Topicality. There is a requirement to study erroneous and untimely adoption of managerial decisions in the field of entrepreneurship in Ukraine combining economic interests of the businesses with the interests of the society and environment as a base to improve the specific tools of the organizational and economic mechanism of managerial decision-making in the field of entrepreneurship development, taking into account the requirements of economic security of Ukraine. Aim and tasks. The purpose of this research is to build a conceptual model of the impact of erroneous and untimely managerial decisions on entrepreneurship development in Ukraine. Under the purpose of the research, the following tasks were identified: 1) to determine the economic essence of erroneous and untimely decision-making in the field of entrepreneurship management; 2) to investigate the impact of erroneous and untimely managerial decisions on entrepreneurship development in Ukraine; 3) to propose a scientific and methodological approach to overcome the negative impact of erroneous and untimely managerial decisions on entrepreneurship development in Ukraine. Research results. The economic essence of erroneous and untimely adoption of managerial decisions in the field of entrepreneurship is been established. We consider that erroneous and untimely managerial decisions are decisions which made in violation of the principles of specificity in time and economic efficiency. The impact of erroneous and untimely adoption of managerial decisions in the field of entrepreneurship is investigated in the article. The depth and duration of the destabilizing impact of erroneous and untimely managerial decisions in the sphere of entrepreneurship are determined mainly by the fact that they significantly accelerate the main processes that underlie the general instability of the modern economic system. Considering the erroneous and untimely decision-making in the field of entrepreneurship management, we can identify eight main areas of their impact: the institutional direction, the financial and economic direction, the social direction, the criminalization of economic relations, inhibition of innovation, external geopolitical impacts, internal geopolitical impacts, and structural economic imbalances of entrepreneurship development. The existence of these impact directions of erroneous and untimely decision-making in the field of entrepreneurship management leads to the destruction of existing and makes it impossible to build effective mechanisms for innovative development of the entrepreneurship, causes the degradation of existing resources and economic potential of Ukraine. A conceptual model for the impact of untimely decision-making in a field of national economy management is designed in the article. Scientific and methodical approaches to overcoming the negative impact of erroneous and untimely adoption of managerial decisions on the balanced development of entrepreneurship are been proposed in this document. This approach can be based on: firstly, on the correct decomposition of the problem – decomposition of the problem of erroneous and untimely decision-making into several main issues with the definition of their significance; secondly, on a systematic survey of experts in this subject to obtain the most accurate specification of the managerial decision, which may consist of a list of parties with their interests and capabilities; besides – on computer modeling of processes occurring in socio-economic systems. It should be noted, that one of the most pressing issues today is the implementation of such an approach to managerial decision-making, which would ensure a sufficiently high level of innovative development of entrepreneurship, combining economic interests of the businesses with the interests of the society and environment. Conclusion. The results of our research allowed us to conclude that erroneous and untimely adoption of managerial decisions in the sphere of entrepreneurship can lead not only to a direct and continuous decline in production capacity, which can be directly expressed in the real waste of labor potential. Overcoming the problem of erroneous and untimely decision-making in the field of entrepreneurship management can contribute to the formation of a rational and balanced spatial structure of the Ukrainian economy; to the development of effective competitive businesses; to the rational use of labor resources, equalization of socio-economic development of Ukraine; to the improving the demographic situation and increasing the life expectancy of Ukrainian population; to the increasing of gross domestic product. Successful practical implementation of the proposed scientific and methodological approach to overcoming the negative impact of erroneous and untimely adoption of managerial decisions is possible only if the objectives of innovative development of entrepreneurship and economic security of Ukraine are properly taken into account.


Based on the artificial rainfall precipitation condition in strength 1.44?mm?/min,the changing characters of runoff,mud and sand in different grade(β) red soil slope were studied in the experiment.The results showed that ① The volume of runoff was increased with the grade increase of slope;② With β≤23,the erosion was rapid increased with the grade increase of slope,and with 25≤β≤40,no obvious erosion changing with the grade of slope;③ The critical grade of erosion was between 23~25;④ The function of glope and erosion volume is S=199.1×L~(1.65)×tan~(1.4) β(0≤β≤23).


Three methods of determining photosynthesis in drought-stressed wheat leaves were evaluated as possible screening tests for drought resistance. Potential photosynthesis in detached leaves as measured by the differential respirometer was considerably higher in Pitic 62 than in other cultivars after 4 h recovery from drought stress. However, actual photosynthesis as indicated by infrared gas analysis varied little among cultivars after overnight recovery from drought. Assimilation of 14CO2 was slightly higher in Pitic 62 in moderately drought-stressed plants, and twice as high as in other cultivars under severe stress. It was concluded that potential photosynthesis as measured with the differential respirometer and verified by 14CO2 incorporation have potential as screening techniques for drought resistance.


Acentral paradox of the cholesterol hypothesis is that long-term treatment with statins reduces the risk of stroke, yet LDL cholesterol is not a strong risk factor for stroke. In almost all major prospective epidemiological studies, relationships between any measure of cholesterol and the risk of incident stroke are minimal. Nonetheless, as clearly demonstrated in large-scale randomized trials,1–3 therapy with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors reduces stroke risk by as much as 25%, a reduction similar to that for myocardial infarction and cardiovascular death.


Summary form only given, as follows. A small/large signal couple-cavity traveling-wave tube (C-CTWT) PIC hybrid model is developed. The code is to determine the interaction between the electron beam and cavity both in the linear and nonlinear regime. A small signal multi-frequency TWT code can provide a description of the power spectrum produced by a low frequency modulated beam. A large signal multi-frequency TWT code is required to study the nonlinear mechanism responsible for mixing the low frequency modulation, for example, from ion noise with the high microwave frequency carrier signal. As the first step, the electron beam is modeled to be one-dimensional electrostatic with the radial behavior modeled using a space charge reduction factor. The electric field within the beam has components from both the space charge and the cavity field. The space charge field is solved by the method used in PDP1. The reduction due to the metallic boundary is also employed. The cavity field is calculated through the cavity equivalent circuit model (R, L, C mutual elements). Each cavity is modeled as a three-port equivalent Curnow circuit. Besides the input and output ports of the circuit, the circuit is coupled to the beam via a gap, the so-called beam port. The voltage across the beam port and the current through it are solved self-consistently.


Cyanate ester terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS-OCN) was synthesized and is copolymerized with DGEBA (1:1 and 2:1 ratios) through the formation of oxazoline ring to obtain a thermally stable and flexible hybrid PDMS–DGEBA polymer matrix. Subsequently, the radiation resistant behavior of PDMS–DGEBA is studied by a UV treatment process. UV irradiated PDMS–DGEBA films possess an excellent radiation resistance due to the formation of a passive silica layer on the surface of the sample, which effectively protects the materials from UV rays. The silica layer formation was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. Moreover, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of PDMS–DGEBA also supports the increasing percentage of silica content after the irradiation of UV rays. Furthermore, the lower values of dielectric constant and dielectric loss, higher thermal stability and excellent radiation resistant properties of PDMS–DGEBA confirm that it can be used as an effective interlayer for low k dielectrics as an insulating material in ultra large scale integrated circuitry (ULSIC) devices.


Enough attention must be paid to the quality of adult higher education,and establishing a quality assurance system is an important channel.Several means can be taken to construct the quality assurance system conforming to the characteristics of adult higher education,such as setting up a correct quality conception,strenghening institutional improvement,giving full scope to the role of the construction of teaching staffs,and lastly,laying emphasis upon collecting teaching information and developing the evaluation and feedback system.


In the few brief moments available let me just comment that the R&D regulation,1 which we are devoting a portion of this afternoon to, is in many ways nothing more than a consolidation of existing Commission practices. It would, I think, be difficult to point to any aspects of it which represent a dramatic departure in practice on the part of the Commission over the last few years, with perhaps one exception. This is the procedural novelty, and a very welcome procedural novelty, of the opposition procedure, which has already been mentioned and I won't dwell on it, though we may wish to talk about it during the questions.


This discussion adjudicates a dispute between Larry Laudan and Gerald Doppelt over the nature of methodological rules. Laudan holds that all methodological rules are hypothetical imperatives, while Doppelt argues that a subset of those rules, basic methodological standards, are not hypothetical imperatives. I argue that neither writer offers a satisfactory account of methodological rules and that their reliance on the hypothetical/nonhypothetical distinction does not advance our understanding of methodological rules. I propose that we dispense with this dubious distinction and develop an alternative account of scientific norms.


FCN, trained end-to-end, pixels-to-pixels, predict result of each pixel. It has been widely used for semantic segmentation. In order to realize the blood vessels segmentation of hatching eggs, a method based on FCN is proposed in this paper. The training datasets are composed of patches extracted from very few images to augment data. The network combines with lower layer and deconvolution to enables precise segmentation. The proposed method frees from the problem that training deep networks need large scale samples. Experimental results on hatching eggs demonstrate that this method can yield more accurate segmentation outputs than previous researches. It provides a convenient reference for fertility detection subsequently.


Abstract The elastic deflection of the sliding bearing interface of machine tools in the tangential direction is important for ultraprecision positioning applications. This study focuses on investigating the magnitude of such tangential elastic deflection through experiments. A nanoprecison linear piezomotor is used to apply tangential force, and capacitance sensors of submicron resolution are used to measure displacements. Experimental results show that the bearing interface features linear elastic characteristics in the tangential direction when the range of tangential displacements is less than 50 nm. When the range is larger than 50nm, the interface only retains a certain amount of tangential deflection in an unloading cycle. The tangential force has a linear relationship with the tangential displacement only in the stage of elastic deformation which is submicron in magnitude.


