The objwtivcs of this study were to validate the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) for civil servants in the North West Province, and to investigate the relationship between burnout and work engagement, and various demographic variables. A cross-sectional survey design was employed. An accidental sample (iV=207) were drawn from civil servants in the Matlkeng area. The MBIGS and UWES were administered alongside a biographical questionnaire. Structural equation modelling confirmed a four-factor model of burnout consisting of exhaustion, cynicism, professional etllcacy and cognitive weariness, and a hvo-factor mode1 of work engagement. consisting of vigour and dedicatiotl with highly acceptable alpha coefficients. The sttldy found no statistically significant relationship between burnout and work engagement and any of the demographic variables. OPSOMMING Die doelwitte van hierdie studie was om die Maslach Uitbrandingsvraelys Algemene Opname (MBI-GS) en die Utrecht Werkbegeesteringskaal (WVES) vir staatsdiensamptenare in die Noordwes-provinsie te valideer, en om die verhouding tussen uitbranding en werkbegeestering en verskillende demografiese veranderlikes te ondersoek. 'n Dwarssnit opname-ontwerp is gebruik en 'n gerieflikheidsteekproef (N=207) is van staatsdiensamptenare in die Mafikenggebied getrek. Die MBI-GS en UWES is saani met 'n biografiese vraelys afgeneem. Strukturele vergelykingsmodellering het 'n vierfaktormodcl van uitbranding, bestaande uit Uitputting, Sinisme, Professionele Doeltreffendheid en Kognitiewe Vermoeidheid bevestig. Verder is 'n tweefaktormodel van werkbegeestering, bestaande uit Energie en Toewyding met hoogs aanvaarbare alfakoEffisiente ook bevestig. Die studie her bevind dill daar geen statisties betekenisvolle verhouding tussen uitbranding en werkbegeestering en enige van die dernografiese veranderlikes gevind kon word nie. The new political and economic dispensation that has becn sweeping across South Africa since 1994 has brought with it several challenges that institutions and organisations have to deal with. These challenges include restructuring, change managcment, tension among diverse work groups, the demand for gender equity, racial representarivity, good governance, accelerated economic growth, quality service delivery and international demands like the compliance with the prescripts of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APKM) and the realisation of thc Millennium Development Goals (IMDGs). Institutions, including the public service, will have to implement several changes in ordcr to continue along the path of competitiveness, effectiveness and survival (Carnll, Elbert, N. F., Hatfield, R. D., Gobbler, P. A., Ma% hi., & Van der Schyf, M., 1998; Fraser-Moleketi, 2002; Kotzti, 2002; United Nations Report, 2005). Programmes that are intended to address these challenges in a developing country like South Africa are championed mainly by the public service. This assertion is confirmed by the Public Service Commission Report (2006) which argues that at the heart of the capacity required for the fulfilment of these challenges is the need to ensure that the public service, as the primary delivery vehicle of the state. is astute in rising to the development needs of the country. As a consequence, tremendous pressure is brought to bear on the public service, which could lead to stress (Reynolds & Shapiro, 1991) and eventually burnout. These challenges manifest at both national and provincial levels. The various premiers of the provinces of South Africa also put heavy demands on their respective provincial departments. For example, in the North West province, the premier spells out her mandates in the State of the Province Address, and all the government departments see to the implementation thereof. In the North West Province, at one of the departmental functions, the head of the Department of Public Works stated that "in the past financial year, we all agreed to accelerate service delivery by improving on how we perform. We started by realigning our job descriptions, and then drafted individual work plans. Subsequently, we are now busy with annual assessments. .. we cannot stay in one place, the joilrney is real and urgent. There is only one way that is to fold our sleeves and work hard" (Sebego, 2005). This sentiment of service delivery is echoed throughout the North West provincial departments. All members of the public servicc are therefore under pressure to perform, which in hlrn leads to possible stress or burnout due to either a lack of job resources, unreasonable timeframes or even a lack of' capacity. This in turn results in ramifications like lateness, absenteeism, and high staff turnover (Kilfedder, Power, & Wells, 2001), a sense of reduced effectiveness. dccreased motivation and dysfimctional attitudes and behaviours (Maslach, 200 I; Maslach, Jackson, 6: Leiter, 1996; Maslach, Schaufeli, & Lei~er, 2001). I t has become necessary lo employ a holistic model in the study of burnout and work engagement in order to gain a better understanding of work wellness. Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) are of the view that burnout and engagement could be combined in a model of wellbeing since burnout and work engagement represent the two aspects of' wellness. Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) have identified two underlying dimensions of work wellness in which they identitkd activation ns ranging from exhaustion to vigour, and identification as ranging from mental distance to dedication. Thus burnout according to them is characterised by a combination of exhaustion (low activation) and mental distance (low identification), wliilc engagement is represented by vigour (high activation) and dedication (high identification). Extreme exhaustion may lead workers to distance themselves emotionally and cognitively from their work and clients, while an engaged worker develops high levels of energy, and derives a sense of significance, identification and attachment to work. The relationship that people have with their work and the resultant difficulties when that relationship goes awry, have long been recognised as a significant phenomenon of the modern age. The use of thc term burnout for this occurrence came into general use around the 1970s in the United States, especially among people working in the human services. What is noteworthy is that both practitioners and social commentators identified the importance of burnout as a social problem long before it became a focus of systematic study by researchers (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 200 1). A milestone event in the study of burnout that addressed the issue of a lack of consistent definition was the development of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) (Maslach, 2001). This standardised measure, based on extensive empirical research, has provided researchers with the methodological specificity necessary for studying the syndrome of burnout (Kee, Johnson, & Hunt, 2000). Although Maslach and Jackson (1986, p.1) defined burnout as "A syndrome of emotional exhaustion and cynicism that occurs anlong individuals who do people work of some kind" like teachers, nurses, physicians and social workers, it has now become clear to researchers that employees in almost any occupation can develop burnout (Schaufeli & Enzmann, 1998). This finding clearly supports the view that burnout is also a problem that occurs "outside" the human services (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). Maslach and Jackson (1981), Maslach (1982) and Maslach and Leiter (1997) view burnout as a syndrome consisting of three dimensions, namely emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced personal accomplishrncnt. Emotional exhaustion refers to feelings of being depleted of one's emotional resources (Maslach & Lciter, 1997). Thus, when employees suffering froin burnout are asked how they feel, their typical responses are that they feel drained and physically fatigued (Rothmann, Malan, B Rottunanil, 2001). This dimension is considered as the basic individual stress component of the syndrome (Golembiewski & Boss, 1992). Depersonalisation refers to negative, cynical or excessively detached responses to other people at work. This represents the irltcrpersonal component of burnout. Reduced personal accomplishment connotes a feeling of a decline in one's competence and productivily, and a lowered sense of self-eflicacy. This represents the self-evaluation component of burnout (Maslach, 1998). According to Golembiewski and Boss (1992), the earlier three dimensions of burnout were not deducted theoretically, bul resulted from labelling exploratory factor-analysed items initially collected to reflect the range of experiences associated with the burnout phenomenon. Depersonalisation was therefore replaced by cynicism in the new dimension, which still refers to the same cluster of synlptoms (Golembiewski & Boss, 1992). According to Golembiewski and Boss (1992). the new label of this dimension of the syndrome poses new problenls. Garden (1987) argued that this dimension of the syndrome of burnout encompasses several distinct attitudes, including distancing, hostility, rejection, and unconcern. Therefore, it follows that the discriminant validity of this component of burnout relative to the current conceptualisat ions of employee or work cynicism is yet to be established (Garden, 1987). The third dimension, reduced personal accomplishment, was relabelled reduced professional efficacy or ineffectiveness, depicted to include the self-assessments of low self-efficacy, lack of accomplishment, lack of productivity, and incompetence (Leiter & Maslach, 2001). According to Golembiewski and Boss (1992), each of these concepts represents well-known distinct fields of research in the behavioural sciences. The authors of the MBI should therefore clarify on which theoretical grounds these concepts should be grouped together in the same cluster of symptoms. They share rhe vi


A class of sum rules due to Fubini is rederived from a point of view which clarifies the assumptions made about the singularities of field operators. A calculation of the isovector magnetic moment is performed in the isobar approximation. The result $F_{1}^{}{}_{}{}^{V}(0)=\frac{1}{2}$ emerges as a model-independent consistency condition, but the calculated value $F_{2}^{}{}_{}{}^{V}(0)=3.64$ is in disagreement with the experimental value.


