forces, and the adsorption could be described satisfactorily by the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The heat of adsorption was estimated to be −33 kJ mol−1. At temperatures ranging from 80°C to 120°C, which prevail in dry scrubbers in the aluminium industry, the heat of adsorption was determined to be −56 kJ mol−1. When SO2 was adsorbed at temperatures higher than 80°C, about 30 % of the SO2 could not be desorbed even if the samples were heated up to 250°C. In the presence of SO2 and oxygen, the formation of sulphate was observed at temperatures above 90°C.


The present invention is located on the liquid crystal display, or the like any type of backlight panel such as advertising panels, the field of backlight device for all types of backlight displays or projectors. The present invention does not need to supply a large current, a backlight device using light emitting diodes (31). According to the present invention, the back and write devices of each light emitting diode (31) to accumulate energy in the portion of the operating cycle, then to release this energy to the light emitting diode (31) in other parts of the cycle and a voltage converter are combined which may.


The study determines the significance of ethical and legal norms for regulating the use of genetic technologies. This task is important for modern society, but it is no less relevant for determining the risks of applying genetic technologies to the rights of future generations. The material was scientific articles and electronic resources. The research methods are formal-logical, system, structural-functional and formal-dogmatic. The results show that the topic of caring for future generations should not be ignored when using genetic technologies. Legal instruments will be able to determine the limits of the use of genetic technologies, taking into account the interests of future generations.


The issue of daily care for patients with chronic mental disorders has recently been given more consideration. Many studies have revealed a strong association between oral diseases and chronic diseases. There is a lack of research on the relationship between oral health and quality of life of residents in psychiatric nursing homes. This study examined the oral health habits of the residents of a psychiatric nursing home and the predictive factors influencing their quality of life. The study adopted a cross-sectional study design and purposful sampling method to enroll 150 psychiatric nursing home's residents with their informed conscents. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire composed of the following sections: basic personal characteristics, oral hygiene habits, visit experience of the dentist, and Short-Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) quality of life scale. The results showed that among the eight quality of life dimensions, the psychiatric nursing home residents had the highest score in Mental Health (MH=64.97) and the lowest score in RoleEmotional (RE=55.83). Married residents had significantly different scores in Role-Physical (RP), Vitality (VT), RoleEmotional (RE), and Mental Component Summary (MCS). A significant correlation was observed between gender, oral self-care, and correct tooth brushing and quality of life. Age and years of education were found to be significantly and negatively correlated with physiologic function. Better oral health habits were associated with better overall quality of life. Overall quality of life was worse in female residents than in male residents. Older participants were found to have worse quality of life. Married people were found to have better overall quality of life. Participants who had had more years of education were found to have better overall quality of life. A better quality of life was observed in those who were able to perform oral self-care, correctly brushed their teeth, and had higher scores in oral health status.


Once started, existing hash tables cannot change their pre-defined hash functions, even if the incoming data cannot be evenly distributed to the hash table buckets. In this paper, we present DHash, a type of hash table for shared memory systems, that can change its hash function and rebuild the hash table on the fly, without noticeably degrading its service. The major technical novelty of DHash stems from an efficient distributing mechanism that can atomically distribute every node when rebuilding, without locking the corresponding hash table buckets. This not only enables non-blocking lookup, insert, and delete operations, but more importantly, makes DHash independent of the implementation of hash table buckets, such that DHash allows programmers to select the set algorithms that meet their requirements best from a variety of existing lock-free and wait-free set algorithms. Evaluations show that DHash can efficiently change its hash function on the fly. Moreover, when rebuilding, DHash consistently outperforms the state-of-the-art hash tables in terms of throughput and response time of concurrent operations, at different concurrency levels, and with different operation mixes and average load factors.


Taking the stated-owned power generation listed firms as samples,using Heckman two-stage regression method,the author made an empirical study of the effect of CEO political connection on agency cost.The results show that CEO political connection can increase agency cost significantly.The CEO political connections can increase the implicit agency cost significantly whereas the CEO political connections in local state-owned companies can enhance the explicit and implicit agency costs and the rate of increase is obviously higher than that for central enterprises,which shows that the widespread CEO political connections in state-owned enterprises aggravate the agency problem.