Monday marked the 70th anniversary of the commencement of operations of the Bank of Thailand, on 10 December 1942. Conceived under wartime occupation, the Bank has grown to be a key institution in Thailand. It is a pleasure and an honour to come to Bangkok to take part in one in a series of events to mark the anniversary, and I want to thank Governor Prasarn for the invitation. The Reserve Bank of Australia has long enjoyed a strong relationship with the Bank of Thailand. In 1997, the RBA was among those central banks to enter a swap agreement with the Bank of Thailand shortly after the crisis broke. This was the first part of Australian assistance to the regional partners who were under pressure, which later extended to Korea and Indonesia. In fact, Australia and Japan were the only countries that offered direct financial support to all three countries. It was a predecessor of mine, Bernie Fraser, who made the suggestion 17 years ago that cooperation in the Asian region might be improved by the establishment of a dedicated institution, along the lines of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel – the 'Asian BIS'. 1 Such a body has not come to pass – at least not yet! – but it is fair to say that this suggestion and others like it helped to spur the Basel BIS to reach out to Asia. 2 There was a round of new shareholdings taken up by Asian central major shareholdings of the BIS remain overwhelmingly North Atlantic in their focus. But the BIS has made a good deal of progress – more than many institutions perhaps – in addressing the imbalances in global financial governance, even if there is further to go. The central banks of the region, taking the initiative through the Executives' Meeting of East Asian-Pacific Central Banks – EMEAP (not the most attractive acronym) – have improved cooperation substantially over the years. Thanks to long-term efforts at building relationships, and the vision of key governors and deputy governors, including at the Bank of Thailand, EMEAP has developed into a mature forum for sharing information, and continues to develop its ability to find common positions on global issues and to promote crisis readiness. Yet as the central banks have grown closer and become more effective in their cooperation, the challenges we face have only increased. Today I want …


In construction of a public building,engineers adopted on-site pouring post-tension prestressed hollow floor-slabs,and used a new construction method which includes pre-assembling hollow pipes and on-site fixing them.These methods are convenient and quick which can help engineers to save construction time and have good economic and technical index.


This paper presents some issues that Dr. Malegapuru William Makgoba President of the Medical Research Council and also one of the guest speakers of the Secure the Future Program pointed out to the fellowship program. According to Dr. Makgoba the HIV/AIDS pandemic is the most serious stumbling block hampering the reawakening of Africa and halting the social economic and developmental progress in the region. He described two initiatives both of which have strong guiding principles and aim to promote equity and development. He emphasizes the importance of the local input and a strong focus on capacity development. In addition Dr. Makgoba stresses the importance of empowering women and children to be able to take charge of their lives and asked men to be aware of their role in spreading the disease their role in preventing it and the need to stop the stigmatization of AIDS as a womans disease.


This paper proposes the synthesis of grasp postures using a digital hand with limited range of motion (ROM) of the thumb. To virtually evaluate universal design products, it is necessary to synthesize natural grasps for different hands, including those with disabilities. In terms of disability, we focused on limited ROM of the thumb, which is typically observed in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Based on a musculoskeletal model, we extended a contact-region-based method for a grasp synthesis to include an ROM-limited hand and succeeded in synthesizing the mechanically feasible grasp postures that viably reflect the grasp features of an ROM-limited thumb. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


BACKGROUND: Striatal-enriched phosphatase 61 (STEP 61 ) has been shown to play an important role in synaptic plasticity. STEP is located at the postsynaptic terminal, and affects the formation of synaptic STEP 61 β ERK


Pictures of Mars from the Viking and Mariner 9 missions provide evidence of liquid water in Mars' past, indicating a warmer climate. It is speculated that outflow channels and valley networks were formed 3.5 to 4 billions years ago, at the same time life was developing on Earth. Current theories suggest that chemical reactions in Mars' early atmosphere depleted the original amounts of carbon dioxide with no mechanism to recycle it back into the atmosphere. Ecosystems in the cold, dry Antarctic valleys provide models of Mars on Earth and indicate that if life evolved on Mars there may be organic or fossil evidence under the surface. Lake beds on Mars surface are considered to be the best place to hunt for fossils.


Nostalgia as a longing for home, where we feel a deeper sense of connectedness and a slower sense of time. Today's heightened nostalgia is due to modernization, which created an environment where people are lonelier and more pressed for time– which have significant implications for well-being -- than people living in societies that are not as affluent or have not adopted the modern way of living. As the characteristics of modern society persist into the future, there will be increasing need to foster resilience among people. Nostalgia is a vehicle that can be used in experience design to transport positive feelings from the past into the present and improve psychological resilience. Deliverables include heuristics for leveraging nostalgia in experience design and a workshop guide that facilitates the design of nostalgic experiences.


This package provides a comprehensive and easily customizable system for creating mailing envelopes and labels in L ATEX 2". Includes printing barcodes and address formatting according to the US Postal Service rules.


Piezoelectric properties of Bi/sub 4/Ti/sub 3-x/Nb/sub x/O/sub 12/ [BITN-x] and B/sub 4/Ti/sub 3-x/V/sub x/O/sub 12/ [BITV-x] ceramics are investigated. Furthermore, grain orientation effects of BITN and BITV ceramics on their piezoelectric properties are studied using the hot-forging (HF) method. The optimal sintering temperature of the BITV ceramic becomes lower with increasing the amount of doped-V ions. On the ordinarily fired (OF) sample with a random orientation, an electromechanical coupling factor, k/sub 33/ of BITN-0.08 and BITV-0.02 ceramics enhanced 0.20 and 0.25. On the HF sample, k/sub 33/ values of BITN-0.08 and BITV-0.04 ceramics enhanced the 0.39 and 0.38, respectively.


We investigate how the complement of a preposition can vary in such a complicated but interesting area of research as possessive genitive constructions of the a/an A' of Y('s) type and what are the factors to determine such variations. It is interesting to note that while such constructions as a friend of Einstein, a friend of Einstein's are possible, the pronominalization of Einstein - not of Einstein's - in those constructions results in ungrammaticality, as seen in * a friend of him, a friend of his. Furthermore, there is a pair of constructions like * a book of my father, a book of my father's, which shows contrast with the pair of a friend of Einstein, a friend of Einstein's. Although this array of data seems quite irregular at first sight, this paper demonstrates that they are in fact never unpredictable, by claiming that 'weight' as a linguistic variable is a working factor in those constructions. Crucially, we assume that the absolute genitive is required when a strict sense of possession is involved. To be brief, this paper tries to give a unified and principled account for some apparent irregularities in natural language.


PURPOSE: A method of forming a gate of a semiconductor device is provided to contact a metal layer after formation of IPO(Inter Poly Oxide) process. CONSTITUTION: A conductive layer for gate doped with impurities is formed on a semiconductor substrate(10). An etch stop layer is deposited on the conductive layer for gate. A sacrificial layer for gate is deposited on the etch stop layer. The sacrificial layer, the etch stop layer, and the conductive layer for gate are sequentially patterned to form a gate pattern. An interlayer dielectric(25) is deposited on the resultant structure and then the resultant structure is polished to expose the surface of the sacrificial layer for gate. A first hole is formed by removing orderly the sacrificial layer and the etch stop layer. A barrier layer(27) is formed on the first hole, and a metal layer(28) is buried in it. The metal layer and the barrier layer are polished to expose the interlayer dielectric. The metal layer is removed to form a second hole(30). A capping nitride layer(31) is buried in the second hole, and polished to expose the interlayer dielectric.


This paper is the modest attempt towards experimental study in lab backed with field work for energy efficient cooking devices based on various solid biomass fuel. The study is designed in such a way so as to compare these energy efficient cook stoves as opposed to traditional cook stoves in terms of their thermal efficiency, time of cooking, fuel consumption; finally being helpful in assessing the sustainability of such new technology interventions particularly in rural areas.


Subtitle translation has ever been dominated by the principles of "faithfulness" and "equivalence", and neither of them can convey the meaning of the original film dialogues very well. The main principle of Skopos Theory lays stress on the fact that result determines the whole translation behavior, making the target spectators understanding the dialogue the main goal of TV series subtitle translation. Taking Friends as an example, this paper conducts a study on the better ways of subtitle translation based on Skopos Theory.


Severe waste of addresses existed in classification of IP. The problem that the length of the trunk routing table is too long is not solved by dividing subnetwork. CIDR reduced routing table's length in order to enhance the flexibility of address assignment.


Determining or estimating the forces that will act on a structure and designing the structure so as to both resist these forces and keep deflections win the prescribed limits are two distinct steps involved in seismic design. This chapter provides a basic explanation of the seismic design of buildings. First the chapter will discuss how earthquakes forces are caused in buildings and the systems that have been developed to deal with these forces and then will review the most common types of buildings and their typical seismic performance. The chapter will also discuss key aspects of seismic design and the force-determination aspect currently used in building codes.


We have obtained over 1.8 W of power from a cw chromium-doped forsterite laser operated at 77 K when it is pumped by a 7.3-W Nd:YAG laser at 1.06 microm. The forsterite laser tunes smoothly from 1.2 to 1.32 microm. At room temperature the output power decreases to approximately 35% of the cryogenic power level.


