OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess current practice of performing tracheostomies in critically ill cardiac surgical patients, to establish complication rates, and to identify areas of this clinical practice that could be improved.

DESIGN
Retrospective observational study.

SETTING
A cardiothoracic intensive care unit in a teaching hospital.

PARTICIPANTS
The most recent series of 100 tracheostomies performed in patients admitted to the intensive care unit.

INTERVENTIONS
Percutaneous or surgical tracheostomy for respiratory management.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
A total of 95 patients had 1 tracheostomy performed. One patient had a tracheostomy performed twice, and 1 patient had a tracheostomy performed 3 times; these repetitions were caused by recurrent respiratory failure. The median time from tracheal intubation to tracheostomy was 5 days (range, 1-23 days; interquartile range, 4-8 days), and median period between insertion and decannulation was 20 days (range, 2-77 days; interquartile range, 12-25 days). The most common reason for insertion was an anticipated long weaning time (55%) followed by insertion after failed extubation (32%). The Ciaglia percutaneous dilational technique was used for 89% of tracheostomies, whereas surgical techniques were used for 8%. The most common complication was either complete or partial obstruction of the tracheostomy tube (24%) followed by infection of the tracheostomy site in 18% (17/94) and bleeding at the time of insertion (11%).

CONCLUSION
The percutaneous dilational technique of tracheostomy was used predominantly in this unit. The median time from tracheal intubation to tracheostomy was 5 days. The most common complications were bleeding at the time of insertion, obstruction of the tracheostomy tube, and stomal infection.


Previous studies showed that GM-CSF-deficient (Csf2-deficient, Csf2−/−) mice exhibited profound resistance to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The present study focused on the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) 35–55-specific model of murine EAE in Csf2-deficient and wildtype C57BL/6 mice. The study addressed whether disease resistance of Csf2-deficient mice reflected a role for GM-CSF in controlling the functional balance between effector and regulatory T cells. The main finding was that treatment with the anti-CD25 mAb PC61 rendered Csf2-deficient mice fully susceptible to severe EAE, similar to that of C57BL/6 mice. When both donors and recipients were treated with PC61 in a passive model of EAE, adoptive transfer of myelin-specific Csf2−/− T cells into Csf2−/− recipients resulted in chronic severe EAE. Csf2-deficient T cell repertoire was characterized by elevated CD3+ T cell frequencies that reflected accumulations of naïve CD44null-low CD4+ and CD8+ T cells but normal frequencies of CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ T cells. Overall, this finding suggested that Csf2−/− mice had secondary deficiencies in T cell sensitization to environmental antigens. In accordance, MOG35-55/ Complete Freund's Adjuvant -sensitized Csf2−/− mice exhibited deficient peripheral sensitization to MOG, whereas pretreatment of sensitized Csf2−/− mice with PC61 enabled the robust induction of MOG-specific T cell responses in the draining lymphatics. In conclusion, the EAE resistance of Csf2−/− mice, at least in part, reflects deficient induction of effector T cell function that cannot surmount normal Treg barriers. EAE effector responses in Csf2-deficient mice however are unleashed upon depletion of regulatory CD25+ T cells.


In this article, we analyze how a ferroelectric (FE) acts as a rechargeable energy storage medium which stores, releases, and retrieves energy, and helps the gate achieve a desired charge density with reduced energy (voltage) from the external gate drive. During transistor turn-on, the FE releases energy, while the whole system is absorbing energy, and during turn-off, the FE retrieves energy, while the whole system is releasing energy. Capacitor energy is analyzed using two different approaches: static material free energy integrals and transient circuit power integrals. The two results agree within 1%. Energy analysis is also performed for a metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor structure for two gate lengths, 20 nm and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, in an inverter circuit. At 2-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> gate length, the values of energy match under these two different approaches with less than a 6% difference. The difference is larger in the 20-nm gate length case due to larger parasitic capacitances, such as gate-to-drain and gate-to-source capacitance, affecting the transient circuit analysis. Even so, most of the energy storage and retrieval benefit is retained even in small size negative capacitance transistors.


Weather forecast is one of the key pieces of information used by state crisis management. The weather forecast is processed and published by the National Meteorological Service. The published weather forecast is the output of the information system of the workplace of the National Meteorological Service. The quality and usability of the weather forecast is determined by number of factors. Between key factors are the information content of the forecast and the ease of working with the information system. The departments of the National Meteorological Service publish the weather forecast on their website. There are number of methods to evaluate the quality of a website. The websites of the National Meteorological Service of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Portugal are assessed and compared in article. The evaluation was performed by heuristic analysis using indicators of expertness, usableness, arrangementness and search. The conclusion of the article is a comparison of evaluations and evaluations of the positives and negatives and specificities of weather forecasts presented by the evaluated sites.


We study several upstream ion events using Cluster simultaneous multispacecraft data at times of large inter-spacecraft separation distance. We analyze the pitch-angle scattering of energized ions by upstream waves and demonstrate that under favourable interplanetary conditions the scattering can become stronger than usual thus making the first-order Fermi acceleration at the bow shock more efficient. On the other hand, the upstream waves that scatter the energetic ions are thought to be generated locally by the energetic ions themselves. Therefore the characteristics of the upstream waves and of the energetic ions are intimately connected. In our study we compare the predictions of the quasi-linear theory of wave excitation at each event with the observations in two ion energy ranges (i.e, 10-18 keV and 18-32 keV) and as a function of distance from the bow shock.


The invention discloses a method for producing low-carbon guniting microcrystalline water soluble fertilizer, which comprises the steps of preparation of defluorination phosphoric acid, removal of heavy metal, guniting by the microcrystalline method and the like. The invention further discloses a heavy metal remover. The method, disclosed by the invention, can effectively remove heavy metal, optimizes the defluorination parameter, enables the fertilizer to be safer and more environmentally friendly, and has market application value.


How can we encourage outstanding young researchers from all over the world and from all fields of nutrition to develop their careers in nutrition and to become part of a global network of future nutrition leaders? I propose a series of questions and subsequently elaborate my views on the future of leadership in nutrition, focused on how to evolve and strengthen as a field.


It is not psychotic experiences in themselves but the way in which we appraise, or make sense of, them that determines their clinical relevance, and provides the key focus of psychological therapy. Psychotic experiences do not inevitably cause distress, impair functioning or result in psychiatric diagnosis. Extensive empirical findings indicate that these experiences can occur in the absence of a "need for care". What, therefore, determines clinical pathological outcomes? Cognitive models of psychosis outline how the appraisals which people make shape both the content of psychotic experiences and the meaning that is attributed to them, bridging the gap between phenomenological and neurobiological accounts of their occurrence. Characteristic appraisals, for example, of psychotic experiences as betokening threat, and rendering the self as vulnerable or worthless, are associated with need for care. These appraisals in turn are influenced by the psychological (i.e., cognitive, affective and behavioural) processes which have developed in the context of a person's genes, biology and socio-environmental experiences. A case example illustrates our proposition. James grew up in poverty, experienced bullying and was raped during his teenage years. These early experiences led to distressing beliefs that he was weak and others would harm him, and he tended to be alert to potential threats. As adolescence developed into adulthood, jobless, James became increasingly isolated and rarely went outside. James felt very on-edge, and his sleep was disturbed. One day, he heard whispers that sounded critical, which he was sure were people talking about him. He became more anxious and struggled to take care of himself. He started using cannabis. The voices suddenly got more intense, telling him "you are nothing and are going to get it". James just knew this was a sign he would never escape others' persecution, and he became even more guarded and avoidant. James felt completely helpless and had no hope for his future. James's difficulties highlight how adverse life experiences contribute to negative appraisals about the self and others, which can – in the presence of a range of affective, cognitive, behavioural, social and biological factors – trigger and shape psychotic experiences and the meaning that is attributed to them. James's voices reflect the themes of how he views himself and others; and his appraisals ("I am cursed") and their consequences ("I am helpless") also mirror his negative beliefs. But note it is not just the content of appraisals that is of clinical relevance, but also the processes by which people reach such conclusions and how they react to them. A certain type of thinking style, fast thinking, is particularly associated with threatening appraisals in psychosis, and is characterized by a tendency to "jump to conclusions", to have high conviction in one's instincts, and to fail to consider alternative explanations. Worry and ruminative thinking further maintain distressing interpretations, together with threat-focused attention, memory biases and understandable, but unhelpful, avoidant "safety behaviours" which act to prevent disconfirmation of fears. The focus of cognitive-behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp) is therefore on understanding and exploring these appraisals of psychotic experiences and the thinking contributing to them, with the goal of supporting people to become less distressed and more able to live a personally meaningful life. The evidence base for CBTp is now consistent in demonstrating benefits for psychotic symptoms. Developing trust and safety in the therapeutic relationship is the foundation of CBTp, as for other therapies, and requires skilful competence, given the nature of people's beliefs and the marked interpersonal difficulties they have often experienced. An empathic and collaborative approach is essential, conveying a spirit of open enquiry, including the "suspension of disbelief" regarding the veracity of appraisals. Directly challenging these appraisals and presenting contradictory evidence is counter-therapeutic, as it risks invalidating people's subjective experience, and may paradoxically increase their conviction and distress. However, empathic engagement alone is insufficient to bring about clinically significant improvements in people with psychosis. A key mechanism of change in CBTp, consistent with psychodynamic approaches, is the development of reflective functioning or the ability to make sense of one's own mind and that of others, in order to understand behaviour. Specifically, belief flexibility or slow thinking is fundamental to adaptive psychological functioning, and involves reflective curiosity and generation of alternative ideas. There is now evidence that therapy which targets improvements in belief flexibility specifically diminishes paranoia. So, whilst a developmental perspective is valuable in aiding selfunderstanding, the key therapeutic focus is on identifying and modifying day-to-day cycles which maintain occurrence of distressing appraisals of psychotic experiences. As well as fast thinking processes, these include sensitivity to stress, threat anticipation, negative affect, ruminative worrying and safety behaviours. The synthesis of an individualized narrative provides an account of the range of probable factors that contribute to distressing appraisals, with the goal of increasing people's awareness of the mechanisms by which they attribute meaning to their experiences. CBTp can be seen as a process of "sowing seeds" to support the germination of alternative, less distressing explanations, which over time become more adaptive appraisals of psychotic experiences. This then supports behavioural experimentation in daily life, to explore the impact of modifying these and trying out different ways of managing stressful, but valued activities, with experiential learning gradually reinforcing safer appraisals of experience. CBTp mirrors the naturalistic process through which we derive meaning from our life experiences to support adaptive functioning. However, sustaining this without support, given heightened vulnerability to stress, is a significant challenge. An important target for future research is the facilitation of enduring generalization of therapy gains to everyday life. To address