Test results of the linear and temperature features for 4N series opt-coupler were reported. Using this common opt-coupler, a linear and optical isolated voltage transmitter with temperature compensation was designed.


Thousands of patients' lives could be saved every year by employing more nurses with degrees, according to an eminent nurse academic involved in international research into possible links between nurse education and mortality rates.


Results are presented of a comparison between two palladium films of different thicknesses used as the sensing element
in a transmission based optical fiber hydrogen sensor. The palladium films, 16nm and 26nm thick, were deposited onto
glass substrates using thermal vacuum evaporation. The absorption and desorption of hydrogen causes the optical
properties of palladium to change depending on the concentration of hydrogen gas it is exposed to. Using a
deuterium/halogen light source in conjunction with a UV/VIS spectrometer the changes in the optical transmittance in
the visible spectrum of the Pd films was monitored for different concentrations of hydrogen from 0 to 5% in a nitrogen
atmosphere. A comparison of the changes in the optical transmission intensity is presented for palladium films as they
were exposed to varying concentrations of hydrogen gas. The 26nm palladium film was capable of measuring changes in
transmission intensity of up to 46% while the range for the thinner palladium film was 20% when exposed to 5%
hydrogen concentration in nitrogen.


Currently,the research of protective clothing frequently focuses on the function development,thus cause the sacrifice of clothing comfort performance,which will affect work efficiency of the wearers.The dressed/undressed convenient test,ergonomics test and wear trials of physiological load are carried out with three kinds of thermal protective clothing which are widely applied in industry.According to the feedback from participants,the reasons for the human body flexibility limit and physiological load are figured out,which mainly are the unreasonable structure and thick materials.In order to improve the comfort of the thermal protective clothing,reduce physiological load,and improve working efficiency,the structure optimization strategy is proposed on the basis of the common procedure of functional design.Finally,relative balance between functional and comfort performance of thermal protective clothing is achieved.


Digital revolution and automation play an important role in finding new solutions to actual social issues such as aging the population and developing welfare services and the productivity of welfare services. The evolution of artificial intelligence, robotics and cognitive robots has been considered as one way to develop new services, improve the quality of their services, and increase productivity [1]. Successful interaction between humans and robots is one of the most important challenges of future technology. As in any other field of industry, digitalization is changing education and especially health care. This change is ongoing and profound as it affects every level in society. The magnitude of this change is so huge that some label it as the health care revolution. [2]. Changes in work require updating the skills. Use of technology, automation and robotics in different fields require new kind of expertise and training. New requirements in work also set demands for education to use technology [3]. Innovative use of technology, especially using robotics in real life settings during the education, is still weak. New requirements also create demands on curriculum development The purpose of this article is to find out how research project can be the context and new way to learn competences regarding service robots and concept development. The focus is on how to plan and implement a new joint course in master degree level. The content and the process present how student learn in real life situation in a context of a research project. This study is a starting point for planning and conducting Living Lab research towards achieving new competences during master degree studies at Laurea University of Applied Sciences.


This paper deals with Leibniz and his definition and problematic of theodicy as a "kind of quasi science" due to the presence of its defensive aspect, in the sense that it does not contain demonstrations of necessity. Lack of demonstration is the counterpart of freedom granted to God and the contingency of the universe, according to Leibniz. The proposition "God always chooses the best" and the proposition "our world is the best possible world" are proven by reason, founded a priori, but not demonstrable, because of they are contingent. Thus they are the object of an "infallible" but not absolute certainty.Keywords: Leibniz; theodicy; the best possible world


The final project is very important for every student in their educational program. This is a final project that requires in-depth research and thought, helping students put into practice the knowledge they learn and apply it in the form of real work. In several educational programs, the results of the final assignment can also be used as a determining factor for a student's final grade. The process of preparing the final assignment involves several stages, including determining the topic, selecting a supervisor, conducting guidance, conducting a plagiarism test, final assignment exam, and uploading the results of the assignment. end to the existing system. However, in such a long process, if it is not supported by a good system, the process of compiling the Final Project can be a troublesome thing. Therefore, there is a need for a gamification process in the existing system to improve the quality of the system and re-encourage students in doing their final assignments. Gamification uses game design and has several important components such as feature points, badges, levels, leaderboards, challenges and prizes. The gamification process can increase student involvement and the achievements given.


Two species of Radiolaria from paleomagnetically-dated Plio-Pleistocene sediments of the central equatorial Indian Ocean are described. Anthocyrtidiumjenghisi (n. sp.) has a last appearance datum at approximately 2.4 Ma, near the base of the Pterocanium prismatium Zone. The last occurrence of Anthocyrtidium michelinae is at about 1.5 Ma, near the base of the Anthocyrtidium angulare Zone. jections in the upper thorax. The upper third of the thorax, which is separated from the lower two-thirds by a sharp break in the shell contour, is sloped. The lower thorax is approx- imately cylindrical. Indentations often occur at about the center of the lower thorax and, consequently, the lowermost third of the thorax is usually more inflated than the thoracic portion above the indentations. The large subcircular to cir- cular pores are arranged longitudinally and are usually hex- agonally framed. Eight to twelve three-bladed, outwardly di- rected subterminal teeth are present. Distally from the subterminal teeth, the thoracic walls curve slightly inward and terminate at a narrow, poreless peristome which is some- times bordered by numerous short, downwardly directed ter-


Author(s): Berselli, Luigi; Cordoba, Diego; Granero-Belinchon, Rafael | Abstract: In this work we study the evolution of the free boundary between two different fluids in a porous medium where the permeability is a two dimensional step function. The medium can fill the whole plane $\mathbb{R}^2$ or a bounded strip $S=\mathbb{R}\times(-\pi/2,\pi/2)$. The system is in the stable regime if the denser fluid is below the lighter one. First, we show local existence in Sobolev spaces by means of energy method when the system is in the stable regime. Then we prove the existence of curves such that they start in the stable regime and in finite time they reach the unstable one. This change of regime (turning) was first proven in \cite{ccfgl} for the homogeneus Muskat problem with infinite depth.


Recent advances in digital twin and parallel intelligence (DTPI) enable the mapping of the physical world to a high-fidelity virtual representation and facilitate intelligent prediction and decision-making for autonomous vehicles and intelligent transportation systems. In the context of DTPI, in this study, we investigate trajectory-prediction-enabled motion planning for autonomous vehicles using deep neural networks. We first implement a motion planner using a neural network as an approximation of traditional planners. The inputs to the baseline planner include the current states of the ego and its surrounding agents and a shared map. The planner produces a five-second trajectory for the ego vehicle considering the current situation. Subsequently, we generalize the baseline to consider the historical states of the ego and its surrounding agents. Using the generalized planner, we investigate the impacts of the history horizon on planning performance. We next investigate how the future motions of the surrounding agents of the ego affect the planner and observe improvement in planning. This demonstrates that knowledge of the future trajectories of other agents is useful for planning. However, we do not have access to ground-truth future motions for inference. Finally, we investigate how the future can be approximated through prediction and how the prediction quality affects planning performance.