THE Seven FIRST against EPIGONES Thebes EMULATED fought against THEIR FATHERS: the same the enemy sons as of their the Seve against Thebes fo ht against the sam ene y a th ir parents had done. What a contrast to the popular image of modern heroes, such as the radical student group in Zurich in the heart of modern Europe, to which the young genius Einstein belonged.1 Yet the old myth nevertheless offers an insight into the great figures of the history of science. The way Lewis Feuer and many others have interpreted outstanding scientists as revolutionary geniuses2 conceals a decisive point and remembering Aischylos, Pindar and others may help us to understand this. In the context of Greek poetic tradition, the epigones were great men, no less than their fathers, even Adrastos who inspired and initiated the whole undertaking. Although from a modern perspective there is little in their actions that is laudable, this is not what matters here. Two important points can be made: the terms genius' and epigone' only make sense within a particular domain and compared to others acting within the same context.3 The epigonoi who fought against Thebes were


The archaeological site of Ename in Belgium is situated on the old frontier between the Kingdom of France and the German Empire. The site preserves the material world of medieval society, and intensive archaeological and historical research has revealed its exceptional richness. It was therefore decided to develop the site into an archaeological park, which would popularize archaeology, history and conservation with integrity, using an innovative museological approach and developing new presentation techniques. Dirk Callebaut is an archaeologist-historian who specializes in the Middles Ages, and a senior member of the Institute for the Archaeological Heritage of Flanders. His excavations include Petegem (Carolingian royal villa), Ghent (Gravensteen) and Ename, where he is project leader for the development of the archaeological park. John Sunderland is the designer of some of Europe's most popular historical and archaeological interpretive exhibitions and visitor centres, including the Jorvik Viking Centre in York and the White Cliffs Experience in Dover. For the last three years he has been working with the archaeological team at Ename, where he is responsible for the project design, and has recently formed an international company, TimeFrame solutions, to provide on-site interpretation systems to archaeologists and others working in the field of cultural heritage management.


classify objects that share a visual appearance as similar, and reject those that do not. The hypothesis is that image intensity surface features can be used to compute appearance similarity. In the first part of this paper, a technique to compute global appearance similarity is described. Images are filtered with Gaussian derivatives to compute two features, namely, local curvatures and orientation. Global image similarity is deduced by comparing distributions of these features. This technique is evaluated on a heterogeneous collection of 1600 images. The results support the hypothesis in that images similar in appearance are ranked close together. In the second part of this paper appearance-based retrieval is applied to trademarks. Trademarks are generally binary images containing a single mark against a texture-less background. While moments have been proposed as a representation, we find that appearance-based retrieval yields better results. Two small databases containing a set of 2,345 parametrically generated shapes, and 10,745 trademarks from the US Patent and Trademark office are used for evaluation. Then a system that uses a US Patent and Trademark Office(PTO) trademark database containing 68,000 binary images with textual information is discussed. Text and appearance features are jointly (or independently) queried to retrieve images. Text retrieval is performed using INQUERY and image retrieval using global appearance similarity.


Dans la peau de Romundina stellina Orvig, 1975 (Vertebrata, Placodermi, Acanthothoraci)Anatomie crânienne d'un des premiers gnathostomes revelee par tomographie synchrotron en contraste de phase Being Romundina stellina Orvig, 1975 (Vertebrata, Placodermi, Acanthothoraci)Intracranial anatomy of one of the deepest gnathostomes revealed by synchrotron tomography in phase contrast protocole The acanthothoracid placoderms (armored fishes) are the most basal and primitive gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates; 1). However, their endocranial morphology is poorly understood, and only one genus (Brindabellaspis) has been described thoroughly (2).Here we present the 3D reconstruction of a subcomplete skull of Romundina stellina Orvig, 3, from the Lochkovian of Prince of Wales Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The specimen was imaged in 3D with propagation phase contrast microtomography (4) on the ID19 beamline of the ESRF, using a 7.45 µm isotropic voxel size.Most features are properly preserved and most of the missing structures can be virtually rebuilt by symmetry. Another advantage of this virtual approach is the possibility of connecting with certainty all the external foramina to the blood and nerve canals and the central/internal structures, and hence to identify accurate homologies without destroying the specimen. Orvig's original assumptions can now be checked with confidence.The vasculature of the dermal bones, rendered in detail, allowed a better understanding of plate growth. It permits the visualization of dermal bone establishment over perichondral bone (5).The high level of details of this model reveals that between the trigeminal and vagus nerve (and the inner ears), the perichondral bone wrapping the endocranial cavity shows a "lace" pattern, unknown so far in vertebrates (presumably because of the lack of data). The significance of this character is unclear, but it is definitely not an artifact of taphonomy or scanning. References1 Janvier, P. Early Vertebrates. Clarendon Press edn, Vol. 1 (Oxford Science Publications, 1996).2 Young, G. C. A new Early Devonian placoderm from New South Wales, Australia, with a discussion of placoderm phylogeny. Palaeontographica (A) 167, 10–76 (1980).3 Orvig, T. Description, with special reference to the dermal skeleton, of a new Radotinid arthrodire from the Gedinnian of Arctic Canada. Extrait des Colloques internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Problemes actuels de Paleontologie - Evolution des Vertebres 218, 41–71 (1975).4 Tafforeau, P. et al. Applications of X-ray synchrotron microtomography for non-destructive 3D studies of paleontological specimens. Applied Physics A - Materials Science & Processing 83, 195–202 (2006).5 Dupret, V., Sanchez, S., Goujet, D., Tafforeau, P. & Ahlberg, P. Bone vascularization and growth in placoderms (Vertebrata): the example of the premedian plate of Romundina stellina Orvig, 1975 Comptes Rendus Palevol 9, 369–375 (2010).


The media used for dispersion have a significant effect on the photoluminescent (PL) efficiency of colloidal CdSe nanocrystals, in addition to synthetic parameters. The investigated dispersion media were water-insoluble hexanes (Hex), toluene (Tol), chloroform (CHCl3), and water-miscible tetrahydrofuran (THF); in addition, a water−THF mixture (25%, weight), a tri-n-octylphosphine (TOP)−Hex mixture (25%, weight), and a TOP−THF mixture (25%, weight) were also explored as dispersion media. Solvent-dependent equilibriums affect the number of surface-adsorbed molecules available for surface passivation and the removal of surface ligands, with both concentration and additives (such as TOP) and time playing a role, so that PL intensities can either be enhanced or diminished depending on the detailed conditions. Moreover, an enhancement is not possible at low concentrations of nanocrystals after days of storage, as dissociation of the surface ligands plays a major role and leads to the formation of the other fluo...


Experiments were conducted to evaluate the applicability of microfiltration in treating septic tank effluent for reuse. The basic factors for design and operation of the system were determined. A hollow fiber microfiltration membrane was used in the pilot test. The pore size of the membrane was and effective surface area was . The maximum capacity of the pilot plant was . The microfiltration system was able to be operated for 120 days without chemical cleaning. But the optimum period of chemical cleaning was found to be shorter than 70 days for control of fouling and permeate flux. It was also found that agitation in membrane tank had effect on fouling prevention. In particular, alternating the direction of agitation significantly reduced the proceeding of fouling. Chemical cleaning was effective in recovering of permeate flux and resistance. But complete recovery of the membrane to its initial condition in terms of resistance could not be attained by chemical washing. Based on mass balance analysis, about 60% of TOC mass removal in the system was attributed to biodegradation, indicating the important role of biodegradation even in the system without any biological process. But suspended solids and colloidal matter were removed by sieve mechanism of membrane. Permeate quality was found to be lower than 30mg/L of COD, 10mg/L of BOD, 10mg/L of TOC, 1 NTU of turbidity and 2mg/L of SS, respectively. It satisfies standard for wastewater reclamation.


whereasd11265, whichlacks only the nine car-boxyl-terminal amino acids (Fig. 4), retainsmerely 6.5% of the helper ability (Cole et al.,submitted for publication), also supports theidea that there is no out-of-phase deletion ind11263. Shortening the large-T antigen by 11aminoacids mayaffect the properfolding suchthat the carboxyl-terminal tail becomes moresusceptible to proteolytic removal. Recent re-sults obtained by pulse-labeling with [3S]me-thionine, however, argue against a precursor-productrelationship betweenthe 93Kand87Klarge-Tproteins (Coleetal., submittedforpub-lication). Also, protein synthesis in vitro pro-grammedwith


Abstract : The finite element method is applied to the boundary value problem of the scatterer. To account for the presence of a real earth, multiple expansions are used to deal with the air-earth half spaces. The technique developed is applicable for metallic or dielectric targets. Computations have been made for scatterers in both free space and the presence of a real earth. The accuracy and reliability have been checked by shifted sphere solutions, comparison with bistatic radar scattering experiments, and the reciprocity theorem. These comparisons have confirmed the validity of the method. (Author)


FIELD: process engineering. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to production of multilayer coat sheet with selection of visual properties, to method of finishing substrate sections and to multilayer coat sheet with selected visual properties. Proposed multilayer coat sheet is made with relative tensile elongation making at least 150%. In compliance with this method, data on visual properties of the surface are determined. The data is transmitted to system able to receive such data. Data on coat composition with acceptable set of visual properties is defined. Then, coat composition with selected visual properties is produced. Bearing sheet is produced with a glue layer and lining layer on one surface. Coat composition with selected visual properties is applied on one surface of bearing sheet to produce a coat layer that adds colour and/or effect. Said coat layer is dried. Transparent finishing coat is applied atop aforesaid coat layer that adds colour and/or effect. Now, said transparent finishing coat is dried and solidified. If bearing sheet without glue layer and lining layer is used, then glue layer and lining layer are applied on uncoated surface of bearing sheet. EFFECT: ruling out damaging multilayer sheet in applying it onto curved surfaces. 8 cl


Background: Community participation in population health improvement can assist university researchers in targeting intervention resources more effectively and efficiently, leading to more effective implementation of interventions, because of joint ownership of both process and product. Two academic health centers partnered with community based organizations to develop a bidirectional educational seminar series called "Community Grand Rounds" (CGR), which identified health concerns of Chicago's South Side residents and provided information regarding university and community resources that addressed community health concerns.Objectives: We evaluated the community consultants' perceptions of the quality and effectiveness of the planning and implementation of the seminars that resulted from the partnership.Methods: We conducted one-on-one interviews and focus groups with community consultants to assess their perceptions of the partnership using a tailored version of a previously developed individual and focus group interview instrument. Analysis of the interview text was conducted using grounded theory where themes were coded as they emerged.Conclusions: CGR is an effective mechanism for providing needed community health information in an easily accessible format. Additional work is needed to determine whether this format represents a sustainable community-university partnership.