One of the key research issues of language attrition is lexical attrition. There have been a great number of empirical studies investigating the influencing factors of second language lexical attrition for more than 40 years. This article aims at clarifying the concept of language attrition and discuss the main influencing factors of lexical attrition, and suggesting potential directions for future research. After analyzing the relevant studies, we find the influencing factors of lexical attrition can be roughly divided into two categories, including objective factors such as attrition time, language acquisition methods, influencing factors related lexis, etc. and subjective factors of learners such as learners' age, gender, emotional factors and so on. Combined with the factors that affect lexical attrition, this paper finally talks about the enlightenment on foreign language vocabulary teaching for China.


Computer vision and VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) based technology has drastically increased in the past few years. They gained a tremendous influence on how the world is adapting to these technologies like machine learning, object detection, face detection, targeting system in drones, aerial photography, person tracking by drone. Drones and multirotors have revolutionized this world in many ways. Now we can perform autonomous missions, 3D mapping, surveillance, etc. But multirotor would not be able to perform these autonomous missions in several regions. The automation technology for multirotor depends on GPS navigation system. It cannot perform an autonomous operation without a satellite communication. In Some regions like inside an enclosed area where the satellite signal is not been able to reach or GPS signals often get shadowed. In this paper, we have used image processing to overcome this limitation and be able to detect, track, control position and perform autonomous operations on a multirotor in an enclosed selected area.


To determine the incidence of clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) detected exclusively in the anterior prostate using transperineal prostate biopsy.


Toroidal drift waves with unconventional mode structures and non-ground eigenstates, which differ from typical ballooning structure mode, are found to be important recently by large scale global gyrokinetic simulations and especially become dominant at strong gradient edge plasmas [cf., Xie and Xiao, Phys. Plasmas, 22, 090703 (2015)]. The global stability and mode structures of drift wave in this steep edge density and temperature gradients are examined by both direct numerical solutions of a model two-dimensional eigen equation and analytical theory employing WKB-ballooning approach. Theory agrees with numerical solutions quite well. Our results indicate that (i) non-ground eigenstates and unconventional mode structures generally exist and can be roughly described by two parameters `quantum number' $l$ and ballooning angle $\vartheta_k$, (ii) local model can overestimate the growth rate largely, say, $>50\%$, and (iii) the narrow steep equilibrium profile leads to twisting (triangle-like) radial mode structures. With velocity space integral, semi-local theory predicts that the critical jump gradient of the most unstable ion temperature gradient mode from ground state $l=0$ to non-ground state $l=1$ is $L_T^{-1}R\sim50$. These features can have important consequences to turbulent transport.


Due to the fact that at the moment the Russian economy is functioning in terms of entropy of the environment impact caused by the impact of internal and external factors, national economy, regardless of the conjuncture of the global space, is sensitive to the presence of crisis processes in the scale of the whole economy. To develop applied actions to minimize the crisis, an analysis has been conducted to determine which upgrade path as the attractor of economic security is more suited to the specifics of Russia; can we be upgraded in the Eastern or the Western way; what features are characteristic of the Russian economy and what path of renovation in this regard is more practical and effective. It is proved that the Russian economy on the path of overcoming the crisis must apply the methodology of practical activities, based on the specific mentality of the Russian population.


This study is the application of the principle of electrochemical. The anodic dissolution has no concentration polarization. Hence, electrolyte life is substantially increased. The waste copper is high in ion concentration with a recovery value. As compared with the current PCB chemical pre-treatment method, it may have advantages of cost-saving, improvement of overall efficiency, reduction of production costs and reduction of the amount of waste generated. In the development of the copper foil for electrochemical roughening process, the use of electrolysis reaction affects the copper surface dissolution to form a unique bump coarsening. It will increase in the surface area of the copper foil to improve dry film solder mask and the adhesion between the copper surfaces. Four electrolytes, two neutral salts and two acids, were selected to explore the best of the electrolytic roughening parameters of temperature, time and voltage. The surface roughness and the surface morphology of the copper foil were measured before and after the electrolytic surface roughening. Finally, after repeated experiments, electrolytes A and B copper generates obvious inter-granular corrosion, resulting in a rough surface similar to the chemical pre-treatment. On the other hands, the surface morphology resulted from electrolytes C and D appears more like pitting. Both electrolytic could generate surface roughness of Ra 0.3 um roughened copper surface higher than industrial standard.


Asymptotic approximations for small Strouhal number are derived for the solution of the problem of the interaction between an acoustic wace and a subsonic jet flow issuing from a semi-infinite pipe. Density and sound speed differences between the jet flow and the (slowly moving) ambient medium, and a general edge condition are included. The approximations relate to the field inside the jet flow, to the far field, to the reflection coefficient, end-impedance and end correction for the reflected wave inside the pipe, and to the transmitted and radiated sound power. Within the range of parameters considered, the effect of the density and sound speed ddferences and ambient flow is found to be appreciable, although the character of the solution is not changed. However, the choice of the edge condition does have important implications; specifically, the phase of the reflected wave is most sensitive to only slight deviations from the Kutta condition. Only a few years ago, it was quite generally believed that a Kutta condition at a sharp trailing edge (effecting vortex shedding) in aero-acoustical problems may have some importance in that it changes radiation directivities with a few decibels or so, but never in such a dramatic way that orders of magnitude are involved ([9], p. 449; [23], p. 364). However, the experiments of Bechert, Michel and Pfizenmaier [2], together with Howe's [l21 explanation, have shown this opinion not to be true. In the configuration of a subsonic jet issuing from a pipe perturbed from inside by long sound waves, they found that only a small fraction of the net sound power, transmitted through the pipe, was recaptured in the far field. The rest was transformed into hydrodynamic energy of vortices shed from the pipe edge. These vortices, making only little noise, arise from viscous and nonlinear action, which is, in an inviscid linear problem, modeled by an appropriate edge condition, like the Kutta condition. Reductions up to 25 dB were obtained, so in this case the Kutta condition really provides an important sink of sound. (The opinion that in general the Kutta condition and vortex shedding gives a reduction is not correct; at least in the case of an airfoil trailing edge there is, under some conditions, more sound radiated by the vortices interacting with the edge than was used for their production, and the net result is an amplification [21].) Various technological applications exploiting this mechanism for noise reduction are in use or under development [l], e.g., tube ends consisting of many parallel small nozzles, acoustic liners of Helmholtz resonators with through-flow, and exhaust mufflers for piston engines, so a deeper study of various aspects of this process seems well worth doing.


The Hawking radiation is one of most interesting known effects of black hole physics. Since its discovery in 1974 by Hawking, this phenomenon has been an object of study of great interest. Despite the large number of works on this subject, details of the quantum evolution of black holes are still unknown. In large part, this is due to the complexity of the calculations necessary to get such results. In order to calculate the Hawking radiation, but avoiding mathematical complications, many years ago Christensen and Fulling had proposed a method to derive the Hawking radiation flux in terms of trace anomalies, which is a very simple way to obtain consistent results, since the anomaly is given in terms of the spacetime curvature invariants. This approach is successful in the calculation of the stress tensor of the Hawking radiation emitted by black holes in two-dimensional spacetimes, where all the nonzero components of the stress tensor can be obtained. However, in the case of four-dimensional spacetimes the Christensen-Fulling method does not furnish a complete result, since the transverse components of the stress tensor cannot be determined. In this work we review such an approach and apply it to two-dimensional static black holes in asymptotically Minkowski and anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetimes. For black holes in asymptotically AdS spacetimes a straightforward application of the Christensen-Fulling method does not provide correct results. To overcome this problem, we propose a slight modification of the method, where we argue that the trace anomaly due the background curvature of the AdS spacetime, without the black hole, should be deducted from the total trace anomaly, and hence we get the correct results for the energy flux of the Hawking radiation in all AdS spacetimes we have tested.