Global FDI recovered strongly in the past few years after a deep slump.According to the study by the Economist Intelligence Unit,following a further increase in FDI inflows in 2007,a modest and temporary decline in global FDI inflows is expected in 2008.Global FDI inflows are projected to return to steady growth in 2009-11.There are a number of reasons to be optimistic about the medium-term prospects for FDI.However,downside risks loom large in the next few years.The risk factors including national protectionism,political risk,energy shortage and uncertainty risk in financial market will have negative impact on global FDI.In 2007~2011,China will be still one of the world's largest hosts of FDI.The rise of China's economy may break the long-term monopoly by the United States in FDI.


The purpose of this thesis was to analyse the change of visual acuity of elementary School children through eye exercise. The subject of this investigation was 60 students from 3rd grade of a S elementary school in Paju. They were divided into 2 classes, experimental group(30) and control group(30). This test recomposed the exercise program designed by the researcher Park(1992) to help exercise process easily and in general. Also I made recording and video tape program of eye exercise and controlled exercise frequency and its intensity regularly, and reduced exercising hours sharply. The experimental group were trained to eye exercise twice for five minutes a day for 10 weeks. The control group were not. After exercise treatment, T-test was utilized to see the mean difference between the two groups. The mean score of experimental group was significantly higher than control group at .05. The results were as follows: Left and Right eyes of the experimental group didn't have any significance, but increased totally. Left eye of the control group was decreased to .02 and Right showed a significance difference in P<.05. Also Compared the differences between two groups, the difference of right visual acuity did have a significance at p<.05 level.


This cross-sectional study examines changes from 1992 to 2020 in the use of promotional language in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity announcements in comparison with trends reported in NIH grant applications.


As a part of school management work,archives management must be synchronous with school reform and development.In colleges and universities,the important mission of archives management is to open up archives information resources,continuously found a new situation of archives management,which is scientific,systematic and standardization,service for building the society of comparatively good living standard.


Objectives To compare the Problem-based learning (PBL) with the traditional lecture-based curricula. Methods The single best answer Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) and the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) were used to compare performance of the lecture-based curriculum with the PBL medical student groups. The reliability for the MCQs and OSCE was calculated with Kuder-Richardson formula and Cronbach's alpha, respectively. The content validity of the MCQs and OSCE were tested by the Independent Subject Experts (ISE). The Student's t-test for independent samples was used to compare the item difficulty of the MCQs and OSCE's, and the Chi-square test was used to compare the grades between the two student groups. Results The PBL students outperformed the old curriculum students in overall grades, theoretical knowledge base (tested with K2 type MCQs) and OSCE. The number of the PBL students with scores between 80-90% (grade B) was significantly (p=0.035) higher while their number with scores between 60 to 69% (grade C) was significantly p=0.001) lower than the old curriculum students. Similarly, the mean MCQ and the OSCE scores of the new curriculum students were significantly higher (p = 0.001 and p = 0.025, respectively) than the old curriculum students. Lastly, the old curriculum students found the K2-MCQs to be more (p = 0.001) difficult than the single correct answer (K1 type) MCQs while no such difference was found by the new curriculum students. Conclusions Suitably designed MCQs can be used to tap the higher cognitive knowledge base acquired in the PBL setting.


The number of women in the USA with breast implants is now estimated at over 6 million based on national surveys. This is numerically in excess of 5% of the female adult population. The majority of these women had cosmetic augmentations but 20-30% had implant based post-mastectomy breast reconstructions or correction of congenital abnormalities. In 2010, 296203 breast augmentations were performed in the USA and silicone implants were used in 60% of cases (American Society of Plastic Surgeons [ASPS], 2010). 93083 breast reconstructions were performed for congenital or postmastectomy defects. Of these 67% were performed using tissue expander and implant techniques. The significant majority of implants used in breast reconstruction were silicone (73%). Reconstructions using autologous tissue formed a small percentage of overall reconstructions (transverse rectus abdominus myocutaneous flaps (TRAM) 7%, latissimus dorsi (LD) flaps 7% and deep inferior epigastric perforator flaps (DIEP) 5%). Table 1. Breakdown of breast reconstruction procedures performed in 2010 according to procedure type and age range (ASPS, Report of the 2010 Plastic Surgery Statistics) The history of implant based breast reconstruction spans five decades when the first silicone breast implants became available. The last 20 years have seen rapid advances in expander and implant technology such that the era in which implant reconstructions aimed at simply producing the appearance of a breast mound in clothing has transitioned into the current era in which in appropriately selected patients an implant based reconstruction has the potential to resemble a natural breast in contour, projection and a well-defined inframammary crease.


Gene similarity mining through meta-paths in the heterogeneous network composed of genes-disease-phenotypes is one of the important methods in the field of gene similarity search. Since the current meta-path-based algorithms do not consider the influence of autocorrelation between disease and disease, and between phenotype and phenotype on gene similarity, the potential and implicit similar genes in the heterogeneous network cannot be fully mined. To address this issue, this paper first explores the autocorrelation expressions of diseases and phenotypes by constructing a semantic contribution graph and calculating the similarity of Gaussian kernel topology, and then by integrating the autocorrelation into the heterogeneous network, a fully linked network model with correlation weights containing autocorrelation information between diseases and phenotypes is constructed. This network is then utilized to calculate gene similarity based on the gSim-Search principle. The proposed method makes full use of autocorrelation information between diseases and phenotypes to search for potentially similar genes, and indirectly solves the problem of sparseness of heterogeneous network links. Experiments show that the proposed method improves the accuracy of prediction when calculating and ranking the similarity of the two pathogenic genes of breast cancer and obesity.


: With the ever increasing world energy demand, the dependency on fossil fuel is hampered by adverse environmental effects due to global warming created by the carbon dioxide. Majority of Kenyans rely on biomass, but its sustainability is faced with diminishing forest cover which currently stands at 1.7%. Hence, there is need to search for other alternative sources which are environmentally friendly and accessible. Presence of mango seed shells and cashew nut shells which has no economical value may be an option. Although a lot of studies have been done on the mechanical and combustion behavior of varieties of biomass, there is very little information on composite briquette produced from cashew nut shell and mango seed shells. This study focused on mechanical and combustion characteristics of cashew nut shells and mango seed shells composite briquette. Cashew nut shells and mango seed shells were collected, dried, hammer milled, carbonized in muffle furnace at 400 o C and cooled in desiccators. The carbonized fines were mixed at varying mix ratios and particle sizes and bonded with banana peels before compacting. Produced composite briquettes were dried and mechanical and combustion characteristics determined. As the particle sizes increased from 3mm to 11mm, the density, moisture, ash content reduced from 729.08kg/m3, 7.56%, 5.942% to 492.41kg/m3, 6.88%, 5.93% respectively but had no significant effect on calorific value. Durability index, compressive strength and carbon monoxide reduced significantly with increase in particle sizes which The cashew nut shells were procured from Kilifi Cashew Nut factory while mango seed shells from mango fruit processing plant at Mtwapa with moisture content being around 28%. Banana peels were obtained from the local markets and used as a binder. The mango seed shells and cashew nut shells were chosen due their availability. The materials were carbonized in a muffle furnace in the Department of Animal Science at Egerton University at a controlled temperature of 400 C  in accordance with ASTM Standard D5865-13 . Mechanical characteristics which will be determined include density, durability index and compressive strength since they affect packaging, handling, transportation, storage and usage of solid fuels. Combustion characteristics determined include calorific value, ash content and flue gas due to their importance on quality of fuels and availability of testing equipment. The equipment used in determining the above characteristics were bomb calorimeter, muffle furnace, flue gas analyzers and an improvised stove (at KEBS),oven drier, desiccators, digital weighing scale and Vanier caliper which are available Department of Animal Science while screens and hammer mill are in the department


The Medicare program's shift from volume to value continues with the finalization of the regulation setting inpatient payment rates for fiscal year (FY) 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on July 31.