The present study explored the mechanisms involved in the contingent capture phenomenon using a variant of the classic precueing paradigm of Folk et al. (1992). Rather than keeping the target fixed over a whole block of trials (as traditionally done with contingent capture experiments), we encouraged participants to adopt a top-down set before each trial. If top-down attentional set determines which property captures attention, as is claimed by the contingent capture hypothesis, then one would expect that only properties that match the top-down set would capture attention. We showed that even though participants knew what the target would be on the upcoming trial, both relevant and irrelevant properties captured attention (Experiment 1). An inter-trial analysis (Experiment 1 and 2) showed that previous contingent capture findings may to a large extent be explained by inter-trial priming. In addition, when participants were further forced into adopting the required top-down set (Experiment 3 and 4), irrelevant cues were suppressed, suggesting that top-down control might operate through disengagement of attention from the location of a property that does not match top-down goals. The present findings suggest that top-down control and inter-trial priming have their own distinct contributions to the contingent capture phenomenon. Top-down control and bottom-up priming 3 What is top-down about contingent capture? Since the early 1990s, there has been a considerable debate regarding the extent to which the allocation of spatial attention is under top-down or bottom-up control. On the one hand it has been argued that the allocation of attention is initiated voluntarily in line with the behavioural goals (Folk, Remington, & Jonhnston, 1992). Alternatively, it has been claimed that events that are salient enough are selected regardless of the current top-down set (Theeuwes, 1992, 1994). In the latter case, when objects receive priority of processing independent of the volitional goals of the observer, one refers to this as attentional capture. When such an object not only captures attention but also triggers an exogenous saccade to the location of the event, this is referred to as oculomotor capture (Theeuwes, Kramer, Hahn, Irwin, & Zelinsky, 1999). Evidence for bottom-up attentional capture comes from the irrelevant singleton paradigm developed by Theeuwes (Theeuwes, 1991, 1992, 1994). In this task, participants search for one particular feature singleton (the target) while in some trials another irrelevant salient singleton (the distractor) is also present. Critically, the presence of the irrelevant singleton increases the time to find the relevant singleton. Reaction time (RT) cost led Theeuwes (1991, 1992) to conclude that the irrelevant salient singleton captured attention automatically. On the basis of these findings, Theeuwes (see also Hickey, McDonald, & Theeuwes, 2006; Schreij, Owens, & Theeuwes, 2008; Theeuwes, 2004) argued that attentional capture is basically bottom-up and not affected by volitional top-down attentional set. In a recent study, Theeuwes and Van der Burg (2008) explicitly addressed the question whether volitional top-down set can affect attentional capture in a variant of the additional singleton paradigm in which the exact target was unknown (i.e., target was either a diamond among circles or a circle among diamonds). On each trial an instructional cue (the word "diamond" or "circle") indicated with 100% validity the identity of upcoming target. For example, when the word "diamond" was presented participants knew that the target singleton on the upcoming trial would be a diamond. The results showed that the instructional cue was effective in reducing RT, indicating that participants actively used the cue. However, at the same time, this top-down set could only reduce but not eliminate the distracting effect of the irrelevant colour singleton in the additional singleton paradigm. The idea that selection is completely under volitional top-down control comes from a different paradigm known as the spatial precueing paradigm developed by Folk and colleagues (Folk et al., 1992; Folk, Remington, & Wright, 1994). In this paradigm, the Top-down control and bottom-up priming 4 search display is preceded by a cue display. In their classic 1992 study (Folk et al., 1992) the target display consisted of either a color or an onset singleton and observers were required to identify the unique element. In the color display the target was red while the other three elements were white. In the onset display, only one element was presented, and so the target was characterized as being the only element presented with an abrupt onset. Immediately preceding the target display at an 150 ms SOA, a cue display was presented: this cue display either consisted of a color cue (in which one location was surrounded by red dots and the other three locations were surrounded by white dots) or an onset cue (in which one location was surrounded by an abrupt onset of white dots and the remaining locations remained empty). All conditions were factorially combined and the target type remained constant within block of trials. The critical finding of Folk et al.'s studies was that only when the search display was preceded by a to-be-ignored featural singleton (the "cue") that matched the singleton for which observers were searching, did the cue capture attention. Thus, when searching for a red target singleton, attention automatically shifted to the location of the irrelevant red cue that preceded the search display, while the irrelevant onset had no effect on performance. The result suggests that the top-down attentional set determines the selection priority: when observers are set for a particular feature singleton, only elements that match this top-down attentional set will capture attention. Feature singletons that do not match top-down attentional sets will simply be ignored: "With a control setting established, events exhibiting the critical properties will involuntarily summon attention, whether or not the event is actually relevant to task performance. Stimuli not exhibiting these properties will not involuntarily summon attention" (p. 1041, Folk et al., 1992). The underlying theoretical notion of the contingent capture hypothesis proposed by Folk and colleagues is that capture is fully contingent on the top-down set adopted by the observer and salient objects with irrelevant properties are simply filtered out (Folk & Remington, 1998). On the other hand, finding attentional capture by an event that does not exhibit target-related properties while the appropriate attentional set has been established would constitute a violation of the strong version of the contingent capture hypothesis. The contingent capture hypothesis appears to be the generally accepted way to account for top-down control in visual search (see recent reviews by Burnham, 2007; Rauschenberger, 2003 #3053, but see Schreij et al., 2008; Theeuwes, 2004). The present study was designed to explore the mechanisms involved in contingent capture and pursued two goals. First of all, since in the classic precueing paradigm the target remained the same for a whole block of trials (e.g., search for color singleton), it leaves the possibility that such fixed attentional set for the target feature was not truly Top-down control and bottom-up priming 5 top-down, but instead driven by automatic inter-trial priming (Maljkovic & Nakayama, 1994). This was examined in Experiment 1 and 2, in which we mixed the trials with onset and color targets within a block, preventing participants from adopting a top-down set for a specific feature. If inter-trial priming can explain contingent capture then we expect the same contingent capture pattern of results here: only the cues that match the target on the previous trial should capture attention. The second goal of the present study was to test whether a top-down set is capable of guiding attention in a contingent fashion on a trial-by-trial basis. Similar to Theeuwes and Van der Burg (2008) we presented an instructional cue at the beginning of each trial indicating with 100% validity the target that would be presented on the upcoming trial (Experiment 1). In Experiment 3 the cue indicated which target, onset or color, participants had to search for and respond to. They had to withhold their response if a different target was presented. In Experiment 4 we even let participants choose themselves which target dimension they wanted to search for and respond to. We employed a variant of the classic precueing paradigm of Folk et al., (1992) which allowed us to determine whether the precue captured spatial attention or not. If visual selection is truly dependent on volitional top-down set, we expect basically the same results as reported by Folk et al. (1992): only features that match the current attentional set should capture attention. However, if it turns out to be impossible to prepare for a specific target on the upcoming trial in a top-down way, then one expects that not only the singleton that matches the top-down set would capture attention, but also that the feature singleton that does not match the top-down set would capture attention. Experiment 1 Experiment 1 examined the possibility of creating a top-down set for a specific target feature on a trial-by-trial basis. The task used was basically the classic precueing paradigm of Folk and colleagues (1992), in which participants had to search either for a color or onset singleton. The search display was immediately preceded by a nonpredictive color or onset cue. Every trial began with an instructional cue ("RED" or 'WHITE"), which with 100% validity indicated the feature of the upcoming target (see Figure 1). Using the word cue was crucial to our goal of inducing a top-down set, since it ensured that a top-down set was not contaminated by any bottom-up information about the upcoming


In this paper we introduce a novel device, called iObject, which is equipped with tactile and motion tracking sensors that allow for the evaluation of human and robot grasping and manipulation actions. Contact location and contact force, object acceleration in space (6D) and orientation relative to the earth (3D magnetometer) are measured and transmitted wirelessly over a Bluetooth connection. By allowing human-human, human-robot and robot-robot comparisons to be made, iObject is a versatile tool for studying manual interaction. To demonstrate the efficiency and flexibility of iObject for the study of bimanual interactions, we report on a physiological experiment and evaluate the main parameters of the considered dual-handed manipulation task.


We present in this paper a performance comparison between Si-LDMOSTs with an optimized structure for high breakdown voltage, and AlGaN/GaN power HFETs, based on DC-I/V, small-signal and RF power measurement results.


We investigate where the brain responds to affective and cognitive advertising stimuli. Subjects were exposed to brand advertising whilst patterns of neural activity were being recorded by magnetoencephalography (MEG), a non-invasive technique which provides brain images for later analysis. The hypotheses were, first that more affective ads would be distinguished from more cognitive ads by observable, distinct brain activations and second that the affective sections of the ads would stimulate those parts of the brain shown to be associated with affect in previous neuroscience research unconnected with advertising. The hypotheses were broadly supported.


Context: Nitric oxide (NO) is a free radical and synthesized by three Nitric Oxide isoforms. NO is a biological messenger with many important effects on variety of biological processes. NO at low concentrations is beneficial, but has harmful effects on body health in high levels. The purpose of this review was to investigate the role of NO in health and diseases. Evidence Acquisitions: We conducted a literature review on published English articles using databases from PubMed, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, and IranMedex between 1984 and 2013. First, 798 articles were identified; 92 articles were finally included in this literature review based on the inclusion criteria. There was an important association between serum/plasma NO levels and cardiovascular disease, hypercholesterolemia, heart failure, myocarditis, myocardial ischemia, atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes and dysglycemia, thyroid disorders, metabolic syndrome and obesity. Furthermore, NO has a strong trace in neurodegenerative diseases. Conclusions: All three NOS isoforms play important roles as dichotomous effects in human biology and diseases. NO has a very short half-life, so its direct determination has limitations. The most common method for NO determination is based on the Griess reaction and NO metabolites determination.