The SlimSAR is a small, low-cost, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and represents a new advancement in high-performance SAR. ARTEMIS employed a unique design methodology in designing the SlimSAR that exploits previous developments. The system is designed to be smaller, lighter, and more flexible while consuming less power than typical SAR systems. The system consists of an L-band core and frequency block converters and is very suitable for use on a number of small UAS's. Both linear-frequency-modulated continuous-wave (LFM-CW) and pulsed modes have been tested. The LFM-CW operation achieves high signal-to-noise ratio while transmitting with less peak power than a comparable pulsed system. The flexible control software allows us to change the radar parameters in flight. The system has a built-in high quality GPS/IMU motion measurement solution and can also be packaged with a small data link and a gimbal for high frequency antennas. Multi-frequency SAR provides day and night imaging through smoke, dust, rain, and clouds with the advantages of additional capabilities at different frequencies (i.e. dry ground and foliage penetration at low frequencies, and change detection at high frequencies.)


The transmission of two frequency-division-multiplexed full motion network quality video channels and one digital ISDN-H1 channel over a repeaterless single-mode fibre in excess of eleven kilometres using a LED operating at 1300 nm wavelength is demonstrated. Transmitted video quality, and bit error rate performance of the digital channel are reported. Experimental system components and procedures are described in detail.


The infini tesimal Kobayashi metric of an ellipsoid of the form is calculated explicitly, modulo a parameter that is determined by solving a transcendental equation. Using this result, we show that the metric is C1 on the tangent bundle away from the zero section. We also describe software that will calculate, using a Monte Carlo method, the infinitesimal Kobayashi metric on a domain of the form where ρ is a real-valued polynomial. We compare results of computer calculations with those obtained from the explicit formula for the Kobayashi metric.


Two open, online educational platforms, OpenStax Exercises and OpenStax Tutor, are working to revolutionize the way in which students learn concepts in diverse subject areas. Born and tested in the area of signal processing education, these tools bring to bear cutting-edge ideas in cognitive science and machine learning to automatically build personalized learning pathways for today's students and to advance the field of learning science. These platforms are introduced and initial results discussed.


ABSTRACT The present paper investigates the energy savings associated with the implementation of retrofitting measures on Irish residential buildings. A detached residential dwelling, representative of approximately 40% of the residential stock in Ireland, was selected as experimental test bed. The building was progressively retrofitted to an all-electric dwelling. Retrofit measures included the installation of a photovoltaic array, a geothermal heat pump, an electric vehicle charging point, along with building fabric upgrades. The building was equipped with a home area network with more than 30 sensors with 15 min monitoring resolution. The experimental data collected during the experimental campaign aided the comprehensive calibration of an EnergyPlus model. This model was used to investigate the effectiveness of the implemented retrofit measures in terms of energy savings and CO2 reductions. Real-time data from the Irish power system operator was used to calculate the building carbon footprint for different levels of renewable energy penetration to the national grid. Results show that the all-electric retrofitted building can achieve energy savings of up to 45%, with CO2 reductions of approximately 29%, compared to the pre-retrofitted building. Implementing the retrofit measures at scale could potentially lead to carbon emission reductions up to 14% for rural areas in Ireland.


present time. He denies the existence of an American international law, without minimizing the importance of American contributions to inter national law. The subjects or persons of international law are entities which have personality and can manifest it directly in international rela tions. As such the author lists states, the Papacy, man, and recognized belligerents. An international state is a political community which in a determined territory lives a separate existence under its own regular author ity and determined conditions of civilization. States have certain funda mental rights, which are relative rather than absolute: the rights of conser vation, independence (which is no more than the right of separate political life), and equality. These rights, the point of departure for the whole inter national juridical system, are based not in natural law but in international realities, giving states which are the primordial subjects of international law sufficient capacity to exercise it and be responsible for its violation. Professor Ulloa considers that man as part of a political collectivity, as a subject of a state, is an indirect subject of international law, but as a human being, as a member of the species and of society, he is a direct subject of international law, which protects his human and individual rights, the rights of liberty of opinion, physical conservation, individual liberty, mobility, option of nationality, and protection of the law. The nationality of each individual being established, the state to which he belongs assumes the protection of his rights by necessity of the legal order, although these rights are not derived from the state but are independent. Part III is concerned with jurisdiction over land, water, and air-space. On the whole the treatment is sound. Conquest, however, is confused with title by cession made under duress. Professor Ulloa makes ample use of historical and current illustration in developing his subject. While some of his points of view are novel and not generally acquiesced in, this introductory volume is, on the whole, stimulat ing and suggestive. There is no preface to indicate the exact scope of the work proposed, but as this volume is numbered I, others may be expected to follow. L a v e b n e B u r c h f ie l d .


An interference detection algorithm based on probability and statistics is proposed to overcome the drawbacks of huge computing load,poor realtime performance and inability to detect some special interference signals of interference detection algorithm based on time-frequency distribution,a conventional means of interference detection for DS/FH(Direct Sequence/Frequency Hopping)systems.Interference signals in DS/FH systems are detected based on statistics of the position of amplitude of various frequencies in the spectrum of DS/FH systems taking the difference of spectrum distribution regularity between DS/FH signals and interference signals as the evidence of judgment.The results of simulation and analysis show that the detection algorithm effectively identifies typical interference signals in DS/FH systems.Compared with the conventional way of detection algorithm based on time-frequency distribution,the proposed algorithm successfully detects special interference signals.Moreover,the algorithm significantly reduces computing complexity and speeds up interference signal detection for DS/FH signals because it does not require complex joint time-frequency analysis.


Corrosion protection performance of maleic anhydride copolymer water-borne polyurethane coatings incorporated with pigments SAPP and SRPP,which are the so called second-generation nontoxic anti-corrosion pigments,was investigated by salt spray test,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) measurement and immersion test.The results showed that the incorporation of SAPP and SRPP to the coating led to a remarkable improvement on its anticorrosive properties,and the corrosion resistance of SRPP was superior to that of SAPP.


Phosphorus and zinc effects on pearl millet variety 'ABV-04' during the rainy season (Kharif) of 2021 were studied in field experiments with nine treatments, i.e., P at 30, 40, 50 kg/ha and Zn at 5, 15 and 25 kg/ha respectively, at Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, SHUATS, Prayagraj, India (U.P). The treatments comprised T1 – 30 kg P/ha + 5 kg Zn/ha, T2 – 30 kg P/ha + 15 kg Zn/ha, T3 – 30 kg P/ha + 25 kg Zn/ha, T4 – 40 kg P/ha + 5 kg Zn/ha, T5 – 40 kg P/ha + 15 kg Zn/ha, T6 – 40 kg P/ha + 25 kg Zn/ha, T7 – 50 kg P/ha + 5 kg Zn/ha, T8- 50 kg P/ha + 15 kg Zn/ha, T9 – 50 kg P/ha + 25 kg Zn/ha. Results revealed that the application of 50 kg P + 25 kg Zn recorded highest ear head length (18.90 cm), maximum grain production (2.66 t/ha), maximum stover yield (3.90 t/ha), highest gross and net returns of (1,33,667.00₹) and (92,861.00₹), respectively. b.c ratio (2.26) was also found.


This paper compares various aspects of transportation policy between the United States and Germany. It looks at car ownership, exhaust gas emissions, differences in travel behavior (especially automobile use versus transit ridership, walking and bicycling), gasoline prices, highway user tax and fees, costs of car ownership (including sales tax, driver license costs, gas taxes, fuel efficiency and its regulation, and other costs), policies to improve and integrate public transit systems, policies promoting safe cycling and walking, and policies that discourage suburban sprawl and encourage mixed land use. In every case, the policies in Germany tend to encourage walking, bicycling and transit ridership, over automobile use; and United States policies reward driving and tend to punish transit ridership, walking and bicycling. Lessons to be learned from Germany are discussed.


This article investigates the movement of workers into new employment and nonemployment from jobs held at the end of the Soviet period and the movement of workers between jobs during the post-Soviet era. Multinomial logit and competing-risks models for transitions to different labor market states are estimated.


In this paper, instead of glass fiber, a bio-fiber (piemarker fiber) was used to reinforce unsaturated polyester (UP). UP resin was reinforced with piemarker fiber (PF) in a mold under hot pressing. The mechanical properties of the result composites were tested and hot pressing procedure was optimized. The optimum hot pressing technology was obtained. When hot pressing temperature was 90°C and mat was hot pressed for 1.5h. The mechanical properties of the composites indicated that: the optimum mass ratio of piemarker fiber to UP was 30:70, at which the flexural strength of the composite was 48.77MPa, the tensile strength was 29.082MPa, and the impact strength was 9.89KJ/m2.


When the United States first became active in the International Biological Program, the Environmental Management Component (primarily the Biome Programs, the Origin and Structure of Ecosystems, the Island Ecosystem Program) focused on developing a more comprehensive understanding of the origin, structure, and function of major types of natural ecosystems. This "analysis of ecosystems" was based on the premise that analyses of whole ecosystems would be necessary to assess the responses of the landscape to deleterious stresses or improved management strategies and to evaluate both direct and indirect consequences of human intervention. These ecosystem research programs began nearly 5 years ago amid some doubts in the professional community that analysis of ecosystems was technically feasible and with concerns in the broader biological scientific community that the concept of an ecosystem itself could be a viable approach to resolving environmental problems. We feel that we can now lay these concerns to rest.