The annual update to Medicare's inpatient prospective payment


This paper explores of the necessity and importance of to cultivate the healthy personality of undergraduates,with specific approaches and methods.


With the help of broadband RF amplifiers it is shown that the nonlinear signal distortions are major influenced by the frequency dependencies of the circuit. Even parasitic elements (stray capacities, stray inductances, etc.) as well as frequency dependencies outside of the operational frequency band (inverse d. c. feedback, for instance) are engaged in this behaviour. On this account the complete nonlinear effects of frequency dependent circuits no longer can be expressed only with distortion factor measurements. Compensation effects of nonlinearities become narrow band, and AM-PM conversion can arise in the case of modulation distortions. Für die Dokumenta t ion : Nichtlineare Verzerrung / Kreuzmodulation / Intermodulation / AM-PM-Konversion/VolterraReihe/Transistorverstärker


Although not explicitly managed for conservation, urban cemeteries may provide a reserve of dead and dying trees for cavity-nesting birds. However, the ability of urban cemeteries to support these birds on current landscapes is largely unknown. We surveyed cavity-nesting birds and their habitat in 18 cemeteries in Chicago, Illinois (USA). At each location, we examined vegetation, availability of gravestones and monuments for perches, and landscape-level environmental conditions. We tested the importance of these variables for presence of individual bird species, and for overall richness of native cavity-nesting birds. We also assessed the availability and characteristics of tree cavities and their distribution among different tree species. We found that most cemeteries contained at least one dead or dying tree. Across all sampled areas, we detected 207 naturally-occurring and 77 excavated tree cavities. Tree species generally supported cavities in proportion to their abundance. We observed 12 native and two non-native cavity-nesting bird species in the cemeteries. Cavity-nesting bird species richness was best explained by landscape-level variables such as canopy cover and distance to water, but local-level variables (e.g., number of graves in a 50 m radius) influenced habitat selection for some species. Based on our results, we make suggestions for how both existing cemeteries and new "green" cemeteries can support biodiversity conservation.


The paper discusses the economic analysis of modern rich economies. It argues that standard economic theory acknowledges that it does not apply if there is own‐consumption and/or joint production and suggests that successful economic reforms of the 1980s have used markets to drive down costs in sectors where standard economic theory applies. This process has resulted in a situation where rich country economies are increasingly oriented to sectors – predominantly services – where markets work less well, namely those with extensive own‐consumption and joint production, where theory says that factor rewards and other prices cannot be determined by production and consumption conditions. Arguing that this can explain the "wages squeeze," the paper concludes that other economic mechanisms should and have arisen to secure better welfare gains, thus explaining the recent shift in policy priorities of the ACTU.


The Ancient Greek art has been changed depending on economic, political, social and cultural changes. Revival on economy gave rise to development on art of Ancient Atina in Classical period so successful artworks were created. What was the secret of catching this success? What was the sense of Greek aesthetics? How were love and lust figured? With the change in Greek Art, description of Aphrodite, a divinity of love and desires, also chandged. Descriptions of Aphrodite are the reflections of ideal woman in fantasy world of ancient Greek men. Aphrodite description has symbolised the notions of elegancy, sexuality, and passion. It has been realized that the attitude towards women in Greek society has affected the description of Goddess. To be able to analyse these description one should understand both the values of the society to which the artist belongs and inner World of the artist. Thus, It is possible to understand how the body size, proportion, harmony of the ideal woman is formed from the point of view of the artist and his sense of beauty and aesthetics in the light of Aphrodite descriptions.


Poland is the European leader in the construction of medium-sized yachts. Almost 100% built in Poland yacht is made of fiberglass. Until recently, it was the lack of professional designer and builder of yachts. For this reason, we prepared engineering studies for the construction of yachts. As a part of the studies the yachts building technology laboratory are held. The article presents the technology of building yachts and laboratory exercises in which students learn the technology and the skills to build wooden boats and fiberglass. During the laboratory the attention is paid to health and safety that apply to the production plant and to the organization, management and quality control during construction.


ABSTRACT The focus of this paper is bodily-material dynamics of urban trauma in ruins of Miners' Welfare institutions in the Nottinghamshire coalfield, UK. Emergent geographical work on urban trauma has explored how attritional 'slow' violence enacts in space and time, emphasising the complexities of spatiotemporal processes of collective trauma. Processual theorisations in urban trauma literature are prefigured by those in recent ruins research where there is a retheorisation from ruin as object to ruins contingent of spatiotemporal processes of ruination. Bringing recent literatures on urban trauma into closer dialogue with ruins research, this paper makes a methodological contribution to bodily-material dynamics of urban trauma in spaces of ruination. Contributing to theoretical and empirical debates on industrial ruins and ruination, I advance two interrelated methodological positions: archival research and critically reflexive embodied ethnographies. Following a tracing of their development, I situate Miners' Welfares within theorisations of urban trauma and ruin(ation) before proposing a pluralistic and processual methodological framework. The utility of this framework is then enhanced by an empirical section arguing that bodily-material dynamics suggest moments of 'fast violence' imbricate the slow violence of ruination to constitute how urban trauma is textured into, and evoked by, the decline of Miners' Welfares.


The purpose of this study is to examine The Psychological Skills of "PROAKTIF"-R Guidance and Counselling Model to Improve The Regulation of emotion in The Teachers of Elementary School Teachers. The hypothesis of this study is there is a The Psychological Skills of "PROAKTIF"-R Guidance and Counselling Model effectively improving emotion regulation of elementary school teachers. There is also a significant difference in the emotional regulation score between experimental and control groups. Emotion regulation of elementary school teachers should influence how teachers express positive emotions, manage stress, and interact with others. The subjects of this study were 32 Muhammadiyah elementary school teachers in Sleman. The design of this experiment was untreated pretest-posttest control group design. A measure of emotional regulation was developed by using aspects from thompson's emotion regulation indicators (1994). The training module was modifying module The "PROAKTIF" model of psychological skill from Atamimi (2011). Data were analysed using anava mix design. The result of this study shows that The Psychological Skills of "PROAKTIF"-R Guidance and Counselling Model improving emotion regulation. There is a difference in emotion regulation score between experimental and control groups (F = 12.171, P<0.05). The results of this study confirmed the hypothesis.


Throughout its history the European integration process has not undermined but rather strengthened the autonomy of member states vis‐a‐vis wider societal interests in relation to political economy, labour markets and social provisions. Both the 'golden age nation state' of the 1960s as well as the considerable transformations of member state political economies over the past decades, and especially after the euro‐crisis, was to a considerable degree orchestrated through transnational, most notably European, arrangements. In both cases the primary objective has been to strengthen state capacities of public power and law against the encroachment of private interests into the state. In spite of this continuity, considerable changes can be observed in the substantial economic policies advanced due to the switch from a Keynesian to a monetarist economic paradigm. It is suggested that the debate on constitutional imbalances between the EU's economic and social constitutions should be seen in this light.