The article presents the vital role and characteristics of emotional intelligence in teaching Mathematics through experiential activities at primary school. The authors analyze and show the outline/diagram and opportunities to develop the emotional intelligence of students in some areas in Viet Nam.


Rationale: The antitumor activity of high-dose ascorbate has been re-evaluated recently, but the mechanism underlying cell-specific sensitivity to ascorbate has not yet been clarified. Methods: The effects of high-dose ascorbate on gastric cancer were assessed using cancer cell lines with high and low expression of GLUT1 via flow cytometry and colony formation assays in vitro and patient-derived xenografts in vivo. Results: In this study, we demonstrated that gastric cancer cells with high GLUT1 expression were more sensitive to ascorbate treatment than cells with low GLUT1 expression. GLUT1 knockdown significantly reversed the therapeutic effects of pharmacological ascorbate, while enforced expression of GLUT1 enhanced the sensitivity to ascorbate treatment. The efficacy of pharmacological ascorbate administration in mice bearing cell line-based and patient-derived xenografts was influenced by GLUT1 protein levels. Mechanistically, ascorbate depleted intracellular glutathione, generated oxidative stress and induced DNA damage. The combination of pharmacological ascorbate with genotoxic agents, including oxaliplatin and irinotecan, synergistically inhibited gastric tumor growth in mouse models. Conclusions: The current study showed that GLUT1 expression was inversely correlated with sensitivity of gastric cancer cells to pharmacological ascorbate and suggested that GLUT1 expression in gastric cancer may serve as a marker for sensitivity to pharmacological ascorbate.


1. Assistant Professor, Department of Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Hassan II University, Casablanca, Morocco. 2. Resident, Department of Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Hassan II University, Casablanca, Morocco. 3. Professor, Department of Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Hassan II University, Casablanca, Morocco. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History Received: 05 October 2019 Final Accepted: 07 November 2019 Published: December 2019


Acidification and eutrophication are two environmental impacts that have a significant effect on air pollution and human health. The quantitative analysis of these two impacts remains hitherto unknown at the scale of new neighborhoods. The main objective of this study is to evaluate, analyze and compare the acidification and eutrophication potentials of one neighborhood initially located in Belgium. For making this comparison, this neighborhood was built in 149 other countries by applying four parameters such as building materials, energy mix, occupants' mobility and local climate. The environmental costs of acidification and eutrophication coming from this neighborhood were assessed over 100 years. This research, extended to the scale of several nations, will enable new researchers, and especially policy-makers, to measure the effectiveness of sustainable neighborhoods. Eutrophication and acidification potentials were assessed under different phases (construction, use, renovation and demolition), with Pleiades software (version 18.104.22.168). The effects of the energy mix were the most significant among the other parameters. The results show that 72%, and 65% of acidification and eutrophication potentials are produced during the operational phase of the neighborhood. In the case of sustainable neighborhoods, the acidification potential is 22.1% higher in the 10 top low-income countries than in the 10 top high-income countries. At the neighborhood scale, the main eutrophication potential component is water (34.2%), while the main source of acidification potential is electricity production (45.1%).


In this paper, Structural optimization based microstrip bandpass filter design is discussed. Conventional optimization mainly focuses on the dimensional optimization of the filter. Here, the focus is to design a bandpass filter using rectangular patch-based resonator. The obtained result is then optimized using Genetic Algorithm which is part of Evolutionary algorithm. In order to obtain an optimized result, we define a fitness function in terms of $S_{11}$ (dB) and $S_{21}$ (dB) parameters. The final design of the filter will possess maximum transmission co-efficient and minimum reflection co-efficient.


Powdery mildew disease was observed on Baccharis trimera in Brazil in January, 2009. Based on the morphological characters, the pathogen was identified as an Oidium baccharidis. This is the first report of this fungus causing powdery mildew on Baccharis in Brazil.


In this paper, we propose a quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) network architecture based on EPR pairs. This network architecture can implement quantum secure direct communication with intermediate nodes. In this QSDC network architecture, there are several server nodes which are connected with quantum channels and classical channels. An authentication server is used to identify users. The server nodes can generate EPR pairs and deliver the qubits through the quantum channel to the other node. We also propose a QSDC protocol. The users request to share constant number of EPR pairs with the nearest server nodes. The server nodes teleport the sender's qubits to the receiver. The sender can transmit arbitrary number of qubits to the receiver.


A case of adenocarcinoma of the sigmoid colon during pregnancy is reported. The patient presented with anemia and a painless mass over the left abdomen without gastrointestinal discomfort, making this case different from 25 previously reported cases of colon carcinoma above the peritoneal reflection associated with pregnancy.


To detect the expression of glutathione-S-transferase π (GST π) in acute myeloid leukemia. Immunocytochemical ABC assay was performed. The expression of GST π was higher in relapse AML and CML blast crisis, than that in newly diagnosis AML ( P 0.05 or 0.005). CR rate in the GST π positive group was lower than that in the GST TC negative group ( P 0.05). The expression of GST π was positively correlated with P170 protein expression (rs = 0. 764, P0. 01). Moreover, CR rate in the GST π and P170 both positive group was significantly lower than that in the P170 positive group (P0.05) or the GST π and P170 negative group (P 0.005). GST π was highly expressed in relapse AML and CML blast crisis, which was probably associated with acquired chemoresistance. Expression of GST π positively correlated with P170 expression in acute myeloid leukemia, and co-expression of them could predict chemoresistance more precisely.


Visitors at archaeological sites fre quently ask, "What is the most sig nificant artifact you've found?" This is a quite frustrating question for archaeolo gists to answer. Why? Besides the diffi culty of translating significance into other subjective qualities such as beauty, mar ket value, and exoticism, archae ologists necessarily look at . thousands of artifacts in a variety of ways and as potential answers to an even greater variety of questions. While archaeologists appreci ate the aesthetic qualities of recov ered ceramics, they are more intrigued by how those same pottery fragments, based on their associa tions in the ground and in the past, can address the issues of site chro nology, social life, and the nature of economic linkages that spanned re gions and continents. Common place nails, because of differences in their size, shape, and method of manufacture, become significant artifacts when trying to determine when and how buildings were constructed. In essence then, artifacts become the archaeological means to numerous ends, providing insights into the issues and prob lems that archaeologists study. Artifacts are best viewed as multidimensional ob jects, with these dimensions including composition, use, meaning, and public interpretation. From this perspective, ar tifacts can do more than serve as mere illustrations of a place and time, and can carry our senses beyond the nostalgic value of being in touch with history. Old objects open up alternative ways to explore, re examine, and even rewrite history, and to understand peoples' lives within that past.


This paper presents the results of a research study, in which it is proposed land integration of several municipalities under RED scheme Microregional for sustainable development will, leading a form of regionalization adequate for managing local development in the territory of Central Western inter-influence justified in the process of territorial ordering and decentralization. This proposal was obtained, first from a general analysis of the region, and second after conducting a feasibility study to determine the key variables in the consolidation of a region and finally after a review and selected bibliography on the subject of planning in Colombia.


A new mechanism of anisotropic spontaneous magnetization is proposed. It consists of the mutual admixture, due to perturbations caused by one‐ion anisotropy, of appropriate eigenstates of the Hamiltonian describing the molecular field energy. A self‐consistent method is developed in which the anticipated anisotropic part of the spontaneous magnetization contributes to the molecular field, and the direction of the spontaneous magnetization is fixed by an applied field. Using the quadratic parts of the one‐ion spin Hamiltonian as the perturbation, the first‐ and second‐order portions of the anisotropic spontaneous magnetization and anisotropy energy are calculated for an orthorhombic ferromagnet at 0°K. It is pointed out, however, that the present method applies to other perturbations also. The calculation shows, among other things, that higher‐order perturbations do usually contribute to first‐order anisotropy constants. This result is contrary to accepted conclusions contained in the literature. The predi...


Wen Yiduo was a master in researches into Tang Poetry in the history of modern Chinese literature. According to him, the aesthetic style of the ancient Chinese poetry was exquisite, and the development of Tang Poetry meant that the poets cultivated the positive sides and cast aside the negative elements in their poems and that the poems were gradually perfected. From his researches we can see "one's aesthetic style is just the same as himself".


Objective
To investigate the effects of high fat diet on stability of mitochondrial DNA/mRNA of frontal cortex tissue in mice.

Methods
Forty male mice were randomly divided into regular diet group and high fat diet group (n=20). All animals were sacrificed at 4 months (n=10) or 6 months (n=10) after experiment. The serum glucose, lipid and cholesterol levels were evaluated. And mitochondria were isolated in the frontal cortex of mice, and the changes of mitochondrial DNA/mRNA were tested using PCR and real-time quantitative PCR.

Results
The serum glucose, lipid and cholesterol levels showed no significant changes in the mice of high fat diet group after feeding for 4 months as compared with those in the mice of regular diet group (P>0.05), while the lipid level in the high fat diet group was increased significantly as compared with that in the regular diet group after feeding for 6 months (P 0.05). Decreased ATPase6 and increasd Cyt3 and Cytb expression levels in the high fat diet group were noted as compared with those in the regular diet group after feeding for 6 months (P<0.05).

Conclusion
The stability of mitochondrial DNA decreases in the brain of mice at the persistent feeding with high fat diet for 6 months; especially, pattern of mitochondrial mRNA expression changes obviously at early stage.