A numerical model based on computational fluid dynamics is developed to analyze fluid flow and thermal aspects in grinding. The model uses multiphase fluid flow with heat transfer based on the volume-of-fluid method, convection, conduction in solids and a multiple reference frame model of the porous grinding zone. Fluid velocity vectors, useful flow rate, grinding temperatures and energy partition are predicted using the model. In lieu of direct measurements of these quantities, the verification relies on the indirect assessment of surface integrity. The simulation results provide adequate agreement with the measured residual stress, depth of heat-affected zone and full width at half maximum profile with respect to the grinding temperatures.


In this paper, the restoration of degraded image is studied. Firstly, the unreliable pixel estimation is used to preprocess the noise image to eliminate the unreliable abnormal pixels in the noise image. Secondly, the prior model is used to model the multi-variable Gauss mixture model, and the GMM image restoration method is improved in the clustering step. The distance similarity measurement between patches and the same patch pixel is considered in the clustering. Using kernelized L2-norm not only considers the difference of pixels between image blocks, but also the difference between central pixels and other pixels in the same image block, which can effectively protect image details. Based on the above improvements, a restoration method based on the similarity between each patch and the estimated Gaussian cluster is proposed, which produces a better restoration effect. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the model proposed in this paper.


All papers published in this volume of IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering have been peer reviewed through processes administered by the Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing. • Type of peer review: Single-blind • Conference submission management system: EasyChair • Number of submissions received: 84 • Number of submissions sent for review: 84 • Number of submissions accepted:72 • Acceptance Rate (Number of Submissions Accepted / Number of Submissions Received X 100): 85.7%; • Average number of reviews per paper: 2.18 • Total number of reviewers involved:56 • Any additional info on review process: The papers were evaluated based on the technical criteria, quality criteria and presentation criteria. The referees argued detailed their reviews and also provided an overall evaluation (strong accept, accept, weak accept, borderline paper, weak reject, reject, strong reject), specifying their confidence (expert, high, medium, low, none) regarding qualifications to review the allocated paper. For each paper the similarity index was determined by the organisers using Turnitin software at Transilvania University of Brasov. • Contact person for queries: Prof. Gheorghe Oancea; email@example.com


Study Design: This is a prospective cohort study. Purpose: This study discusses a new technique for injecting cement in the affected vertebrae. Overview of Literature: Since introduction of vertebroplasty to clinical practice, the cement leak is considered the most frequent and hazardous complication. In literature, the cement extravasation occurred in 26%–97% of the cases. Methods: A hundred and twenty-three patients underwent vertebroplasty using the serial injection technique. The package of the cement powder and the solvent was divided into five equal parts. Each part of the powder and the solvent was mixed as a single dose and injected to the affected vertebra. The duration between subsequent injections was 10 minutes. Each injection consisted of 1–1.5 mL of cement. Results: This new technique gives the surgeon enough time to make multiple separate injections using the same package. The time interval between injections hardens the cement just enough so that it does not get displaced by the next cement injection. This technique gives time to the preceding injected cement to seal off the cracks and cavities in the vertebra, and subsequently leads to a significant decrease in cement leak (p<0.001), as compared to literature. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a previously unreported technique for vertebroplasty that adds more safety to the procedure by significantly decreasing cement leak. It also makes the surgeon more relaxed due to time intervals, giving him more self-confidence whilst performing the procedure. which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Аbstract: Pančevo is an old industrial center in the Banat region. The development of industry and the environment in this city are in the causa effect relationship: industrialization follows increased degradation of the environment. This relationship was particularly disturbed in the second half of the 20th century, after the construction of a large chemical and petrochemical industrial complex, on the city periphery. The development of industry has negatively affected all elements of city environment. The saturation of air with harmful substances such as benzene, ammonia, sulfur dioxide, soot and suspended particles has become a daily occurrence. Increased concentration of harmful substances in the air directly affects the pollution of the soil – the most important natural resource of Pančevo. A chronic problem of excessive pollution of the surface waters is a consequence of insufficiently built and inefficient sewage system, as well as insufficiently purified industrial water discharged into the recipients. Also, it is necessary to conduct a complex and multidisciplinary research on the long – term consequences of the NATO bombardment, because the amount of harmful substances have melt in the water, air and soil during the two and a half months in 1999, indicate a significate negative changes in the environment of Pančevo.