This study aims to determine whether the board of commissioners' effectiveness weakens the relationship between diversification strategy and firm performance. The theory used in this research is agency theory. Population in this research is all go public companies listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange during 2011 until 2015. Determination of sample is done by purposive sampling method and the amount of sample is 30 firms. Data analysis technique used in this research is moderated regression analysis (MRA). The result of this research is board of commissioners' effectiveness can not weaken the relationship between diversification strategy and firm performance.


Inability to find answers to clinical questions is a major obstacle to obtaining just-in-time information during patient encounters. We have introduced a new model for describing the content of documents in domain-specific collections, using document classes and semantic components, that may supplement existing indexing and searching techniques and improve information retrieval. In this paper we describe the model and present the results of our investigations into using the model to represent clinical questions in the medical domain. We manually mapped generic questions from a clinical question taxonomy to two web-based document collections using the document classes and semantic components we identified for each collection. We successfully mapped 36 of 50 question categories in one resource, and 34 of 50 in the other. Based on the frequency of the question types in the taxonomy, over 92% of questions were covered by the mappings in both resources. We conclude that our model is capable of usefully representing information needs and we propose ways to use the model for retrieval.


Background: Most patients with breast cancer experience some psychosocial distress. These increased levels of distress increase the risk of depression and anxiety with subsequent adverse effect on compliance to cancer treatment. In patients with breast cancer, childhood trauma is associated with higher levels of fatigue, stress and psychological distress and has a significant impact on patients' reaction and adjustment to cancer diagnosis. Objective: The aim of this study was to detect psychiatric comorbidity and impact of childhood trauma in patients with breast cancer and study their relations with tumor grading and histopathological characteristics. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 150 patients diagnosed with breast cancer. Participants were females aged 18 years or older. Patients with history of another cancer, comorbid serious medical condition, in their investigation phase of cancer diagnosis or those who refused to participate in the study were excluded. The tools applied to participants were the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Results: 113 patients (75.3%) had psychiatric comorbidity; somatization was the most common psychiatric comorbidity (58.7%) followed by depression (40.7%). Patients reported severe to extreme childhood trauma in domains of physical neglect (28%), physical abuse (22.7%), emotional neglect (7.3%), emotional abuse (18%) and sexual abuse (2%). Patients with psychiatric comorbidity had more grade III and IV in tumor grading. Patients with grade IV breast cancer had more severe psychiatric symptoms. Conclusions: Psychiatric comorbidity and childhood trauma are common in patients with breast cancer. Patients with psychiatric comorbidity have more grades III and IV tumor grading. Patients with grade IV breast cancer have more severe psychiatric symptoms.


Some useful flow regime data are obtained from the experiments using the flight producing hyper-gravity (2g) conditions and on ground (1g) with the identical flow conditions. The flow regime data obtained at 1g and 2g conditions are compared with new dimensionless flow regime map using Fr, Bo and We number related with gravity, surface tension and inertia force.


Athletes are particularly susceptible to medial or lateral collateral ligament injuries of the knee while playing sports. Sports are responsible for nearly half of all collateral ligament injuries, many of which are mild to moderate in severity. Frequently, the collateral ligaments are injured in association with other ligaments of the knee, necessitating surgical intervention and other measures to treat these injuries and restore full range of motion and function in the knee. In this review, we first discuss the stabilizing and supportive role of the collateral ligament and address why it is particularly susceptible to injuries in a sports setting. We then address the types of sports most frequently associated with damage to these ligaments, and note the role of gender and contact versus noncontact sports in the varying incidence rates of sports-related injuries observed in the literature. While conservative measures are typically used to treat collateral ligament injuries, more severe cases (particularly injuries that involve multiple ligaments) do require surgical intervention, with outcomes depending on the affected structures. We conclude by discussing a number of preventive strategies that can be employed to protect these ligaments – and the knee – from new or recurrent damage, with the hope that these preventive measures will be incorporated into future practice. Ultimately, athletes and clinicians should be informed on how to prevent debilitating injuries to preserve athletic performance and enhance or maintain an athlete's current quality of life.


The distribution pattern characteristics of different stand structures in herbage-Larix forest and Ledum-Larix forest were analyzed by sample plots surveying.The study indicated:(1)In the 36~65 years old herbage-Larix forest and 54~63 years old Ledum-Larix forest distribution pattern,the proportions of even distribution,random distribution and clustered distribution were 6.3%,50% and 43.8%.(2)From a view of forest types,in herbage-Larix forest distribution pattern,both the clustered distribution and regular distribution were 11.1%,the random distribution was 77.8%,while Ledum-Larix forest distribution pattern was all followed regular distribution.(3)In herbage-Larix forest and Ledum-Larix forest with composition of 6 Larix and 4 broadleaf species to 10 Larix and no broadleaf species,the distribution pattern was mostly clustered distribution and random distribution.Cluster distribution was mainly concentrated in the composition of Larix(70%)and broadleaf species(30%)to Larix(90%)and broadleaf species(10%).


GEBAUDEREINIGUNG INSTALLATION ROOFS SHELTERS AND PERGOLAS. Our company offers cleaning services. Domocare cleaning services. All kind of cleaning services and cleaning buildings.


We review stochastic descriptions of the dynamics of colloidal particles, suspended in a liquid, which interact both directly and hydrodynamically. The equivalence of approaches based on Smoluchowski and Langevin equations is established. Particular attention is paid to the Ito and Stratonovich interpretations of stochastic differential equations with multiplicative noise. The short time behaviour of the correlation between two functions of particle position is discussed in some detail and compared with that found for a simple liquid. Finally the non-gaussian statistical properties of particle displacement are considered in the presence and absence of hydrodynamic interactions.


Turbulence eeects in narrow-angle astrometry from Scidar measurements at Pic du Midi. Abstract. From Scidar measurements performed at Pic du Midi, we estimate turbulence eeects in diierential astrometry. The outer scale of turbulence at altitude is a quite signiicant parameter of the model. We show how it could be estimated through single dish measurements of Angle-of-Arrival uctuations between stars. In our simulation, the same turbulence layer is shown to have dominant eeects with three investigation techniques: Scidar, diierential Angle-of-Arrival with single dish, diierential piston with long-baseline interferometry.


Composite films with an array of needle-like TiO 2 particles in urethane resin matrix were fabricated by applying a 1 kHz AC bias with a square wave. In the resulting film, needle-like TiO 2 particles were arrayed in the composite films in a direction normal to the film surface. The composite films showed angular dependence of transmittance in the visible-NIR range. For the composite film with arrayed 0.1 vol% TiO 2 needle-like particles, the transmittance changed by 16.6% between 0° and 60° at a wavelength of 500 nm.


The eastern Chongming tidal flat is one of the main tidal flats of the Yangtze River estuary.Supported by Mapinfo7.0,3 pieces of the Yangtze Estuary from 1983 to 2003 are digitized and so that the area,the thickness of erosion-accretion and bathymetric contour progradation rate are calculated.Based on measured and collected data of topography from 1983 to 2003,sediment and hydrodynamics,the analysis of this area can give us some conclusions: 1During 1983 to 2001 the eastern Chongming tidal flat deposited and extended considerably,and the area of the tidal flat above 3.5m had increased from 33.6km2 to 98.8km2.2 An increase of the tidal flat above 0m in area was 4.2km2,but there was a decrease of 0.8km2 in area of the tidal flat above 2.0m and a decline in the average annual deposition rate of the tidal flat above 3.0m.3 Human's activities have an important effect on the development of the eastern Chongming tidal flat.