Key words:
Mitochondrial DNA/mRNA; High fat diet; Nerve cell


A method of treating psychosis by administering to a patient an azaheterocyclylmethyl-chroman of the formula: (I) in which E represents an azaheterocyclyl group selected from the group consisting of: and wherein R6 represents hydrogen, hydroxyl, halogen or phenyl; and represents an integer 0-8; and the other substituents are as defined herein; or an optically isomeric form thereof or a salt thereof.


The objective of this editorial is to advocate forminoritized individuals, as well as other demographic groups who were under-represented in clinical trials of anti-amyloid immunotherapies, to ensure that they are able to make fully informed choices in considering whether to undergo treatment with these drugs. The Alzheimer's disease (AD) research and drug development field has entered a new, and arguably very exciting era. In the past 2 years, the Food andDrugAdministration (FDA) in theUnited States has deliberated on three therapeutic agents that target disease modification for AD: one currently with full approval,1 one granted accelerated approval,2 and a third expected to have a decision in late 2023.3 For the first time, we are discussing clinical data and concepts of clinical meaningfulness with respect to disease-modifying treatments for AD. There is little question that rapid expansion of disease knowledge and mechanisms can be anticipated in ways that until recently could only have been wildly speculated. However, there are critical issues and limitations to these data that require serious consideration.While controversies certainly exist and broad consensus is far from having been achieved, the reality is that these drugs are being approved as delivering sufficient efficacy with acceptable risk. It is not the purpose of this editorial to take a position on these regulatory decisions. Rather, the goal is to discuss the serious consequences that may result from expanding the use of these disease-modifying treatments from carefully controlled clinical trial cohorts to the general population. Much remains ahead for the field to understand and resolve as we move toward safely treating AD and related dementias (ADRD), including whether any of these agentswill ultimately become part of a precisionoriented combination therapy, and for whom efficacy and sufficient safety can be adequately demonstrated. And, of course, when and how these clarifying studies will be performed. Health disparities are well known to exist among identifiable demographic populations, due to deep-rooted and long-standing social determinants, systemic inequities, structural racism, and discrimination (e.g., see ref. 6). Co-pathologies, co-morbidities, biomarkers, risks, and cognitive/functional outcomes have been shown to differ for ADRD among races, ethnicities, sexes, and genders. Racial biases have been identified in cognitive assessment batteries that were developed by and created for the majority White population. Biomarkers differ to varying degrees among racial groups including amyloid deposition,


A classical scenario for tipping is that a dynamical system experiences a slow parameter drift across a fold tipping point, caused by a run-away positive
feedback loop. We study what happens if one turns around after one has crossed the threshold. We derive a simple criterion that relates how far the parameter exceeds the tipping threshold maximally and how long the parameter stays above the threshold to avoid tipping in an inverse-square law to observable properties of the dynamical system near the fold. We demonstrate the inverse-square law relationship using simple models of recognised potential future tipping points in the climate system.


This paper introduces a new method for estimating the local neighborhood and scale of data points to improve the robustness of spectral clustering algorithms. We employ a subset of empty region graphs - the β-skeleton - and non-linear diffusion to define a locally-adapted affinity matrix, which, as we demonstrate, provides higher quality clustering than conventional approaches based on κ nearest neighbors or global scale parameters. Moreover, we show that the clustering quality is far less sensitive to the choice of β and other algorithm parameters, and to transformations such as geometric distortion and random perturbation. We summarize the results of an empirical study that applies our method to a number of 2D synthetic data sets, consisting of clusters of arbitrary shape and scale, and to real multi-dimensional classification examples from benchmarks, including image segmentation.


Introduction: Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) is a common presentation to the emergency department (ED) and is often treated with red blood cell transfusions. Choosing Wisely and the American Association of Blood Banks released guidelines in 2016 outlining under what circumstances transfusions should be given for patients with IDA. Few well-powered studies have looked at the impact of these guidelines on transfusions in EDs. The goal of this study was to examine the number of RBC transfusions that were given in EDs in Calgary, Alberta from 2014-2018 and what proportion of these were potentially avoidable (PA). Methods: We analyzed 8651 IDA patient encounters from 2014–2018 at four centers in the Calgary Zone. A transfusion was considered PA if the patient's hemoglobin (hgb) was ≥70 g/L AND if the patient was hemodynamically stable. We performed descriptive statistics to assess the number of transfusions and the number of avoidable transfusions. We used chi-squared tests to determine if there were significant differences between site, time-period, hemoglobin level. Results: In total, 990 (11.4%) of the encounters received transfusions; 711 (71.8%) were indicated while 279 (28.1%) were PA. Out of the transfusions that were indicated, 230 (32.3%) were given to patients with a hgb <70 g/L and 481 (67.7%) were given to patients with a hgb >70 g/L but who were hemodynamically unstable. Out of the transfusions that were PA, the highest number were given to those in the 71-80 g/L hgb group (142) and the lowest number were given to those in the 110-130 g/L hgb group (9), a difference that was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The PA transfusion rates from 2014 to 2018 were 30.8%, 25.6%, 34.5%, 23.6%, 20.7% respectively, which was a statistically significant difference (p = 0.004). Conclusion: Our data suggest that the number of PA transfusions at the hospitals in the Calgary zone is comparable to the rates reported in the existing literature. In addition, the rate of PA transfusions has decreased since the release of the guidelines. A limitation of the present study was that it did not look at the number of units of red blood cells transfused and since many patients receive more than one unit, it is possible that the number of PA transfusions was underestimated. Nevertheless, we intend to use our results to create a safer and more cost-effective approach to managing IDA.


An experimental study has been conducted with the objective to evaluate the effect of the leading edge break point, or the leading edge kink, position on the aerodynamic performance of double delta movable wing tip strakes. Previous studies have identified the best performing movable tip strake from a large series of tested configurations as a double delta planform having sweep angles of 80° and 45° for the inboard and outboard section, respectively. This result has been the point of departure for the present study whose intent has been to determine the effects of changing the relative extent of the inboard, highly swept portion of the strake, and the outboard, moderately swept portion by changing the leading edge break location. It has been found that moving the leading edge break point forward benefits the aerodynamic performance of the wing-movable strake configuration by increasing its lift-to-drag ratio. Also, it has been shown that backward movement of the break point reduces aerodynamic efficiency. Thus the direction in which the optimal strake shape should be sought has been established. The reasons for this result and the underlying flow mechanisms have been discussed. Further studies with the objective of finding the optimal double delta strake configuration for a given baseline wing appear warranted.


Novel composite coatings were fabricated on 6061 aluminum alloy substrates by two steps combining micro-arc oxidation (MAO) plus electroless copper plating (Cu). Different MAO + Cu composite coatings were compared. Cu continuously and evenly covered an aluminum oxide surface during processing thus changing the surface topography. The adhesion of MAO + Cu composite coating was tested by the pull-out method. The best adhesion strength of the composite coating can reach industrial requirements. The effects of the composite coatings on friction were investigated using a ball-on-disc test method. It is found that copper in composite coatings plays a lubricating effect during the wear process under dry sliding. Furthermore, the mechanisms by which the observed advantages were produced are discussed.


Since its development in 2003, the technique of Bragg grating inscription in optical fibers and waveguides with ultrafast infrared radiation and a phase mask has proven to be as simple as the standard UV-laser grating writing techniques but far more versatile. The ultrafast IR laser-based process allows for the creation of grating structures in glassy and crystalline materials that are not typically UV photosensitive. In this article, we will review the studies that have been performed at the Communications Research Centre Canada on the grating formation processes as well as applications of the ultrafast laser technique to fabricate gratings in various optical fibers and waveguides.


Fruit growing in Alto Adige has steadily increased in importance since the post-World War II introduction of anti-hoar-frost overhead irrigation systems. An early awareness of constraints due to the scarcity and high cost of labour has led to the adoption of close-planting systems and older varieties are rapidly being supplanted by more commercially acceptable ones. But the undoubted success of the area depends largely upon the widespread and effective official Advisory Service.


Copper wires are the state-of-the-art materials which are widely used in almost every electric and electronic related field in civil lives or industry. One of the most active research topics consists of compounding carbon-based materials with copper, due to their performance advantage in density, electrical and mechanical properties. In this paper, graphene reinforced copper samples have been prepared in two different methods, namely metallurgy method and Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) method. Electrical conductivity measurements were performed on samples prepared via both methods. Technologies such as SEM was adopted in our analysis to Figure out the mechanism causes this difference from a microscope point of view. Analysis results indicate that, with properly controlled preparing parameters, graphene reinforced copper composite can achieve a distinctive improvement in terms of electrical conductivity over traditional copper material.


C onsensus is growing that new ways of conducting agricultural research are needed. To date, the operational implications of these changes and strategies for making them efficient, effective, and sustainable have been discussed very little. Lessons on strengthening the connectivity between agricultural research and other innovation system actors are viewed through the lens of three types of economies—agriculture-based, transforming , and urbanized—and two strategies: (1) investing in " demand articulation " mechanisms to better identify the needs of different user groups and (2) designing " organizational interfaces " that help transform research into real goods and services. There is a case for both market and nonmarket approaches to improving demand articulation and organizational interfaces. They include investment in formal mechanisms that provide stakeholder input to research organizations, more participatory mechanisms that bring researchers and farmers together to solve problems , innovation platforms that address larger, more complex challenges with diverse actors, commercialization programs that move research into the marketplace, and financing mechanisms that encourage collaborative research. Careful adaptation to the specific innovation contexts, strategies, and mechanisms is prerequisite for success.


We have examined the interfacial thermal conductance GK of single and multilayer graphene samples prepared on fused SiO2 substrates by mechanical exfoliation of graphite. By using an ultrafast optical pump pulse and monitoring the transient reflectivity on the picosecond time scale, we obtained an average value of GK of GK=5000 W/cm2 K for the graphene/SiO2 interface at room temperature. We observed significant variation in GK between individual samples, but found no systematic dependence on the thickness of the graphene layers.