An open, randomized clinical study in two groups of reconvalescents of tick-borne encephalitis suffered from postencefalitic somatogenetic asthenia. The first group was consisted of 14 patients who received adamantane derivatives ladasten at a daily dose of 100 mg for 25 days. The second comparison group included 18 convalescents who were followed up without an prescription of Ladasten. Before and after treatment, the examination with the use of a Visual Analogue Scale fatigue, scale of subjective evaluation fatigue Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20), Beck Depression Inventory, D. Spielberger's test (State-Trate-Anxiety-Inventory (STAI)), adapted for Russia by Yu. L. Khanin, a questionnaire for detection signs of autonomic changes. After receiving ladasten patients showed significant dynamics of the drop in scores accordingly to visual analogue scale fatigue by 2.5 times as opposed to those in the second group, where the fall was only by 1.4 times. In the first group there were also significant fall in scores of all scales MFI-20 (p = 0.0001), Beck Depression Scale (p = 0.001), Spielberger-Khanin test (p = 0.002) and the questionnaire for evidence of autonomic changes (p = 0.001). The obtained data suggest that Ladasten at a daily dose of 100 mg is highly effective drug with antifatigue, anxiolytic and vegetostabilizing effects and can be recommended in rehabilitation period to patients after the tick-borne encephalitis with manifestations of postencefalitic somatogenetic asthenia.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the correlation between age and body composition of ongole crossbred growing bull under intensive feeding management. Eight Ongole Crossbred growing bull aged 6-18 months old with initial live weight ranged at 133.5-228 kg were used in this study. They were fed Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) ad libitum and concentrate feeding at 2.1% of body weight (dry matter basis) which was adjusted to contain 15% protein. The grass was wilted for 7 days prior to feeding. The change of body composition was done in two methods. The first method is histological components by slaughtering animal to measure meat, bone and fat. The second method is chemical composition to determine water, protein and fat. The later body composition was measured during raising under intensive feeding regime for three months and determined by urea space method. The results showed that total meat, bone and fat were increased as cattle age increased, with correlations values between these body components and age were ranged at 0.53-0.72, or if those components were percentaged to the empty body weight, the correlation were 0.04, 0.40 and -0.46, for bone, fat and meat, respectively. These were suggested as a result of different growth rate of body components. In the chemical components, the EBH2O, EBPro and EBFat were ranged at 48.3-53.7% (average 51.22%), 12.5-13.8% (21.54%) and 27.0-34.18% (average 30.38%), respectively, with correlation values were ranged at 0.68-0.69. It could be concluded that during 6-18 m.o. growing period, the growth rate of bone was at the stable rate due to reaching the bone maturity. The weak correlation between age and meat and fat showed that age has small effect on the growth rate, even though


The states of O2 and SO2 adsorbed on NaX zeolite were investigated by means of ESR. No oxygen anion radicals were formed thermally on NaX up to 773 K. The adsorption of O2 on γ-irradiated NaX in a vacuum, however, resulted in an ESR spectrum due to O2−. Several kinds of O2− species and O3− were found to be formed on NaX by γ-irradiation in the presence of O2. These oxygen anion radicals showed different reactivities with N2O, ethylene and propylene, and transferred electrons to SO2 to form SO2−. The SO2− radical was also produced on NaX by raising the temperature from 298 to 573 K after the introduction of SO2. This reacted with O2 to form a radical, like SO4−, but upon evacuating the O2, the reaction was reversed to give the original SO2−. When the temperature of NaX was further raised to 773 K in the presence of SO2, a spectrum assigned to a polyatomic sulfur radical appeared indicating that SO2 decomposition occurred at high temperature. This polymer radical was stable in an O2 atmosphere at room tempe...


Summary Success with heavy oil production depends as much on knowing the geology of reservoir as it does on understanding the fluid properties of the reservoir. Heavy oils are defined as having high densities and extremely high viscosities. Due to their viscoelastic behaviour the traditional rock physics based on Gassmann theory becomes inapplicable in principle. In this paper, we use effective-medium approach known as coherent potential approximation or CPA as an alternative fluid substitution scheme for rocks saturated with viscoelastic fluids. Such rocks are modelled as solids with elliptical fluid inclusions when fluid concentration is small, and as suspensions of solid particles in the fluid when the solid concentration is small. This approach is consistent with the concepts of percolation and critical porosity, and allows one to model both sandstones and unconsolidated sand. To test the approach against the known solutions, first, we apply CPA to a rock with fluid pore fill and compare the obtained estimates with Gassmann results. Second, we compare CPA predictions for solid-solid mixtures with numerical simulations. Good match between the results confirms the usefulness of the proposed fluid substitution scheme. We extend the CPA scheme to predict the effective frequency- and temperaturedependent properties of heavy oil rock. We also use viscoelastic extension of Hashin-Shtrikman (H-S) bounds to obtain alternative estimates. The proposed fluid substitution scheme provides realistic estimates of the properties of a rock saturated with heavy oil which lie between H-S bounds.


Objective
To detect the expression of NRAGE protein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and investigate the relationship between NRAGE and therapeutic effect of radiotherapy.

Methods
The expression level of NRAGE in 44 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and statistically analyzed along with clinical data by using multivariate analysis using Cox regression model.

Results
The overall expression level of NRAGE protein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (P=0.025) and the expression level of NRAGE nuclear protein (P=0.008) were negatively correlated with short-term efficacy. In terms of the overall expression level of NRAGE protein, the 3-year survival rates in the strongly positive group and the positive weakly positive group were 16% and 36%(P=0.198). As for the expression of NRAGE nuclear protein, the 3-year survival rates in the strongly positive group and the positive+ weakly positive group were 0% and 41%(P<0.001). Multivariate analysis using Cox regression model demonstrated that as for the expression of NRAGE nuclear protein, the risk of death in the strongly positive group was significantly higher than those in the positive+ weakly positive group (P=0.002).

Conclusion
The overall expression level of NRAGE protein in the esophageal cancer is negatively correlated with the short-term efficacy of radiotherapy, whereas it is not correlated with long-term survival rate. The strongly positive expression level of NRAGE nuclear protein is negatively correlated with the short-term efficacy of radiotherapy and the long-term survival rate, prompting that NRAGE may be a molecular indicator for predicting radiation resistance and even the efficacy of radiotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Key words:
NRAGE gene; Immunohistochemistry; Esophageal neoplasm


This article shows a simple methodology to implement an operational space control on a 6-DOF arm robot. First, the model is linearized and decoupled by feedback, next a computed torque control scheme in the operational space is implemented with a Jacobian matrix calculus running within small sampling period, is exhibited. Major simulation results performed using numerical values of an industrial PUMA robot prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The performance of the operational space control and the widely used computed torque control in the joint space is compared. The simulated results are presented to illustrate the behavior of the control schemes with tracking performance and robustness with respect to external disturbances and errors in the dynamic model.


Testing is a very crucial process of assuring products reliability and trust dependencies. Thus for achieving maximum coverage the test must be generated from overall distributed regions of input domains and known as partition testing. But it gives optimal results for homogeneous regions. Random testing serve better than partition testing but is also generating high computation overheads. Another technique is Adaptive Random technique having adaptive nature of regenerating and passing some of the test cases back to the input for correcting the next test cases lined to be passed. Apart from the above benefits of ART the complete problem solution of PT and RT is not provided. Thus this work proposes a Hybrid Adaptive Random Partition Testing (H-ARPT). The effective test cases can be determined if the test comes from complete regions and covers at least once each type of input. But all of certain such heavy numbers of inputs are not tested with some minimum attempts. Hence, a new mechanism is required which reduces the test size but increases the code coverage. It works towards assuring the reliability of the system. This paper proposed a Hybrid ARPT, which works towards effective and early identification of bugs according even with their priority levels also. Means the module which is most critical should be tested more. It overcomes the existing issues of high testing cost and computation complexity. The paper also suggests some analytical evaluation factors and compares the RT, PT, ART with hybrid ARPT. On the preliminary evaluations the works seems to provide effective solution of testing domains. KeywordsSoftware Testing, Blackbox Testing, Adaptive, Random and Partition Testing, Hybrid Adaptive Random Partition Testing, Coverage analysis and Fault Detection Rate;


Abstract : The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Hurricane Protection Office (HPO) is authorized to provide New Orleans, Louisiana, with a risk reduction system for the one percent exceedance flood (HSDRRS). The purpose and need for the proposed action is to provide, in a timely manner, the 100-year level of risk reduction from flood damage to the areas surrounding the IHNC due to flooding from hurricanes and other severe storm events. This risk reduction is being accomplished through the construction of a comprehensive system of levees, gates, and drainage structures. Several planned structures (to be located along the levee system) allow for continued navigation in the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC), Bayou Bienvenue, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW). The IHNC Seabrook, Bayou Bienvenue, and GIWW gate structures are designed to remain open during normal tidal conditions with the ability to close during surge events. Numerical model studies were performed by the USACE Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL) to assess the impacts of these navigation structures on hydrodynamics and larval transport. HPO requested that ERDC also perform a numerical modeling study for the purpose of analyzing the temporary construction impacts of proposed HSDRRS measures to be placed in the GIWW and the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO). The work presented in this report documents hydrodynamic modeling and analysis of two construction sequence plans which will occur during the construction of the Borgne alignment and Seabrook structures included in the HSDRRS. This report specifically focuses on the construction sequence plans during which the Bayou Bienvenue structure and GIWW sector gate are being built as well as the construction of the Seabrook structure. The February 2010 plan includes cofferdams on the Bayou Bienvenue


Crime and violence in schools are matters of significant public concern, particularly after the spate of tragic school shootings in recent years. The perception of risk is often greater than the reality, as schools have been largely successful in keeping students and staff safe from harm. However, many schools face serious problems, and it is important to develop an understanding of these problems so that effective strategies can be devised to prevent school violence and increase school safety.