In the paperwork, a review of programs used to model communication networks has been made. The review is divided into three major groups: programs for modeling of IP-based networks, programs for modeling of any telecommunication networks and programs for modeling of cloud infrastructures. For each of the groups one program is proposed, indicating why it is selected. The chosen programs are: GNS3 (IP network simulator), Riverbed Modeler academic edition (Telecommunication network simulator) and GreenCloud. With each of the proposed programs, simulation models of communication networks have been developed. Some of the results and capabilities of each of the programs are shown.


Thebacteriological composition andultrastructure ofmesophilic granular methanogenic sludge froma large-scale Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket reactor treating wastewater fromasugarplant andofsludge granules adapted toethanol andpropionate werestudied bycounting different bacterial groups andby immunocytochemical methods. Propionate-grown granular sludge consisted oftwotypes ofclusters, those ofa rod-shaped bacterium immunologically related toMethanothrix soehngenii andthose consisting oftwodifferent types ofbacteria withaspecific spatial orientation. Oneofthese bacteria reacted withantiserum against Methanobrevibacter arboriphilus AZ,whereas theotherismostlikely a propionate-oxidizing bacterium immunologically unrelated toSyntrophobacter wolinii. Sludge granules obtained fromthelarge-scale Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket reactor andgranules cultivated onethanol didnotshowthetypical spatial orientation ofbacteria. Examination ofthebacterial composition ofthethree types ofgranules bylight and electron microscopy, themost-probable-number


A polymer complex with formula of [Fe(pic)3][LiCr(ox)3] (pic = picolinic acid, ox = oxalate) has been prepared from the direct reaction of solution of picolinic iron(II) tetrafluoroborate an tris(oxalate) lithium crhomate(III) under nitrogen atmosphere. Characterization of the complex was made by microanalyses, FTIRspectroscopy, x-ray diffraction and magnetometer. The polymer structure of the complex has been determined and refined using Le Bail method, it crystalizes in a cubic structure with space group of P213, a=15,2840(18) and Z=4. The magnetic properties of the complex has been studied in the temperature range between 5 to 300 K. The effective moment are dominated by ion iron(II) an the high spin state.


Improving the cyclic CO2 uptake stability of CaO-based solid sorbents can provide a means to lower CO2 capture costs. Here, we develop nanostructured yolk(CaO)–shell(ZrO2) sorbents with a high cyclic CO2 uptake stability which outperform benchmark CaO nanoparticles after 20 cycles (0.17 gCO2 gSorbent−1) by more than 250% (0.61 gCO2 gSorbent−1), even under harsh calcination conditions (i.e. 80 vol% CO2 at 900 °C). By comparing the yolk–shell sorbents to core–shell sorbents, i.e. structures with an intimate contact between the stabilizing phase and CaO, we are able to identify the main mechanisms behind the stabilization of the CO2 uptake. While a yolk–shell architecture stabilizes the morphology of single CaO nanoparticles over repeated cycling and minimizes the contact between the yolk and shell materials, core–shell architectures lead to the formation of a thick CaZrO3-shell around CaO particles, which limits CO2 transport to unreacted CaO. Hence, yolk–shell architectures effectively delay CaZrO3 formation which in turn increases the theoretically possible CO2 uptake since CaZrO3 is CO2-capture-inert. In addition, we observe that yolk–shell architectures also improved the carbonation kinetics in both the kinetic- and diffusion-controlled regimes leading to a significantly higher cyclic CO2 uptake for yolk–shell-type sorbents.


EXTENDED ABSTRACT If one subscribes to the social constructivist view that "games" is a social construct not a natural kind (Montola, 2011), this opens the basic knowledge sociological question how people shape, change, contest, negotiate, and reproduce said construct (Maassen, 2005). Contributing to this line of questioning, the present paper asks how games express and shape social norms about what counts as "real" games (Consalvo and Paul, 2013). To this end, it follows the curious history of so-called "idle" or "incremental games," which reduce gameplay to a single repetitive interaction or even automate gameplay, making player input optional. As such, idle games break with conventions and expectations regarding games (Purkiss and Khaliq, 2015), making them an ideal case to observe the (re)negotiation of this construct. Analyzing idle games and surrounding designer and player discourses through the theoretical lenses of "game aesthetics" (Bateman, 2015) and "boundary work" (Gieryn, 1983), this paper explores how different social actors intentionally or unintentionally partake in working the boundaries of "real" games.


Catering to the maintenance and management situation of large instruments and equipments in our laboratory center of School of Chemistry and Environment of South China Normal University,this paper analyzes the main problem s of the maintenance and management of large instruments and equipments and discusses how to exert the action and benefit of the apparatuses. The article also puts forward ideas and measurements related to the maintenance and management of the large devices and tries to find out a new way to reinforce the maintenance management of the instruments and equipments.


Patients with schizophrenia suffer from substantial cognitive deficits, notably in the realm of memory functioning ([1][1]), which warrants considerable research efforts aimed at developing pharmacological treatment strategies. S. A. Castner, G. V. Williams, and P. S. Goldman-Rakic describe in their


This case study examines whether an academic listserv functions primarily as a medium for progressive discourse in which enacted power relations are collaborative or primarily as a medium for discourse in which norms are unilaterally established and off‐line hierarchical power relations are re‐enacted. A few instances of progressive norm setting and other indicators of collaborative power relations were found. However, findings overall suggest that the hierarchical power relations of the college context were re‐enacted in the listserv as revealed by the manner in which the discourse was patterned by gender, rank, and role.


No recording ever captures the experience of a live performance. The same is true about education. Feedback we have received, regarding online education, has been that remote attendees miss access to resources and the live interaction with their instructor and classmates. Through the layering of multiple commercial services, we are able to bring some of the campus experiences to online students.


The article deals with the possibility of using feed additives in the feeding of broiler chickens and the peculiarities of their effect on the poultry organism. Contemporary data on the biological role of nutrients and energy in the feeding of broiler chickens are presented. The characteristics of the main feeds for poultry and the ways of reducing their prime cost in the conditions of broiler farms are given. The basic principles of effective feeding of poultry with forages of different content of metabolic energy and crude protein are considered, taking into account their assimilation in the body. Provided compound feed recipes and practical tips. It is established that high growth rate of broiler chickens in the start and groove periods (5–39 days) is provided by high-protein compound feeds – 23% (1–2 weeks), 21% (3–5 weeks) and exchange energy of 298 kcal and 305 kcal, respectively. With further cultivation in the finish forage the protein content in the forage decreases and the level of metabolic energy increases (up to 309 kcal). However, for each cross applies its own technology of cultivation and different rates of nutrients in raw materials. It is clear that effective breeding of broiler chickens is not possible without the proper rationing and use of protein and feed energy. Of course, provided that the supply of biologically active substances also corresponds to the normalized amount. Thus, the quality of poultry products is directly dependent on the quality of feed and the efficiency of transformation of feed energy into products.