Our nation has got some progress in making use of ge neral system of dereferences,but there are many issues at present like attitude with general system of dereferences,irrationality of export product structure, excessive concentration of export market.Government and enterprise should streng then promotion of general system of preferences, upgrade dealer quality.We shou ld change product technology and enhance homemade level through researching pres ented preferences scheme and original producing area principle.We should establ ish supporting policies that assist enterprise to enlarge export and foreign exc hange via present general preferences terms.


Using Kinect motion capture technology combined with Angle and bone motion characteristics, three-dimensional visualization of human muscles was realized. This design takes ARM microcontroller as the control center. The system has the functions of radio frequency identification, image acquisition, alarm prompt and so on. Then a motion association recognition method based on human motion characteristics is proposed. The test results show that an automatic measuring device for distance of athletes in track and field can accurately measure the performance of athletes in standing long jump. The system runs smoothly. The output results are within the theoretical error range.


This study focuses on the phenomenon of lying on adolescents' weblogs. The sample consisted of 113 completed surveys out of 120 in total. The age of participants ranged between 13 and 17 years old. Interviews were conducted with 10 randomly selected participants whose answers were then verified. The results suggest not only that adolescents present personal information such as their age, gender, and place of residence but that these pieces of information are presented truthfully. Generally, the level of dishonesty was low, with young adolescents tending to lie more often about their interests. Public topics (school and life) had the most truthful answers, whereas the least truthful answers concerned intimate topics (family life, partnership). These results suggest that adolescents' blogs serve as a place where the writers can both present themselves and communicate with their peers in a way that goes beyond a traditional diary.


the few modern writers to have taken the idea seriously both in his own writing and criticism. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the most influential twentieth-century critics have subscribed to what Ricoeur called 'the hermeneutics of suspicion', a stance that involved trying to 'see behind' a literary work to detect the author's motivations (conscious or unconscious) and so reveal a variety of hidden agendas. The trouble with this, as Tomko points out, is that after this it is very difficult to be then caught up in the world of a play or a novel, and the general effect is to make literature deeply unattractive or even uninteresting – a problem that he intelligently spots lurking in Terry Eagleton's arguments. On the other hand, too willingly to suspend belief in the implied premises of an author can lead to accepting all kind of nonsense. Some kind of middle road is obviously essential. In this relatively brief work Tomko spells out what Coleridge (probably) intended, distinguishing it from assumptions of French critics who seemed to believe that an audience was fooled into thinking a play was real life, to Samuel Johnson who never let down his guard at all. The most interesting section lies in Tomko's discussion of what 'faith' might mean in this context – and, in particular, how far this is just a metaphor taken from the Christian tradition and re-applied in an aesthetic context, and how far it might be used in its full religious sense. As Tomko rightly points out, human perception, even knowledge, involves a literal, not just a metaphorical act of faith, and physical perception and religious belief are not so much opposites as points on a spectrum whose boundaries are delicate and blurred. Here Tomko (a Catholic) might have made more of Newman's thinking in the Grammar of Assent. Indeed, if there is a problem with this book, it is that Tomko has deliberately taken much of his space debating with critics, such as New Historicists, who are least likely to be sympathetic to his nuanced theological approach, rather than using his more robust allies – one thinks not merely of Newman, but of (say) Kierkegaard and Chesterton, as well as his other major exemplum, Tolkien, on whom he writes with great insight. Probably the most daunting thing about this very slim, stimulating and erudite book, part of a series entitled 'New Directions in Religion and Literature', is the price. At a nominal £65 it suggests an assumption that it will only be bought by libraries. They are right that it will be more borrowed than bought. The release of the paperback later this year will be warmly welcomed.