Abstract A sequential harvest experiment was conducted in the greenhouse to determine relative growth rate (RGR), specific absorption rate (SAR) of P, P utilization rate (PUR) and P utilization efficiency (PUE) of vesicular‐arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) and nonmycorrhizal Leucaena leucocephala. Total P content, root length and total dry‐matter yield of mycorrhizal plants were significantly higher than those of nonmycorrhizal plants beginning on 15, 25 and 25 days after planting, respectively. The length of root colonized by Glomus aggregatum increased exponentially with time and leveled off 30 days after planting. In mycorrhizal plants, RGR of roots (based on total root length) was lower than those of RGR of infected roots till 30 days after planting, after which time the trend was reversed. Although, RGR based on dry‐matter yield was higher in mycorrhizal plants than in nonmycorrhizal plants, the differences observed were not statistically significant. SAR of P was higher in mycorrhizal plants than in non...


The eudaimonic perspective in philosophy and psychology suggests that a good life is closely related to developing oneself in order to contribute to the well-being and happiness of other people and of the world as a whole. Educational psychology can help to achieve this through the design and validation of educative models. Since 2004, the University of Concepcion and other Chilean universities apply an educative model to train socially responsible professionals, people that in the exercise of their profession contribute to generate equity for the development and assess the impacts of their decisions, opting for those that serve the common good. The main aim is to identify if a relationship exists between achieved learning, attitudes toward social responsibility, selfattribution of socially responsible behavior, value type, professional behavior observed and, participation in a specific model to train socially responsible (SR) professionals. The Achieved Learning and Attitudes Toward Social Responsibility Questionnaire, interview with employers and Values Questionnaire and Self-attribution of SR Behavior Questionnaire is applied to 394 students and graduates, divided into experimental and control groups (trained and not trained under the educative model), in order to identify the professional behavior of the graduates. The results show that students and graduates perceive cognitive, affective and behavioral learning, with significant differences in attitudes toward social responsibility and self-attribution of SR behavior, between experimental and control. There are also differences in employers' perceptions about the professional practice of those who were trained under the model and those who were not. It is concluded that the educative model has an impact on the learning of social responsibility and educates for a full life. It is also concluded that it is necessary to identify mediating variables of the model effect. Keywords—Educative model, good life, professional social responsibility (SR), values. I. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A. Positive Psychology and SR Behavior USTAINABLE development is the process by which the economic, social and environmental needs of the current generation are satisfied without jeopardizing future generations' satisfaction [1]. According to Morros and Vidal [2], sustainable development is a macroeconomic concept and corresponds to the whole of SR behaviors of all actors in society. SR is a prosocial behavior [3] that benefits people, G. V. Navarro, M. V. Gonzalez, and C. G. Reed are with the Social Responsibility Studies Programme, University of Concepcion, Concepcion, Bio Bio, 4070386 Chile (phone: 56-41-2203037; e-mail: email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com). contributing to their survival and development, and intends to mutually benefit [4]. It is a voluntary behavior to which the person can choose when they are able to reconcile the satisfaction of their own needs with the contribution to the satisfaction of the needs of others, which contributes to their own well-being [5]. From the educational perspective, it can be defined as a generic competence; that is, as a complex system of knowledge, integrated by the cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions, which can be observable in performance, and implemented and transferred to different contexts [6]. The study of the positive of human experience can be understood from the analysis of positive experiences, such as happiness and satisfaction with life; from the study of psychological strengths and from the analysis of the characteristics that shape and determine positive organizations, such as families, schools, etc. [7]. From this point of view and following the approaches of positive psychology, SR is a behavior valued as positive, which constitutes a desirable strength in human beings [8] because it contributes to their well-being and to that of the organization in which they participate [9], as well as to the well-being of others and even to those who have not yet been born. B. Educational Model to Form SR People The University of Concepción of Chile (UDEC) is an institution of secular higher education with a role and public responsibility, founded by the community of Concepción, whose mission is the integral and pluralistic formation of people; the generation, adaptation and transmission of knowledge, and the creation and cultural interaction through a permanent link with the environment and its commitment to regional and national development in a context of integration and globalization [10]; in 2016, the institute numbered 27,344 students and 1,597 academics, and offers 90 undergraduate degrees that can be classified in three areas: chemicalbiological, physical-mathematical and social-humanities. Since its creation, it assumes the mission of forming integral professionals, who in their professional act show excellence in the discipline and an attitude oriented towards the common good. The year 2001 began the design, implementation and validation of the Program of Studies on Social Responsibility, under the Vice–rectory unit. The aim of the program was the development of an educational model to form SR professionals. Considering that SR behavior is a multidimensional competence, for its education a mixed Gracia V. Navarro, Maria V. Gonzalez, Carlos G. Reed Effects of an Educative Model in Socially Responsible Behavior and Other Psychological Variables S World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences


Optical-sectioned images with super-resolution enhancement is achieved by combining the information in data obtained from a tunable structured illumination microscope. The system can easily switch between two fringe patterns required for optical sectioning and super-resolution.


Acute intolerance reactions to aspirin or nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs are referred to as aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD), a nonallergic hypersensitivity reaction with potentially anaphylactoid character. AERD is essentially based on a continuous and progressive subclinical airway inflammation, due to an altered arachidonic acid metabolism. Intake of COX-1 inhibitors induces an excessive production of leukotrienes due to an insufficient and dysbalanced production of prostaglandin E 2 . Clinically, the resulting reactions comprise attacks of rhinitis and asthma. Todays gold standard for confirming the diagnosis of AERD is provocation testing with COX-1 inhibitors. However, due to the potentially severe complications resulting from provocation testing, it should only be performed in centers with suitable emergency facilities. Based on the known pathophysiological mechanisms of the disease during the last decade, many attempts have been made to establish a reliable in vitro testing approach to substitute provocation testing. Current assays can be classified according to the underlying methodology: mediator release assays, tests based on flow cytometry, or combinations of these methods. Accordingly, the present article reviews existing mediator release assays: the cellular antigen stimulation test (CAST), the Analgetikaintoleranztest (AIT), and the aspirin-sensitive patients identification test (ASPItest) as well as tests based on flow-cytometric quantification of CD63 expression (CAST-Flow, Basotest), and the hybrid test system CAST-Combi. Based on the most recent data concerning their sensitivity and specificity, the review provides an overview on the current status of this challenging field of in vitro diagnostic testing.


Positive selection of CD34+ blood progenitor cells from circulation has been reported to improve patient recovery in applications of autologous transplantation. Current magnetic separation methods rely on cell capture and release on solid supports rather than sorting from flowing suspensions, which limits the range of therapeutic applications and the process scale up. We tested CD34+ cell immunomagnetic labeling and isolation from fresh leukocyte fraction of peripheral blood (leukapheresis) using the continuous quadrupole magnetic flow sorter (QMS), consisting of a flow channel (SHOT, Greenville, IN) and a quadrupole magnet with a maximum field intensity (Bo) of 1.42 T and a mean force field strength (Sm) of 1.45 × 108 TA/m2. Both the sample magnetophoretic mobility (m) and the inlet and outlet flow patterns highly affect the QMS performance. Seven commercial progenitor cell labeling reagent combinations were quantitatively evaluated by measuring magnetophoretic mobility of a high CD34 expression cell line, KG‐1a, using the cell tracking velocimeter (CTV). The CD34 Progenitor Cell Isolation Kit™ (Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) showed the strongest labeling of KG‐1a cells and was selected for progenitor cell enrichment from 11 fresh and 11 cryopreserved clinical leukapheresis samples derived from different donors. The CD34+ cells were isolated with a purity of 60–96%, a recovery of 18–60%, an enrichment rate of 12–169, and a throughput of (1.7–9.3) × 104 cells/s. The results also showed a highly regular dependence of the QMS performance on the flow conditions that agreed with the theoretical predictions based on the CD34+ cell magnetophoretic mobility. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;96:1139–1154. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


ESPRIT project P1085 has the objective of developing a high performance multi-processor computer with supporting software and a range of applications to demonstrate its performance. This paper discusses the progress made at the mid-point of the project in meeting this objective. Prototype machines based on a reconfigurable architecture have been built and are described. Software tools have been defined and are being implemented. Applications have been developed using Occam and the high performance being achieved is presented.


The method of risk assessment of an emergency criminal nature in the correctional facilities of the penal system is proposed.


Data include the results of experiments with artificial tracers and information from direct measurements of naturally occurring and fallout-produced radionuclides washed out or rained out by storms. Individual measurements of retention varied from negative to over 100%. The conclusion is that a value of 0.4 to 0.5 would be appropriate for average retention, and a value of 1.0 would not be unreasonable if one wished to be conservative, particularly where high vegetation densities might be expected. 35 refs., 16 tabs.