We present a novel 3D-to-2D registration method called CLARET (Correction via Limited-Angle Residues in External Beam Therapy) that has potential application to rapid and accurate image-guided radiotherapy in lung with low-dose imaging. CLARET contains three components: shape modeling, machine learning of regression matrices, and treatment application. It models the patient's breathing space from the patient's treatment planning Respiratory-Correlated CTs (RCCTs) through an Large Deformation Diffeomorphic Metric Mapping (LDDMM) / Principal Component Analysis (PCA) framework. The eigenmode weights form the 3D shape parameters. Second, it performs multi-scale linear regressions between selected 3D shape parameters and covariates defined by intensity residues in the 2D projection space. At treatment time, CLARET computes a patient's lung deformations by iteratively applying the learned regression matrices on the normalized intensity residues between the treatment-time imaging radiographs and corresponding projections of the current estimated CT. Both our synthetic and clinical test results show that CLARET can provide fast and accurate treatment-time 3D shape deformation corrections using a single radiograph for ImageGuided Radiation Therapy (IGRT).


The invention relates to a method and device for determining the shielding condition of a camera head. The method comprises the following steps of: acquiring a color image shot by a camera; removing small tiny black regions in the color image to obtain a grey-scale closed image; calculating the grey-scale closed image to obtain a suspicious shielding region; filtering an interference region of the suspicious shielding region to obtain an actual shielding region; calculating the outline region acuity of the actual shielding region; calculating the outline region acuity to obtain a shielding evaluation value; and determining that the camera head of the camera is shielded if the shielding evaluation value is judged to be larger than a preset shielding threshold value. The invention aims to solve the technical problem of monitoring failure caused by the shielded camera head.


Nowadays model based techniques play very important role in solving measurement and control problems. Recently for representing nonlinear systems fuzzy models became very popular. For evaluating measurement data and for controller design also the inverse models are of considerable interest. In this paper a technique to perform fuzzy model inversion is introduced. The method is based on solving a nonlinear equation derived from the multiple-input single-output (MISO) forward fuzzy model simple by interchanging the role of the output and one of the inputs. The utilization of the inverse model can be either a direct compensation of some measurement nonlinearities or a controller mechanism for nonlinear plants. For discrete-time inputs the proposed technique provides good performance if the iterative inversion is fast enough compared to system variations, i.e. the iteration is convergent within the sampling period applied. The proposed method can be considered also as a simple nonlinear state observer, which reconstructs the selected input of the forward fuzzy model from its output using an appropriate strategy and a copy of the fuzzy model itself. It is also shown that using this observer concept completely inverted models can also be derived.


Introduction: Werdnig-Hoffmann disease or spinal atrophy type I is part of the spinal muscular atrophies and the most serious of the three clinical forms in existence. It is an autosomal recessive hereditary condition, with no treatment, progressive in nature and usually culminates with the death of the patient between the first and second year of life. Objective: To describe the behavior of the anatomically difficult airway identified in a patient with Werdnig-Hoffmann disease operated for right renal lithiasis. Clinical case: Male patient at age 39, higher education level, with a diagnosis of obstructive lithiasis in the right kidney, proposed to be performed a percutaneous nephrolithotomy. The exams in the anesthesia consultation provided diagnosis of an anatomically difficult airway. Despite having the cooperation of the patient, trained personnel, necessary equipment and proceeding according to the algorithms recommended in the literature, a surgical approach was needed to perform the operation. The proposed surgical procedure was carried out without complications and the patient left the operating room awake and conscious. Conclusion: In case that another surgical intervention is required, it would be necessary to initiate intubation by optical fibroscopy in order to avoid edema of the respiratory tract. In case a safe airway is not obtained by this method, the patient would need a surgical airway.


have been clearer if instead of the second 'they' we would have had 'these' or 'the latter'. In section 9, I really see no need to delete non (l. 13), and I μnd it very hard to believe that from section 11 Galen is rehearsing his opponents' view, leaving his own view until VIII 98 (for what about IV 34 ¶. and IV 46?); and hoc in II 11 (l. 17) refers to the opponents' line of reasoning set out in sections 9-10. Whether this is 'desperately question-begging' (H., p. 162) of Galen is a matter of opinion, but it makes much more sense in my view. On p. 145, there is no translation of iubet et (p. 144 l. 7), and rationem (ibid., l. 10) surely means 'method of treatment' rather than 'argument'. On pp. 144–8, the line numbers in the critical apparatus do not correspond with the Latin text. On p. 156, some discussion of occasio (the standard rendering of α2υ α in medieval Latin translations of Galen's De sectis) would have been desirable. There is an odd slip of the pen on p. 268 ('Diocles of Carystus in Sicily', a relic of Wellmann's sikelische Schule?). It is irritating that in the bibliography no page references are given for articles and chapters in books. In the index locorum Soranus' Gynaecia is confusingly referred to with two di¶erent systems (and the reference to Xenophon's Mem. is to Book 3, not 33).


Review : The author proves Bailey's transformation formula for
2Ψ2=∑n=−∞∞(a)n(b)n(c)n(d)nzn
and uses it to derive three eta-function identities, of which
η3(3τ)η(τ)=q−2/3(q2−1)∑n=−∞∞q2n(1−q3n+1)(1−q3n−1)
is representative. The author also uses it to derive the known formulas for the number of representations of an integer as the sum of two, three, or four squares as well as the number of representations of the form x2+2y2 and x2+3y2.


Nifedipine-induced gingival overgrowth (NIGO) is an abnormal growth of the gingival tissues in response to an adverse drug reaction in some patients treated for hypertension. The prevalence of gingival overgrowth associated with calcium channel blockers has been reported to be 15 85% with an average composite of around 42%, in patients taking nifedipine.


The capabilities of Kestrel, a fixed-wing aircraft multiphysics simulation tool, were investigated by validation against a generic store release trajectory dataset. The release of the store was modelled using the overset capability within Kestrel using both unstructured and Cartesian background meshes. Kestrel generally produced results in agreement with the experimental data, with the Cartesian mesh showing slight improved agreement. Overall the angular displacements of the store were found to be more sensitive to the simulation setup, than the linear displacements.


Background:Previous studies suggest that sensory information is "received" but not "perceived" under general anesthesia. Whether and to what extent the brain continues to process sensory inputs in a drug-induced unconscious state remain unclear. Methods:One hundred seven rats were randomly assigned to 12 different anesthesia and odor exposure paradigms. The immunoreactivities of the immediate early gene products c-Fos and Egr1 as neural activity markers were combined with behavioral tests to assess the integrity and relationship of cellular and behavioral responsiveness to olfactory stimuli under a surgical plane of ketamine–xylazine general anesthesia. Results:The olfactory sensory processing centers could distinguish the presence or absence of experimental odorants even when animals were fully anesthetized. In the anesthetized state, the c-Fos immunoreactivity in the higher olfactory cortices revealed a difference between novel and familiar odorants similar to that seen in the awake state, suggesting that the anesthetized brain functions beyond simply receiving external stimulation. Reexposing animals to odorants previously experienced only under anesthesia resulted in c-Fos immunoreactivity, which was similar to that elicited by familiar odorants, indicating that previous registration had occurred in the anesthetized brain. Despite the "cellular memory," however, odor discrimination and forced-choice odor-recognition tests showed absence of behavioral recall of the registered sensations, except for a longer latency in odor recognition tests. Conclusions:Histologically distinguishable registration of sensory processing continues to occur at the cellular level under ketamine–xylazine general anesthesia despite the absence of behavioral recognition, consistent with the notion that general anesthesia causes disintegration of information processing without completely blocking cellular communications.