The Eurasian genus Phedimus is a member of the Crassulaceae, first described 200 years ago in 1817, so its bicentennial is worthy of celebration. It remained in relative obscurity until 1995 when it was revived and expanded to include around 20 species.


The article addresses some concerns about how coefficient alpha is reported and used. It also shows that alpha is not a measure of homogeneity or unidimensionality. This fact and the finding that test length is related to reliability may cause significant misinterpretations of measures when alpha is used as evidence that a measure is unidimensional. For multidimensional measures, use of alpha as the basis for corrections for attenuation causes overestimates of true correlation. Satisfactory levels of alpha depend on test use and interpretation. Even relatively low (e.g., .50) levels of criterion reliability do not seriously attenuate validity coefficients. When reporting intercorrelations among measures that should be discriminable, it is important to present observed correlations, appropriate measures of reliability, and correlations corrected for unreliability. Presentation of coefficient alpha (hereinafter alpha; Cronbach, 1951 ) as an index of the internal consistency or reliability of psychological measures has become routine practice in virtually all psychological and social science research in which multiple-item measures of a construct are used. In this article I describe four ways in which researchers' use of alpha to convey information about the operationalization of a construct or constructs can represent a lack of understanding or can convey less information than is actually required to evaluate the degree to which measurement problems are or are not a concern in the interpretation of the research results. In each instance, I will also indicate which additional or supplementary information is necessary to evaluate the measurements used in the research.


This paper describes the design of a 12-story apartment building on a single story basement, which has wood floor diaphragms, and structural steel gravity and lateral load resisting systems. The design objective was to develop the most cost-effective structural system while meeting building functionality goals and adhering to code requirements. The main structural and non-structural design issues considered in this all-wood floor building are reviewed: gravity loads, lateral loads imposed by wind and earthquake, floor vibration, acoustics, and changes in wood moisture content. The lightweight structural form proved to be a practical system to lower construction material cost and enable alternative construction techniques to be employed. A comparison with a concrete floor option is briefly made.


Several studies have indentifyied the area of Customer Service as the main factor for organizations to obtain competitive advantages. It has even been considered more important than factors such as: Quality and Product appearance, Cost reduction, Price and Commercial Conditions. This paper outlines the results of research project performed to explore the different ways of dealing with Logistics, specifically in the case of Logistic Customer Service. Through an empirical study of 15 medium to large size manufacturing firms in Cali, (Colombia) we identifyied the ways in which leading companies mange Customer Service. The findings provide evidence about the important role that Logistics is playing nowadays and to suggest some guidelines for the Customer service area, as a key factor to enhance the firm competitiveness.


Aim of this work is to evaluate the tension-tension fatigue life and damage in textile reinforced composites on meso-scale level (fabric unit cell). Averaged stiffness, Poisson's Ratios in preand post material damage states are evaluated based on numerical homogenization technique with periodic boundary conditions (PBCs). Experimental S-N curves of unidirectional composites are utilized as input data for impregnated yarns which are taken as unidirectional composite. The outputs are calculated S-N curves, which show good agreement with experimental data.


Two ICs, performing encoding, LED modulation, amplification, decoding and output buffering functions for a 0-10Mb/s, 0-1Km fully-TTL compatible fiber optic data link, will be reported.


During a sea trial on the Scotian Shelf, acoustic signals from an unexpected sonic boom were recorded on several hydrophones of a vertical array. The array spanned the lower 50 m of the water column above a sand bank at 76 m water depth. Based on the event time and location, the source of the sonic boom was deduced to be a Concorde supersonic airliner in transit between Paris and New York, travelling at about Mach 2 (roughly 600 m/s). The airborne sonic boom was heard on the deck of the research vessel during a routine collection of ocean ambient noise samples; the water-borne sonic boom was recovered later during playback of the recording tape for that sample. The horizontal speed of a sonic boom waveform-which matches the aircraft speed-is lower than the speed of sound in the water if the aircraft speed is below about Mach 4.4; the associated water-borne waveform is expected to decay as an evanescent wave below the sea surface. This decay of the amplitude of the waveform is observed along the array. The very calm weather resulted in low ambient noise and low self-noise at the hydrophones, resulting in good signal-to-noise ratio on the upper hydrophones; however, the decreased signal amplitude is more difficult to detect towards the lower part of the water column. The period of the observed waveform is of the order 0.16 s, corresponding to a peak frequency of about 6 Hz. The shape of the measured waveform differs slightly from the theoretical N-shape waveform predicted with Sawyers theory [J. Acoust, Soc. Am., 44, 523-4 (1968)]; this is possibly due to propagation effects caused by seismo-acoustic interaction of the infrasonic waves with the sediments underlying the water mass.


Cloud Computing or simply rental computing, is a new technology currently being studied in the academic world and broadly categorized as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS).Virtualization is the backbone of cloud computing and scalable, dynamic resources can be effectively managed using virtualization technology. It is possible to remap virtual machines (VMs) and physical resources according to the change in load with the help of heuristics. In this paper we present some of the most commonly used workflow heuristics currently being used in a cloud environment.


This paper addresses the problem of communication structure planning in multisensor detection systems under communication constraints. An algorithm is developed for system optimization. Examples are presented for illustration.


Improvement of durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is an important subject in the path to achieve long-term operation. Corrosion of carbonaceous catalyst support materials such as carbon black has been known for conventional Pt/C catalysts used today in PEMFCs cathode, which is recognized as one of the cause of catalyst degradation [1]. To improve the durability of cathode catalyst, especially at high potentials during start-stop periods, a more oxidationresistant catalyst support at high potentials (>1.0 V) is desired for automotive and residential applications. As an alternative catalyst support material, some oxide of bulb metals (Ti, Nb, Ta, Zr, etc.) is a possible candidate for PEMFC cathode, because of its superior corrosionresistant property. Among them, oxygen-deficient, substoichiometric titanium oxide (TiOx), which is known as Magneli phase, is not only a corrosion-resistant but electrically conductive material. So far, we have synthesized TiOx catalyst supports by high temperature reaction, and examined electrochemical activity and stability of Pt-deposited TiOx (Pt/TiOx) catalysts under PEMFC cathode conditions [2]. These Pt/TiOx catalysts showed good oxidation-resistant property, however, Ptmass activity of the Pt/TiOx is considerably low due to small specific surface area of the prepared TiOx (<3 m/g). Since the preparation of such an oxide with high specific surface area is very important for improving the Pt-mass activity of the catalysts, we have developed a new preparation route using pulsed UV laser irradiation to TiO2 fine particle dispersed in liquid to obtain smaller particles of Magneli phase oxides [3]. In this work, Pt and Pt-Ti alloy nano-particles were deposited on the TiOx support, and the electrochemical activity and stability of the obtained catalyst under half-cell conditions were examined. TiOx support was prepared by reducing fine TiO2 particles using Nd:YAG laser operated at λ = 355 nm [3]. Pt nano-particles were deposited on the obtained TiOx by arc plasma deposition and Pt-Ti nano-particles were deposited by impregnation-reduction method. The electrochemical activity and stability of the catalysts were examined by rotating disk electrode (RDE) using a thinfilm catalyst layer method in 0.1 M HClO4 solution at 2560C. After UV laser irradiation to TiO2 particles (BET: 20m/g, 70 nm diameter), spherical TiOx particles with a diameter around 50~300 nm were obtained. Figure 1 shows a typical SEM image of the prepared 10 wt.% PtTi/TiOx catalyst particles. As evident from the image, deposited particles of 5-10 nm are uniformly dispersed on TiOx support. XRD analyses of the catalyst indicated formation of ordered Pt-Ti alloy, and analytical TEM observations of each Pt particle on the TiOx demonstrated that average composition is Pt75Ti25. ORR activity of both Pt/TiOx and Pt-Ti/TiOx catalysts were evaluated by RDE using specific activity at 0.9V as shown in Fig. 2. Compared to Pt/TiOx, Pt-Ti/TiOx catalyst showed activity improvement for ORR with the enhancement factor of ca. 1.7. According to literatures, Pt75Ti25 catalyst shows 1.5~2-fold higher ORR activity than pure Pt [4]. Therefore, most of this activity enhancement of PtTi/TiOx would be attributed to the effect of Pt-Ti alloying. Catalyst stability tests were also conducted by using RDE. Figure 3 shows the typical results of catalyst support durability tests by potential cycling (potential sweep between 1.0/1.5V, 500 mV/s, 60C). The Hupd peak of Pt/C shrank considerably with increasing in cycle number, which is mainly due to carbon corrosion at high potentials. As for Pt/TiOx, Hupd of the CVs were fairly stable. The TiOx supports are much stable under high potential condition than carbon, so that stability of the loaded Pt particles on TiOx would be improved. Details of synthesis, activity and stability of TiOx-based catalysts will be discussed at the meeting.


Ovigerous females of the crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii were collected subtidally, and their rhythms in larval release monitored under constant conditions in the laboratory. Larvae from a single crab are generally released as a burst lasting less than 15 minutes. Larval release by crabs from an estuary lacking regular tides mainly occurs in the 2-h interval after sunset and is not related to coastal tides, which suggests a circadian rhythm. This rhythm can be entrained on an altered light-dark cycle. Larval release by crabs from an estuary with semi-diurnal tides begins at high tides and continues for 2 hours, suggesting a circatidal rhythm. Significantly more releases occur during the night. Crabs from the estuary without regular tides change from a circadian to a circatidal rhythm after being in the estuary with semi-diurnal tides. Alternatively, crabs from the estuary with semi-diurnal tides change to a circadian rhythm when exposed to a light-dark cycle and non-tidal conditions in the laboratory. Thus ...