Estimates of equilibration temperatures and pressures for lherzolite nodules from kimberlites can be made through consideration of experiment¬ ally determined phase studies and mineral compositions determined by elec¬ tron microprobe analysis. It is necessary that a sample have equilibrat¬ ed with the assemblage Ca-rich pyroxene+Ca-poor pyroxene+garnet for the equilibration conditions to be estimated. At present, it is also neces¬ sary that these phases be poor in FeO. The diopside solvus (Davis and Boyd, 1966) is used to estimate the equilibration temperature. Once this temperature is known, the equilibration pressure can be estimated from the AI2O3 content of enstatite using the data of MacGregor (1973). This procedure is discussed in more detail by Boyd (1973). Figure 1 shows plots of estimated equilibration temperatures and depths for a group of lherzolite nodules from northern Lesotho. These estimates are subject to substantial uncertainties, but it appears likely that the broad stratigraphic relations will not be changed by subsequent refinement. In Fig. 1 the "raw" percentages of AI2O3 in the enstatites were used to estimate the equilibration pressures. These data appear to define an inflected geotherm in which the points on the shallow limb plot close to the predicted geotherm of Clark and Ringwood (1964). In Fig. 2 the estimated equilibration pressures have been corrected for the pres¬ ence of minor amounts of FeO in the natural enstatites and garnets using a method developed by Wood and Banno (in press). This correction shifts the points to more shallow depths. Corrections can also be applied for sodium, assuming that all the Na in the natural enstatite is present as jadeite (NaAlSi206), or combining A1 and Cr before subtracting Na. Such corrections shift the points on the inflected limb of the geotherm to somewhat greater depths but do not appreciably affect the points on the shallow limb. Nevertheless, regardless of the correction made, the over¬ all form of the geotherm and the order of points remain the same. The lherzolites from the kimberlites of northern Lesotho form two groups that differ markedly in texture, mineralogy, bulk composition, and mineral chemistry. A group whose equilibration points fall on the shal¬ low limb of the geotherm (Fig. 1) is characterized by a coarse-grained (2-4 mm) granular texture, A second group, whose equilibration points fall on the inflected limb of the geotherm, is intensely sheared. Lher¬ zolites in the second group contain coarse porphyroblasts of garnet and diopside in a fine-grained, granulated groundmass of olivine and ensta¬ tite. Some of the granular lherzolites contain accessory phlogopite, chromite, and rare graphite, but these minerals have not been found in the sheared lherzolites. It is unlikely that the geotherm illustrated in Fig. 1 describes a steady-state situation. For a steady-state geotherm to have such an inflection would require that the rocks above and below the inflection have markedly different thermal properties. There are compositional and textural differences between the sheared lherzolites on the inflected limb of the geotherm and the granular lherzolites on the shallower limb, but it seems unlikely that these differences would affect the thermal properties to a significant degree. It appears more likely that the geo¬ therm in Fig. 1 was perturbed. In other words, it appears that in a period prior to the eruption of the kimberlites a steady-state geotherm was established in the mantle beneath Lesotho with a slope rather like the "shield geotherm" of Clark and Ringwood (1964). This primitive geo-


This paper presents a system stochastic model described by Kolmogorov's differential equations which they lead in the steady state to the system balance equations. Applications of this model to some engineering simulation situations are briefly treated.


The destabilizing behavior of on-load tap-changers is an important mechanism responsible for the voltage collapse of power systems. The authors use a nonlinear dynamic model of the tap-changer, impedance loads, and decoupled reactive power-voltage relations to reconstruct the collapse. Based on the proposed M-bus network model, results presented include (1) a criterion for voltage stability, (2) a method to obtain a voltage region, and (3) qualitative characterizations of the equilibria.<<ETX>>


The establishment of psychiatric units in general hospitals is widely regarded as one of the more important developments to have taken place in psychiatry in the last 15 years. The number of these units and of psychiatric patients admitted to general hospitals is constantly increasing. Much has been written on the significance of this phenomenon but detailed studies of the function of any one of these units have been scarce and incomplete. What kind of patients are most frequently treated in this type of service? What is their composition as to age, sex and clinical diagnosis? What is the average length of stay? What is their response to treatment? What is the ratio between patients referred from other hospital departments and patients directly admitted to the psychiatric service? Our study is an attempt to answer these and other questions through a detailed investigation of the functioning of the psychiatric inpatient unit of a large metropolitan hospital, namely, the Mount Sinai Hospital of New York. Th...