Federated learning (FL) allows predictive model training on the sensed data in a wireless Internet of Things (IoT) network evading data collection cost in terms of energy, time, and privacy. In this article, for an FL setting, we model the learning gain achieved by an IoT device against its participation cost as its utility. The local model quality and the associated cost differ from device to device due to the device heterogeneity, which could be time varying. We identify that this results in utility unfairness because the same global model is shared among the devices. In the vanilla FL setting, the master is unaware of devices' local model computation and transmission costs, thus, it is unable to address the utility unfairness problem. In addition, a device may exploit this lack of knowledge at the master to intentionally reduce its expenditure and thereby boost its utility. We propose to control the quality of the global model shared with the devices, in each round, based on their contribution and expenditure. This is achieved by employing differential privacy (DP) to curtail global model divulgence based on the learning contribution. Furthermore, we devise adaptive computation and transmission policies for each device to control its expenditure in order to mitigate utility unfairness. Our results show that the proposed scheme reduces the standard deviation of the energy cost of devices by 99% in comparison to the benchmark scheme, while the standard deviation of the training loss of devices varies around 0.103.


The purpose of this study was to review literature about private health insurance (PHI) schemes for Korean older adults published in Korea and abroad from 2015 to 2019, and to present the implications of the study and provide an overview of PHI utilization by Korean older adults. Nineteen quantitative academic research papers were selected and analyzed with respect to presentation time, research purpose, data source, and study design. Old age, low income, low education, and chronic disease were found to hinder enrollment in PHI schemes. Although the relationship between PHI and medical usage was not consistent, it was positively related to health outcomes such as subjective health status and health-related quality of life. Therefore, for PHI to fulfill the role of providing supplementary medical care for older adults with high medical demands, a national improvement policy should be developed to address the barriers that prevent older adults adopting PHI schemes, and empirical studies related to medical usages by and the health outcomes of older adults should be conducted in order to generate a basis for the use of PHI.


Aflatoxins are toxic, naturally occurring bisfuranocoumarin compounds produced by certain strains of the moulds Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus and A. nomius. Aflatoxin metabolites cause hepatotoxicity by reacting with macromolecules (including DNA and proteins) to cause fatty liver or liver necrosis. Most cases involve dog food or, less commonly, ingestion of mouldy bread. Periodic outbreaks are reported in dogs, most recently at the end of 2020 to early 2021 in the US. Multiple dogs may be involved in incidents and the dogs usually present with gastrointestinal signs, lethargy, melaena and jaundice. Diagnosis is based on a history of possible ingestion and laboratory confirmation of aflatoxin(s) in suspect material. In the liver the typical histological changes are centrilobular necrosis of the liver and bile duct proliferation. Treatment of aflatoxicosis in dogs in supportive, with management of liver failure. Prognosis depends on the severity of liver damage, but mortality rates in dogs with aflatoxicosis are high.


Based on semi-structured Peer-to-Peer(P2P) system,this paper designs a P2P metadata management mechanism based on interest aggregation.It uses interest aggregation and hierarchical Bloom filters to locate and organize metadata,and routs the metadata query request to different metadata servers.Experimental results show that this mechanism has good adaptability and scalability,and it can improve metadata query efficiency and access performance.


I summarize here, the study of social mobilization against violence in Mexico during the last five years (2010-2015), a period in which the social and political unrest associated with drug trafficking, corruption and impunity intensified. Methodologically, I identify organized subjects, their repertoires of denunciation and opposition to the violence, and messages on demand and collective proposal against them. I deepened into theoretical contribution in shaping collective action; such as, the decision and the struggles for recognition, from which, I discuss about a critic, a civic attitud, a political significance, and restorer of the common life, of this type of collective practices.


The ultrasonic absorptionsof po1y(vinyl acetate), Poly(vinyl propionate)and po1y(vinyl buty rate)in toluene were measured by the pulse method in the frequency range 1-30 MHz and in the temperature range O-60C The ultrasonic absorptions of these po1ymers were represented by the two relaxation equations. Both lower and higher relaxation frequencies shifted by lower frequency with an increase in the side chain length. We considered that the relaxation of lower frequency was ascribed to the rotation of side chains around the main chain, and that of higher frequency to the local rotation of side chain itself.


Disclosed is a segment ( 15 ) of a sensor-supporting element for a scraper-type device, which comprises at least two pairs of runners ( 16 a, 16 b) that are arranged essentially parallel behind each other. A support plate ( 20 ) receiving sensors ( 21 ) is disposed between at least one pair of runners ( 16 ). The segment ( 15 ) can be combined with other such segments ( 15 ) so as to form a sensor-supporting element.


Flight trajectory optimization is being looked as a way of reducing flight costs, fuel burned and emissions generated by the fuel consumption. The objective of this work is to find the optimal trajectory between two points.

To find the optimal trajectory, the parameters of weight, cost index, initial coordinates, and meteorological conditions along the route are provided to the algorithm. This algorithm finds the trajectory where the global cost is the most economical. The global cost is a compromise between fuel burned and flight time, this is determined using a cost index that assigns a cost in terms of fuel to the flight time. The optimization is achieved by calculating a candidate optimal cruise trajectory profile from all the combinations available in the aircraft performance database. With this cruise candidate profile, more cruises profiles are calculated taken into account the climb and descend costs. During cruise, step climbs are evaluated to optimize the trajectory. The different trajectories are compared and the most economical one is defined as the optimal vertical navigation profile.

From the optimal vertical navigation profile, different lateral routes are tested. Taking advantage of the meteorological influence, the algorithm looks for the lateral navigation trajectory where the global cost is the most economical. That route is then selected as the optimal lateral navigation profile.

The meteorological data was obtained from environment Canada. The new way of obtaining data from the grid from environment Canada proposed in this work resulted in an important computation time reduction compared against other methods such as bilinear interpolation.

The algorithm developed here was evaluated in two different aircraft: the Lockheed L-1011 and the Sukhoi Russian regional jet. The algorithm was developed in MATLAB, and the validation was performed using Flight-Sim by Presagis and the FMS CMA-9000 by CMC Electronics – Esterline.

At the end of this work a new method of calculating the missed approach fuel burned and its emissions is developed and explained. This calculation was performed using an emissions database and a Visual Basic for applications code in Excel.


Objective To establish the quality standard of the cutting process pieces of fresh Cortex Moutan.Methods The contents of water and ashes were determined by Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2010),the contents of paeonol and paeoniflorin were determined by HPLC.Results The quality of 10 batches of the cutting process pieces of fresh Cortex Moutan was different,which were made in the same process conditions and from the different producing areas.We suggest water control in 9.0 %~ 13.0%,ash content not be over 5.0%,paeonol content not be less than 1.2%,and paeoniflorin content not be less than 1.5%.Conclusion Formulating the quality standard of the cutting process pieces of fresh Cortex Moutan is necessary.


Electroporation is an elegant means to deliver molecules into the cellular cytoplasm, while simultaneously maintaining cell viability and functionality. Despite extensive research, however, electroporation methods still fall short of the desired efficiency and reliability. We present a model predictive control (MPC) design for enabling highly efficient and reliable electroporation processes. Instead of using one single electrical pulse in current practice, we consider a controlled multi-pulse electroporation based on an MPC framework. The most attractive properties of using MPC design of multi-pulse electroporation are the fast computation of optimal control solutions and the real-time tunability of the electrical field density during the process. We demonstrate the controlled electroporation process through simulation examples.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


While reviewing care plans for patients in care homes recently, I noticed that they were written in the first person singular.


The algorithms of angle read-out were designed for imaging-type absolute angular encoder on the basis of its working principle.The algorithms for image pretreatment and angular measurement were illuminated separately in this paper.Firstly,the image of code disc was pretreated by graying,smoothing and binarizing successively to obtain the proper binarized signals.Then,the coarse code and subdivision code,of which the angle is consisted,were read out along the disc's radial direction and tangential direction,separately.In the end,the feasibility and validity of algorithms were testified in the experiment.


This thesis presents the design and implementation of a precision stage equipped with novel sensing and actuation concepts. The stage is considered among the first stages capable of providing a full rotation as well as planar translations with only one moving part and one sensor, namely a Position Sensitive Detector. This affordable sensor produces a signal which is proportional to the location of the centroid of the incident light beam. Instead of measuring the position of one light beam, as the conventional use of this sensor implies, three light beams are sequentially projected on the PSD. A sensing algorithm has been developed for sampling and converting these three sensor signals into planar position data: x, y and theta. The stage is intended for use in the field of digital microscopy where it will enable the user to view the sample from all sides without manually relocating the specimen. The underlying mechanical design, sensor technology, electromagnetic modeling and real-time control of such a high-precision planar stage are presented together with the final performance specifications.


The preparation methods of hexadecylguanidium sulfite from hexadecylamine and aminoiminomethanesulfonic acid was studied.The infections of reaction temperature,time and molar ratio on the reaction yield were researched.The optimum synthesis conditions for title compound were obtained as follows: 7.85g hexadecylamine and 3.10g aminoiminomethanesulfonic acid reactied for 2 h at 50℃ in the solvent of ethanol with the yield of 75.91%.The target compound was characterized by IR,MSand 13C-NMR.


In this paper, we propose an simple motion estimation method using two 3-axis accelerometers that attached waist and right ankle. It suggests an simple and reducing calculation method for motion estimation, thus using raw motion acceleration sensing data and threshold value of experimental result. We could verify the better performance of this system than the conventional method through experiments.