OBJECTIVE To observe the effect of Aidi injection combined with chemotherapy on life quality in advanced colorectal cancer patients. METHODS Sixty advanced colorectal cancer patients were randomly divided into two groups.The treatment group with 30 patients were treated with Aidi injection and chemotherapy.The control group with 30 patients were treated with chemotherapy only.The two groups were both given FOLFOX4 regiment treatment.The change in TCM symptoms,KPS,weight and appetite was observed after chemotherapy was given for four courses. RESULTS There were significant differences in syndrome scores,KPS,weight and appetite of the two groups(P0.05). CONCLUSION Aidi injection can indeed improve TCM symptoms and life quality in advanced colorectal cancer patients.


The invention provides a spherical lens and a light-emitting device with the same. A first light anti-reflection area, a second light anti-reflection area and a light weakening area are formed on the exit surface of the spherical arc of the spherical lens in sequence from the center to the bottom, the exit surface is a surface equal to smaller than micro roughness, the surface roughness of the first light anti-reflection area, the second light anti-reflection area and the light weakening area is increased in a three-step shape, the surface roughness of the first light anti-reflection area is unchanged, and the surface roughness of the second light anti-reflection area and the light weakening area is uniformly increased from the center to the bottom. For a light-emitting chip with an electrode shading surface, the uniformity of emergent light can be improved, the emergent light intensity of the first light anti-reflection area and the second light anti-reflection area is improved, and stray light of the whole light-emitting device is effectively reduced at the same time.


Health unions will renew calls for nurses to work a shorter working week as part of moves to improve working conditions for NHS staff.


Over two thirds of the world's population speak more than one language, generating interest in the field of bilingual aphasia and particularly its recovery. Among the many theories on recovery patterns, it is widely accepted that parallel recovery of a bilingual's languages is the most common. Of those cases of nonparallel recovery, the oldest theories on which language recovers best are the first language (Ribot's law) or the dominantly used language (Pitres' law). This review discusses the evidence for these theories in addition to considering influential factors of recovery, and exploring whether therapy in one language can transfer to untreated languages.


Generic characters of Irundisaua Martins & Galileo, 2005 are expanded (antennal formula, width of prosternal process inferior or equal to the diameter of procoxa, protibia enlarged and flattened) and two species are transferred from Acanthoderes Audinet-Serville, 1835: I. forsteri (Tippmann, 1960) comb. nov. from Peru and Brazil (Amazonas) and I. ucayalensis (Tippmann, 1960) comb. nov. from Ecuador, Peru and Brazil (Amazonas).Three new genera are described: (1) Catuana comb. nov., type species, C. spinicornis (Tippmann, 1960) comb. nov., characterized by the mesosternal tubercle; (2) Mundeu comb. nov., type species, M. maculicollis (Bates, 1861) comb. nov., with rounded sides of protorax and expanded protibiae; (3) Urangaua comb. nov., with eyes divided and finelly granulated, length of antenomeres III-IV subequal to V-XI; the genus is proposed of two species: U. analis Melzer, 1935 comb. nov., type species, and U. subanalis (Zajciw, 1964) comb. nov. A key to the species of Urangaua is added.


Abstract:This essay aims to explore the treatment of hunger in Caroline poetry. The discussion initially pays attention to some of the canonical poetry of the period where the issue of hunger is largely effaced. Examples are found in the country house poems of Thomas Carew and Robert Herrick where the social relations of exploitation between rich landlords and the labouring poor are typically mystified, but also in the devotional poetry of George Herbert where consumption has a merely symbolic function and hunger is employed as a metaphor for spiritual yearning. These texts are then juxtaposed with a range of broadside ballads where, far from being mystified, themes like hunger and landlords' lack of charity provide persistent concerns. As argued here, these non-canonical texts do not simply give expression to hunger but they also articulate a forceful critique of the upper classes and envision the possibility of social struggle and subversion.


This report summarises underground geological mapping undertaken in the disused Carrock Tungsten Mine in May 2013 and the subsequent analysis of water and tungsten vein samples that were collected during the mapping. The mapping, focussed on workings that post-date a previous report on the geology published while the mine was still active, confirms the underground geology previously reported.
Analysis of both surface stream and underground water samples collected during the mapping show that arsenic levels exceed WHO guidelines for drinking water in all samples collected. No other elements exceed the WHO guidelines.


The dynamic development of internal combustion engine design and requirements for high reliability generates the need to apply a strategy of their operation based on the current technical condition. The paper concerns vibration diagnostics of automatic compensators of valve lash of a combustion engine. It presents the course of an active experiment conducted in order to develop a methodology for identifying the state of compensators based on measures of vibration signals measured at the engine head. Based on the results of the experiment, a classifier was developed in the form of a decision tree, which with high accuracy identified the technical condition of the compensators. The set of simple rules obtained thanks to the built up trees allows for easy implementation of the diagnostic system in practice.


Flickr and Instagram are known to be an online crowdsourced photo sharing applications which people can share experiences with others. SmartPhoto is such a framework that was developed for this purpose. In the example of post-disaster recovery first responders survey the damage by taking pictures and then transfer them back to the rescue center. A problem with this system is how to abolish the redundancy and to find the most indicative photos containing human. SmartPhoto measure the utility of the crowdsourced photos based on the metadata of the photos which is accessible geometrical and geographical information. But this system did not address the problem with low quality images. If we enhance the low quality photos the perception factor of the photos get increased. The proposed system called IntelligentPhoto addresses this problem by first measuring the quality of the photos by checking the amount of blurriness and noisiness. It is based on by applying Laplacian kernel to the photos. The system then uses techniques known as Histogram Equalization to enhance the dark photos and perform other enhancing operations like noise reduction, smoothing, de-blurring, and edge enhancement to the low quality photos using wiener filter, median filter and smoothing filter. Selection algorithm are applied to find the most indicative photos and to abolish the redundancy in photos. Feature Feature matching is done to the selected photos by applying Haarcascades. Panoramas of the photos are constructed and it is send to rescue center for further action. This system is applicable to post-disaster recovery.


The wavefronts of a point source of radiation that is immersed in a turbulent atmosphere become distorted and deformed as they propagate outward. The phase surfaces incident on an unobscured collecting aperture therefore will not be perfectly spherical, but instead will be aberrated in some way. We have expanded this phase profile in a set of orthonormal functions closely related to the Zernike polynomials and then determined the respective power spectra of the time dependent expansion coefficients. The results show, for all spectra, a sharp cutoff of f^{-11/3} for frequencies f > (\nu/2R) , where \nu is the wind velocity transverse to the point source and the receiver, and R is the aperture radius. In particular, for the tilt component expansion coefficients, this result differs from the usual phase difference power spectra previously used by many workers.


The results of thermal characterization of actively cooled high-power laser bars are presented. The experimental data obtained by thermal imaging is compared with modelling of temperature distributions in the packaged device. The temperature differences between the central part and the edges of the array are determined. Moreover, we present the microscopic scale temperature profiles in-junction plane and perpendicularly to junction. The thermal behaviour of the bar during long-pulse operation is analyzed both experimentally and theoretically. Possible impact of the thermal properties on the emission characteristics of the bar is discussed.


Albert, Pere, The Customs of Catalonia between Lords and Vassals, trans. Donald J. Kagay, Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2002. Pp.l þ 87. $26.00. ISBN 0-86698-285-X. Aristeidou, Aikaterinēs Ch., Anekdota engrafa tēs Kypriakēs istorias apo to Kratiko Archeio tēs Venetias, Vol. 4, 1530–1540, Leukōsia: Kentron Epistēmonikōn Ereunōn, 2003. Pp.397. ISBN 9963-0-8081-2. Bell, R.M., and C. Mazzoni, The Voices of Gemma Galgani: The Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. Pp.320. $30.00. ISBN 0-226-04196-4. Bock, Gisela, and Anne Cova (eds.), Écrire l'histoire des femmes en Europe du Sud, XIXe–XXe siècles, Oeiras: Celta Editora, 2003. Pp.vii þ 183. e15.75. ISBN 972-774-149-5. Brown, Nathan J., Palestinian Politics after the Oslo Accords: Resuming Arab Palestine, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 2003. Pp.323. $19.95. ISBN 0-520-24115-0. Bull, Marcus, and Norman Housley (eds.), The Experience of Crusading, Vol.1, Western Approaches, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp.324. £45.00. ISBN 0-521-59005-1. Constable, Olivia Remie, Housing the Stranger in the Mediterranean World: Lodging, Trade, and Travel in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp.xii þ 427. £45.00. ISBN 0-521-81918-0. Couloumbis, T.A., T. Kariotis, and F. Bellou (eds.), Greece in the Twentieth Century, London and Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 2003. Pp.xvi þ 336. £45.00. ISBN 0-7146-5407-8. Crémoux, Françoise, Pèlerinages et miracles à Guadalupe au XVIe siècle, Madrid: Casa de Velázquez, 2001. Pp.252. e27.00. ISBN 84-95555-12-3. Edbury, Peter, and Jonathan Phillips (eds.), The Experience of Crusading, Vol.2, Defining the Crusader Kingdom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp.328. £45.00. ISBN 0-521-59005-1. Ener, Mine, Managing Egypt's Poor and the Politics of Benevolence, 1800– 1952, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2003. Pp.xxx þ 195. $35.00. ISBN 0-691-11378-5. Garcia-Arenal, Mercedes, and Gerard Wiegers, A Man of Three Worlds: Samuel Pallache, a Moroccan Jew in Catholic and Protestant Europe, trans. Martin Beagles, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. Pp.xv þ173. £29.50. ISBN 0-8018-7225-1.