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine homeless women's interactions with service providers and the degree to which these interactions are perceived as social support. Design/methodology/approach – Using a phenomenological approach, in-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 homeless women recruited through a drop-in day shelter and a winter emergency shelter. Findings – Analysis revealed being "cared for" was experienced within service provider encounters and is commensurate with widely recognized sub-categories of received social support. Participants expressed expanded definitions of service providers and made clear distinctions between routine support expected from a provider and received social support, or being "cared for" by providers. Research limitations/implications – Studies with homeless persons that exclude service providers as a potential source of social support for homeless women or impose predetermined definitions of service provision may not be capturing the ful...


Today, smart devices such smart watches and smart cell phones are becoming ever-present in all fields that influence the quality of life of the modern people. These on-board systems have revolutionized the behavior of human beings and especially their way of communicating. In this context and to improve the experience of using these devices, we aim to develop a system that recognizes hand poses in the air by a smart device.  In this work, the system is based on Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG) features and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. The impact of using HOG and SVM on mobile devices is studied. To carry out this study, we used an improved version of the "NUS I" dataset and obtained a recognition rate of approximately 94%. In addition, we conducted run speed experiments on various mobile devices to study the impact of this task on this embedded platform. The main contribution of this work is to test the impact of using the HOG descriptor and the SVM classifier in terms of recognition rate and execution time on low-end smartphones.Today, smart devices such smart watches and smart cell phones are becoming ever-present in all fields that influence the quality of life of the modern people. These on-board systems have revolutionized the behavior of human beings and especially their way of communicating. In this context and to improve the experience of using these devices, we aim to develop a system that recognizes hand poses in the air by a smart device.  In this work, the system is based on Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG) features and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. The impact of using HOG and SVM on mobile devices is studied. To carry out this study, we used an improved version of the "NUS I" dataset and obtained a recognition rate of approximately 94%. In addition, we conducted run speed experiments on various mobile devices to study the impact of this task on this embedded platform. The main contribution of this work is to test the impact of using the HOG descriptor and the SVM classifier in terms of recognition rate and execution time on low-end smartphones.


The purpose of this study was to identify the problems of foodservice management in public medical institutions through evaluation of the patients'...


Objective: caspase-1 could regulate inflammation and tumor growth,but it remained obscure that whether caspase-1 might modulate myeloid-derived suppressor cells( MDSCs) development in vivo. Here,we studied the effect of caspase-1 activity on MDSCs percentage in peripheral blood,spleen and tumor of breast cancer-bearing mice. Methods: Murine mammary tumor cells 4T1were injected into mammary fat pad to generate orthotopic model of breast cancer in female BALB / c mice. Caspase-1 specific inhibitor Ac-YVAD-CMK( YVAD) was given to these tumor-bearing mice via intraperitoneal injection at a dosage of 5 mg / kg,and then spleen and tumor weight were examined at indicated times. Primary cells were prepared from peripheral blood,spleen,bone marrow and tumor for flow cytometry analysis of CD11b+Gr-1+cells( MDSCs). Meanwhile,the infiltration of tumor-associated macrophages( TAMs)was determined by HE staining and immunochemical staining techniques. Results: YVAD treatment could significantly increase tumor and spleen weight. Flow cytometry analysis showed that YVAD treatment could markedly elevate the proportion of polymorphonuclear-MDSCs( PMN-MDSCs) in peripheral blood,spleen and tumor. However,neither the number of TAMs( CD11b+F4 /80+) in tumor tissue nor the differentiation of bone marrow-derived macrophages in vitro was significantly altered by YVAD treatment. Conclusion: caspase-1 could inhibit tumor progression by modulating the development of MDSCs in peripheral tissues( blood and spleen) and tumor microenvironment,which suggested that caspase-1 might be a potential target for tumor therapy.


Nowadays the Power Quality issues are the major concerns in the grid integrated system. Hybrid Renewable Energy Sources (HRES) plays a vital role in the distributed generation for supplying the world energy consumption demand. This paper presents control, modelling and design of grid integrated inverter for power quality improvement in the HRES system. Extended Search Algorithm (ESA) is used to stabilize the voltage, reducing the power loss, and energy management. The simulated results will indicate the better performance of the proposed converter over the conventional PI controller. The simulations are carried on the MATLAB/ SIMULINK platform.