Railways have been using timber for their sleepers for more than a century. Concrete has appeared as an alternative in Brazil during recent years, partially because of the country's plentiful limestone resources as well as outcries against deforestation caused by the use of timber for sleepers. The article examines the testing of materials other than traditional timber, such as steel and recycled materials that offer a longer life. Life expectancy of the steel sleepers is 50 to 60 years, whereas sleepers made of better woods or treated eucalyptus last only about 15 years. The much higher cost of steel sleepers is seen as a detriment, specially because of the present instability of the Brazilian Real.


The fabrication of well-defined interfacial structures has been recently facilitated by incorporating diacetylenic structures within spontaneously formed monolayer assemblies. Photoinduced polymerization within these single molecular layers provides a robust system for interfacial design that can be controlled using phototemplating. In this paper, we examine the control of molecular structure within this single molecular layer by introducing internal and external perturbations to the monolayer fabrication process. Internal steric perturbations are assessed by incorporation of an ester moiety below the polymer backbone. Direct comparison of monolayer structures formed using analogous precursors with and without the ester functionality indicates significant disruption in the alkyl crystallinity in the region below the polymer backbone. Despite the considerable constraints on the structural order required for successful polymerization, this steric disruption does not appear to significantly limit the polymer...


1 Who Were the English Deists? 2 Genealogies of Deism 3 Herbert of Cherbury 4 Charles Blount and His Circle 5 Three Writers Conclusion Appendix: Herbert's Philosophical Poems


Objective To investigate the clinical outcome of large decompressive craniectomy in treatment of severe traumatic brain injury combined with herniation of brain.Methods A retrospective analysis was carried out to assess the clinical outcome of large decompressive craniectomy for 98 patients with severe traumatic brain injury combined with herniation of brain enrolled from Jan.2007 to Sep.2010.Results According to the Glasgow outcome scale,there were 27 patients ( GOS 5 points) with good recovery,23 ( GOS 4 points) with moderate deficit,28 (GOS 3 points) with severe deficit,6 (GOS 2 points) under persistent vegetative status and 14 (GOS1 points) deaths at the end of 6 month post injury.We observed a good prognosis rate (good recovery and moderate deficit) of 51% and a poor prognosis of 49%.Conclusion Large decompressive craniectomy can significanty improve the outcome and reduce complications of patients with severe traumatic brain injury combined with herniation of brain.

Key words:
Craniocerebral teauma;  Large decompressive craniectomy;  Prognosis


To reduce furnish costs -which can account for 50 to 70 % of a mill's total variable manufacturing costs -papermakers are turning to recycled fibre for the production of value added grades. A case study, from a swing PM which produces newsprint and LWC, shows the cost and quality benefits which followed the addition of DIP to the ChemiMechanical furnish: · Chemical pulp costs down by 50 %. · Newsprint surface properties are better. · In LWC, even a minor addition of DIP reduces energy, chemical pulp and filler costs. This article describes the enabling technologies which have made RCF the dominant newsprint fibre and which are promoting its penetration into the LWC and SC sectors. It covers: · furnish properties of DIP and mechanical pulps. · various DIP concepts. · water management concepts and their effect on total mill performance. · the need for automation to optimise quality, RCF yield and total costs Water management The management of the water loops has a critical impact on pulp quality, on chemical consumption - in the DIP plant and on the PM - and on PM runnability. The most critical factor for runnability is the sticky content of the final pulp. The counter-current principle of modern water management minimizes the COD and anionic trash levels in the PM loop. Since COD correlates with demand for cationic retention chemicals, the lower the anionic trash load, the lower the PM chemical costs. The author discusses the different approaches to optimal filtrate treatment - the technique whereby microstickies are removed: i) a focus on the treatment of the clear filtrate alone, to maximise yield; and ii) the treatment of cloudy, press and clear filtrate to minimize chemical costs and to maximize PM runnability. Removing Microstickies The highest removal efficiency can be achieved by combining a 2nd loop press with micro flotation. The benefits of a 2nd press include: · A 50% reduction in COD. · The removal of Microstickies from the water system, which reduces stickies in paper by 10 to 30% and increases PM efficiency. · Longer life dryer fabrics - reduced plugging. · Less chemical carryover. · Better stability for wet end chemistry - pH, charge, conductivity. · Estimated yearly savings of 200k -400k in chemical costs and additional fabric costs.


Dynamic changes in world trade in recent years have provided an important impetus for the European Union to modify its trade policy and seek to strengthen bilateral relations, including through the negotiation of trade agreements. The completion of negotiations for an agreement with Mercosur is an important part of this effort. The aim of the paper is to present the results of research concerning the analysis of the EU-Mercosur trade relations and to indicate the perspectives of the negotiated deal. From the analysis carried out in the paper, it can be concluded that despite a mere 2% share of total EU trade, the Mercosur group is an important partner for the EU, and the opportunities for developing mutual cooperation are significant. This is supported not only by the untapped potential in mutual trade relations giving considerable chances to achieve significant savings after the implementation of the agreement, but also by external determinants that provide an additional significant incentive to strengthen the EU position in the region. To achieve the objectives of the study, the analytical and descriptive method was mainly used. The considerations were based mainly on original materials and scientific papers on EU trade policy, as well as data from reports of international organizations.


The paper discusses Shakespeare's preoccupation with the Christian notions of divine love, forgiveness and justice in The Tragedy of King Lear. In my reading I employ Jean-Luc Marion's phenomenological reflection on the givenness of love and Hans-Urs von Balthasar's theology of Paschal mystery. I take issue with the Marxist and existentialist interpretations of Shakespeare's tragedy which prevailed in the second half of the 20th century. My aim is not a simple recuperation of the "redemptionism" of the play, but an in-depth consideration of Christian allusions in the play which may tie love and forgiveness to justice and throw light on the ending of King Lear.


Several particular plants are suggested to extract significant parts of heavy metals from soils and accumulate them in their roots and shoots.  This research aimed to study the phytoextraction of Cu by several plants from heavy-metal contaminated tropical soils.  Soil samples collected from plots treated in 1998 with 0, 15 and 60 Mg industrial waste ha-1 were planted with three different plants, i.e., caisim, water spinach, and lettuce.   Plant parts (roots and shoots) and soil samples were harvested after a four-week growth period and analyzed for plant and soil Cu.  The results show that the growth of plants was depressed by the increase in the soil Cu (extracted by 1 N HNO3) as affected by waste levels, with water spinach being the most progressive and produced the most significant biomass.  The absorption of Cu by caisim and water spinach increased with the soil extracted Cu (linear R2 = 0.71* for caisim and 0.32* for water spinach) and accumulated greater in plant roots than that in shoots. The translocation factor (TF << 1.00) indicates that all plants were good Cu phytostabilizators rather than phytoextractors, with water spinach being the best Cu extractor.


Technological progress is a driver of new skills. Over the past twenty years, many innovations have begun to be massively used, and the Internet has become a global phenomenon. The working environment is changing, and many activities become digital. Globally, networked computers are introduced into education, health and administration systems. The digital literate population is one of the main conditions that must be met for the digital society to operate successfully. Digital literacy represents one of the eight key competences for lifelong learning and development in a modern, global, information and digitised society. In this chapter, we describe digital literacy in the light of the development of the concept, with the focus on the latest
research. We also present the definitions of digital literacy as a
multidimensional and multilayer concept. These definitions often change by the advancement of technology. We point to the problem of measuring digital literacy and show the largest research results in this field. We have shown the digital compartment framework that the European Union is developing through the DigComp project. The part of this chapter is a preview of the digital competence framework developed by the European Union through the DigComp project. Finally, we stressed that Serbia is also aware of the process of digitisation and its importance to the economy and society. Unfortunately, the available data show that the level of digital literacy in Serbia is below the
European average.


This chapter defines wildlife criminology as a criminology concerned not only with wildlife trafficking, but considers criminological perspectives on animals and wildlife within a broader context. The introduction provides a definition of wildlife as constituting animals living primarily outside human control or influence; thus distinguished from companion animals who are directly dependent on humans for food and shelter. However, wild non-human animals are affected by human activity in a variety of ways from trafficking in wildlife, through to destruction of habitat, and development that impacts directly on wildlife. Thus, this chapter explains that the book's focus is on a wildlife criminology that considers a wide range of unlawful and deviant acts that impact on and harm wildlife. It introduces the four interconnected themes used to explore crimes and harms against wildlife - commodification and exploitation, violence, rights, and speciesism and othering.


The effects of temperature, sucrose concentration, mineral nutrients and plant growth regulators on germination of pollen and growth of pollen tubes were studied using 6-year old macadamia trees as experimental material. It was showed that the optimal temperature and sucrose concentration were 25℃ and 10%, respectively; as compared with IAA and 2,4-D, GA3 at 20 mg·L-1 stimulated the germination of pollen significantly; and Zn at 10 mg·L-1, Mo at 5 mg·L-1, B at 10 mg·L-1, Mn at 40 mg·L-1 and Ca at 30 mg·L-1 were most favorable for the germination of pollen.


This paper proposes a conclusive scalable model for the complete actuation response for ionic polymer metal composites (IPMC). This single model is proven to be able to accurately predict the free displacement/velocity and force actuation at varying displacements, with up to 3 V inputs. An accurate dynamic relationship between the force and displacement has been established which can be used to predict the complete actuation response of the IPMC transducer. The model is accurate at large displacements and can also predict the response when interacting with external mechanical systems and loads. This model equips engineers with a useful design tool which enables simple mechanical design, simulation and optimization when integrating IPMC actuators into an application. The response of the IPMC is modelled in three stages: (i) a nonlinear equivalent electrical circuit to predict the current drawn, (ii) an electromechanical coupling term and (iii) a segmented mechanical beam model which includes an electrically induced torque for the polymer. Model parameters are obtained using the dynamic time response and results are presented demonstrating the correspondence between the model and experimental results over a large operating range. This newly developed model is a large step forward, aiding in the progression of IPMCs towards wide acceptance as replacements to traditional actuators.