Micro-power generation systems have gained considerable research attention due to the rapid development of microelectromechanical systems and wireless technologies. To this day batteries serve as the most common power source for remote wireless systems. However, these power systems have grown impractical for large networks and small devices, where replacing depleted batteries becomes difficult. Therefore, alternative solutions characterized by a renewable power supply of reasonable power density have been suggested. Ambient vibrations offer a plausible source of energy for conversion into usable electrical power. Present work aims at modeling and analysis of piezoelectric-based vibration-harvesting devices using Ansys and matlab software. Static analysis of piezoelectric cantilever is carried out in Ansys.


As the number of applications for flexible assemblies is growing there is also a larger variation of requirements for such packages. Therefore different technologies have been developed for applications from CSP's to smart cards. The scope of the paper is to describe different approaches for packaging using ultra-thin and flexible chips. This includes the assembly processes as well as packaging concepts e.g. CSP's, 3D modules and volumetric integration of passive and active components into modules and substrates.


The authors deal with the optimization for culture condition on compound bioflocculant producing bacterium by experimentations through the study of decreasing for composition of culture medium,influence of source to C and N,content of culture medium's composition and exoteric condition at culture time.The results indicated that the optimal components of the culture were glucose 2.0 g,K2HPO4·3H2O 5.0 g,KH2PO4 1.0 g,MgSO4·7H2O 0.20 g,(NH4)2SO4·7H2O 0.20 g,distilled water 1 L and the initial pH of the culture is 7.The external conditions of the culture medium were as follows: the sterilization pressure is 0.06 MPa,the temperature was 20-30 ℃ and the rotation speed of surge was 100-140 r/min.It reduced transform cost of compound bioflocculant and enhanced of the flocculating capability.


To the Editor:-Recent articles have raised the issue of the poor prognosis after CPR in elderly patients in a long-term care facility. As a practicing geriatrician it has been my experience that many elderly patients are unnecessarily resuscitated, only to increase their suffering and prolong the dying process, with no benefit to them or their families. It is my opinion that this area needs to be discussed and looked into in more depth and that some type of sociological or governmental decision needs to be made as to whether or not these patients should have this type of aggressive care provided. Previous to 1992 there were few articles that specifically addressed the survival of patients in long-term care facilities. Murphy' in 1989 found that, among 244 subjects who sustained an out-of-hospital arrest, only two patients survived. It was unclear whether the survivors were nursing home residents. In 1990, Applebaum et a12 found that only two of 117 nursing home residents resuscitated in nursing homes survived to hospital discharge. A more recent article in the June issue of the Journal of American Geriatric Society3 reported that none of 45 residents of a 300-bed facility who had had a cardiac arrest over a 3-year period survived to hospital discharge. Thus, there is an increasing body of data that suggests that, in chronically ill residents of long-term care facilities who have multiple serious medical problems, cardiopulmonary resuscitation may in fact be futile. I question the logic in aggressively treating these patients. I recognize that it is ultimately the family and patient's privilege and responsibility to determine the course of their final care at the end of their life and that these issues need to be carefully discussed by the nursing home staff, the physician, the patient, and the family. However, based on my experience, these discussions are difficult to carry out, and in many cases, families and patients put these decisions off until the middle of the night on a weekend when an acute event occurs, obligating the nursing home staff to resuscitate an inappropriate patient. I should mention that I do not advocate the withholding of resuscitation in appropriate patients. A recent article by Masi et a14 has found that elderly patients who have functional status and medical conditions similar to younger patients have a similar survival rate at time of discharge after sustaining a cardiac arrest (27% vs 24%). He also found that the functional level of those who survived, whether old or young, was similar to their pre-arrest state. However, these patients were not residents of long-term care facilities and were generally in the same condition prior to hospitalization as their younger counterparts. A recent article by the Minnesota Association of Nursing Home Medical Directors' has outlined a format in which to discuss cardiopulmonary resuscitation in nursing homes. In their discussion they recommend specific circumstances when nursing home policies can empower staff to withhold CPR: the existence of a no-CPR order, an unwitnessed cardiac arrest, and other clinical situations where the patient was clearly hopelessly terminally ill. I believe that this article should be a foundation for nursing home directors and nursing home physicians to begin discussing appropriate policies in order to protect patients from unnecessary care.