In a multi-center placebo controlled cross over trial, We compared the efficacy of continuous n-3 PUFA enriched food "Ipaole" supplementation (daily intake dose; ALA: 60mg/kg, EPA: 30mg/kg, DHA: 18mg/kg) for atopic dermatitis to that of a isonergic placebo containing olive oil for 4 weeks.A total of 37 patients with atopic dermatitis, aged 12.8+4.9 years, from 6 investigative centers (male: 17, female: 20; severe: 22, moderate: 15) were employed.The patients were randomly divided into two groups: A group consists of 20 patients receiving Ipaole preceding placebo; B group 17 patients receiving placebo preceding Ipaole.Of the 37 patients who started the trial 2 from A group and 2 from B group dropped out.During Ipaole supplementation a statistically significant improvement was observed in the overall severity and grade of inflammation, and in the percentage of the body surface involved by ezema (p<0.01).But during placebo administration no significant reduction of symptom score was shown. During Ipaole supplementation the treatment score also significantly decreased (p<0.1) but does not significantly reduced during placebo intake.During Ipaole supplementation a statistically significant rise of EPA, EPA/AA and DHA of serum phospholipids was observed (p<0.001, p<0.01), but not observed during placebo intake.Bleeding time prolonged slightly in some patients, but any clinical sign of bleeding was not observed.These results suggest that the supplementation of n-3 PUFA enriched food is useful in the treatment of some patients with atopic dermatitis.


Custom instructions extending a base ISA are often used to increase performance. However, only few cores provide open interfaces for integrating such ISA Extensions (ISAX). In addition, the degree to which a core's capabilities are exposed for extension varies wildly between interfaces. Thus, even when using open-source cores, the lack of standardized ISAX interfaces typically causes high engineering effort when implementing or porting ISAXes. We present SCAIE-V, a highly portable and feature-rich ISAX interface that supports custom control flow, decoupled execution, multi-cycle-instructions, and memory transactions. The cost of the interface itself scales with the complexity of the ISAXes actually used.


Management of Graves' orbitopathy remains an important therapeutic challenge. Current therapeutic modalities are unsatisfactory in about one third of patients. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody against CD20 antigen that is expressed in mature and immature B cells. Early experience with rituximab suggests that it is a promising alternative therapy for Graves' orbitopathy. Here we report a case of a 49-year-old woman with Graves' orbitopathy and psoriasis. The patient received 2 infusions of 1 g rituximab 2 weeks apart. Although there was improvement in inflammatory signs of the disease, proptosis did not change after the treatment.


The present invention relates to a power switch drive circuit, power supply and power switches driving methods. According to one embodiment of the invention the variable oscillator to vary the frequency output of the duty control of the reference signal in accordance with a first variation of the primary side input voltage; And the outlet receiving the feedback signal and the duty control of the reference signal from the variable oscillator output signal fed back from the duty control section which outputs a duty control signal for driving the power switch; the power to the switch driver circuit comprising a proposed. Also, the power supply and power switches driving methods are proposed.


We present a new class of elliptic-like strings on two-dimensional manifolds of constant curvature. Our solutions are related to a class of identities between Jacobi theta functions and to the geometry of the light-cone in one dimension more. We show in particular that two well-known fundamental identities among theta functions have a natural interpretation as expressing the Virasoro constraints of dS or AdS strings.


This article deals with the analysis of the development of domestic brands in the fashion market. At the moment, foreign brands prevail in this market. However, based on the experience of a number of countries, we can say that the fashion industry can make a significant contribution to a country's GDP. This research examines the development of brands in terms of their relevance and recognition among potential consumers. As a result, conclusions are drawn about consumer preferences and the most effective methods of taking on the market.


Abstract The climate of 1996 can be characterized by several phenomena that reflect substantial deviations from the mean state of the atmosphere persisting from months to seasons. First, mature cold-episode conditions persisted across the tropical Pacific from November 1995 through May 1996 and contributed to large-scale anomalies of atmospheric circulation, temperature, and precipitation across the Tropics, the North Pacific and North America. These anomalies were in many respects opposite to those that had prevailed during the past several years in association with a prolonged period of tropical Pacific warm-episode conditions (ENSO). Second, strong tropical intraseasonal (Madden–Julian oscillations) activity was observed during most of the year. The impact of these oscillations on extratropical circulation variability was most evident late in the year in association with strong variations in the eastward extent of the East Asian jet and in the attendant downstream circulation, temperature, and precipit...


Despite outstanding beam qualities, air cooled pulsed fiber lasers were previously mainly used for marking purposes due to their limited average power level. Increasing power levels enable those laser sources now to be used for applications that required totally different (more sophisticated/more complex) laser sources in the past. These latest developments will lead to a name change for the devices now called laser markers (source plus scanner) to "fine process lasers", as they are able to mark, cut and weld small parts in the medical, automotive and defense industry sectors.


We study the issue of convergence of user rates and resource prices under a family of rate control schemes called dual algorithms with arbitrary communication delays. We first consider a case where a single resource is shared by many users. Then we study a general network shared by heterogeneous users and derive sufficient conditions for convergence. We show that in the case of a single user utilizing a single resource, our condition is also necessary. Using our results we derive a sufficient condition for convergence with a family of popular utility and resource price functions. We present numerical examples to validate our analysis.


This paper analyses India's import sourcing over the period 1960–85 in a preference-consistent, utility-maximizing framework using the 'almost ideal demand system'. Assuming separability between exports, imports and domestic production, the paper estimates unrestricted, homogeneity and symmetry-constrained versions of this demand system on Indian import data, and tests for the empirical validity of the restrictions. The results are analysed and some implications for commercial policy changes examined. The empirical evidence of this exercise seems to point to the need for a wider concept of 'rationality' than has been used in the recent literature, particularly when estimating preference-consistent import-export demand functions of a developing mixed economy with central planning.


Improving oral bioavailability of drugs those give n as solid dosage forms remains a challenge for the formulation scientists due to solubility problems. The dissolut i n rate could be the rate-limiting process in the absorption of a drug from a solid dosage form of relatively insoluble drugs. Therefor increase in dissolution of poorly soluble drugs b y solid dispersion technique presents a challenge to the formulation scientists. Solid dispersion techniques have attracted conside rabl interest of improving the dissolution rate of highly lipophilic drugs thereby improving their bioavailability by reducing drug p article size, improving wettability and forming amorphous particles. The te rm solid dispersion refers to a group of solid prod ucts consisting of at least two different components, generally a hydrophilic inert carrier or matrix and a hydrophobic drug. This art icle reviews historical background of solid dispersion technology, limitati ons, classification, and various preparation techni ques with its advantages and disadvantages. This review also discusses the recen t advances in the field of solid dispersion technol ogy. Based on the existing results and authors' reflection, this review give r ise to reasoning and suggested choices of carrier o r matrix and solid dispersion procedure.


ABSTRACT The use of restraint and seclusion in schools puts students at risk of injury or, in extreme cases, even death. As a result, advocacy organizations and the U.S. Department of Education have developed and proliferated policy and legislative recommendations to reduce such use. Nevertheless, incidents of restraint and seclusion continue to occur, and more frequently with students with disabilities. In this study, we leveraged the most recent U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights Data to examined the prevalence of restraint and seclusion use for students with and without disabilities and school-level predictors of increased restraint and seclusion incidents. We found that students with disabilities are seven times more likely to be restrained and four times more likely to be secluded. We also found that students in special education schools are almost guaranteed to receive a restraint or seclusion. The results are then contextualized using prior research and policy recommendations.


The invention relates to an automobile seat air conditioner system with ventilating and heating functions.The automobile seat air conditioner system is mainly composed of a seat cushion and ventilation fans.The seat cushion is formed by two layers of non-woven fabrics in a laminating mode, the upper seat cushion layer is provided with air holes, and heating strips are arranged on the periphery of the air holes in a coiled mode; the lower seat cushion layer is provided with through holes, the ventilation fans are arranged in the through holes, and exhaust outlets of the ventilation fans correspond to the air holes in position.The air conditioner system is arranged in an automobile seat, can provide comfortable ventilation experience in the hot summer, can also provide comfortable warm seat experience in the cold winter and meanwhile guarantees driving safety of a driver.


Lo Fu is the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He is considered to be one of its best Marxist theorists. He is the only important Communist leader to have studied in America-where he attended the University of California in 1921 and worked on a newspaper in San Francisco. He wrote the textbook on the history of the Chinese Revolution which is used in the Communist schools and has made a special study of this subject. Therefore, his analysis of the revolutionary stages in modern Chinese history is of special value, for it explains the guiding principle by which the Chinese Communists have been and will be directed during their long tumultuous struggle. I met Lo Fu and interviewed him during a trip to Yenan, the ex-Soviet capital in North Shensi, on July I4, 1937, just after the Lukouchiao Incident. In reply to my request for the Communist analysis of the historical stages of the Chinese Revolution, Lo Fu commented as follows:*