Mr. SYDNEY SCOTT asked if any of those present had had the opportunity of histologically examining the auditory nerve or the cochlea or the vestibule in cases such as those under discussion, and if so, what changes had been demonstrated. The PRESIDENT (Dr. McBride) said that syphilitic deafness was a very interesting subject, and he agreed that it would be well to have a discussion thereon. He was surprised at the view that syphilitic deafness was believed to be so rare. He thought he had seen a good deal of it. Excluding the hereditary specific deafness associated with keratitis in children, there were many cases associated more distinctly with tertiary than with secondary syphilis. He believed the accepted view,.advanced by Gruber, was that there was a small-celled infiltration of the labyrinth. There might be various forms of syphilitic deafness. First there was sudden nerve deafness, which he divided into two forms: one in which the cochlea appeared to be alone affected and which was called by Roosa syphilitic cochlitis. Another form was that in which there was not only deafness and tinnitus but also giddiness, seeming to show that both the vestibules and the cochlea were affected. Yet another variety was well illustrated by the following case: A man with a syphilitic history suddenly had a cold bath and turned deaf, without giddiness and with bone conduction retained. He had not seen any such cases of recent years, and therefore had not been able to test them with tones of different pitch. But he had in all seen a fair number of instances. The only cases he remembered in which anything approaching a definite cure resulted were one or two which were submitted to pilocarpin treatment, and one which had Aix treatment. Mr. LAKE, in reply, said he thought many of the remarks were not for him to deal with. The middle ear had not been inflated. Seven months elapsed from the primary infection to the patient's coming to hospital; deafness occurred five months after treatment was commenced, and that was five months after the syphilitic infection. He could not verify the latter. The patient had had a considerable quantity of mercury. Pilocarpin had not been used. His wish had been to know what variety of toxic infection those present might consider it to be.


Polarimetric Thomson scattering (TS) is a technique for the analysis of TS spectra in which the electron temperature Te is determined from the depolarization of the scattered radiation, a relativistic effect noticeable only in very hot (Te ⩾ 10 keV) fusion plasmas. It has been proposed as a complementary technique to supplement the conventional spectral analysis in the ITER CPTS (Core Plasma Thomson Scattering) system for measurements in high Te, low ne plasma conditions. In this paper we review the characteristics of the depolarized TS radiation with special emphasis to the conditions of the ITER CPTS system and we describe a possible implementation of this diagnostic method suitable to significantly improve the performances of the conventional TS spectral analysis in the high Te range.


In the application science fields, many precursory theoretical researches usually view the atomic nucleus as a point charge to derive some physical properties. The results are usually very near to the experiment values. It proves that viewing the atomic nucleus as a point charge is a convenient and available method. This viewpoint has been adopted by scientists and made many applications, especially on the semiconductor field. In the paper, the availability of this viewpoint will be checked by a purely theoretical method. The reason why we can adopt this viewpoint will be discussed. The restriction of this view point will be discussed at last. Because there is only one electron which orbits the n-type dopantion, the 1s ground state energy level of the hydrogen-like ion system would be the only object checked in this paper. The 1s ground state energy level is the most important physical parameter so that checking its value is nearly equal to checking the availability of viewing the nucleus as a point charge. The importance and practicability of this paper is it can be used to examine the degree of the error for adopting this viewpoint. The contributions of this paper are: (a) Providing a theoretical basis for current material sciences which adopted such a viewpoint. (b) Forecasting the unavailability of this viewpoint in some high energy physics cases so that the expensive budget for the relevant experiments may be transferred to other uses. The tools used in the paper contain the probability function and disturbance theory in wave mechanics.


Technical skill is mastery of complexity while creativity is mastery of simplicity. The goal of this text is to teach you how to design a processor from scratch. In a step-by-step process, we will teach you how to specify, design, and test a processor as an example of a complex digital system. We will use the commercially important Verilog hardware description language (HDL) as the basis for this design process. In particular, we will develop the VeSPA (Very Small Processor Architecture) processor as a vehicle for demonstrating the overall design process. We show how the instruction set for this processor is defined, how to build an assembler for the processor, how to develop a behavioral simulator in Verilog to test the instruction set and the assembler, and how to develop a complete Verilog structural model of a pipelined implementation of the processor. We also describe the synthesis process for automatically translating this structural model into a real piece of silicon hardware. We end by demonstrating several techniques that can be used to verify the correctness of the processor design. The development of any type of digital computing system is fundamentally a problem of controlling complexity. The designer of a large-scale digital system, such as a processor, begins with a high-level idea of what tasks the system is to perform. To realize this system in some physical technology, such as a collection of VLSI (Very Large-Scale Integrated circuit) silicon chips, the designer must determine how millions of individual transistors should be interconnected to perform the desired operations. The need to translate from a high-level conceptual view of the system to a specification of the complex interconnections among a virtual sea of transistors is referred to as the designer's abstraction gap, as suggested in Figure 1.1. To bridge this gap between system concept and physical realization, we can use the hierarchical design flow process shown in Figure 1.2. The instruction set architecture


A new method is proposed to calculate the reactivity ratios based on the polynomial approximation of unreacted monomers during the reaction period. From the published data of Meyer the reactivity ratios were recalculated in reasonable agreement with the original author.


The vision of Electronic Government is one where government, business and citizens work together for the benefit of the nation. The implementation of e-government provides a golden opportunity to the public sector to upgrade the quality of civil service delivery. Processes involving the daily lives of citizens will be transacted electronically. Governmentbusiness transactions will undergo efficient changes through the use of information technology and the Internet. This research paper will shed light on current efforts that the Lebanese government has engaged in to implement e-government practices. Moreover, a descriptive analysis is carried out to assess current projects and future opportunities. 1. Overview Prior to the 1975 civil war, Lebanon had one of the most developed economies in the region, dominated by a large services sector, a growing industrial sector, and a small agricultural sector. Beirut, the capital, became the banking and financial center of the Middle East, and the oil boom of 1973 provided the economy with an additional boost, as Arab capital inflows grew and remittances from Lebanese working the Gulf States increased sharply. The ensuing civil war and Israeli invasions brought an end to this economic heyday. In the period between 1975 and 1990, Lebanon's economic life was defined by the civil war and the Israeli invasion in 1978 and 1982. The services sector interests were relocated overseas, and the industrial and agricultural infrastructure was devastated. The degree of destruction caused by the internal rifts made the intervention of the state in economic matters necessary. Lebanon had to make up for the war devastation that was estimated at 25 billion dollars. The public sector contribution to Lebanon's GDP before 1975 was only 12 percent, but by 1999 public expenditure accounted for more than forty percent of the GDP (Audi, 2000). In the wake of a devastating 16-year civil war, which ended in 1990, Lebanon had to establish domestic political stability, to rebuild the country's infrastructure and to restore European Conference on e-Government, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, September 27-28, 2001 2 basic public services. From 1992 to 1998, different Governments broadly succeeded in these respects. However, achievements were accompanied by the creation of large macroeconomic imbalances. The weakening of domestic demand in large part due to the near-completion of the massive reconstruction of the country's infrastructure, the tight monetary policy, and the constant unsettled political situation in the region have led to a slowdown in economic growth since 1998. As a result, the budget fiscal position and the public debt situation have deteriorated further. The 1998 Government has consequently shifted the policy focus from reconstruction to an urgent concern with macroeconomic imbalances. Final consolidation became the cornerstone of economic policy. The Government adopted a five-year reform program in September 1999 to achieve the following objectives by 2003 (Audi 2000): (i). A gradual return to growth to 5% by the end of the plan period, (ii). The reduction of fiscal deficit to 4.5% of GDP – from 14.5% of GDP in 1999 – in order to stabilize the public sector debt as proportion of GDP at 95% and reduce domestic interest rates, (iii). The maintenance of monetary and currency stability, and (iv). The acceleration of structural reforms. Despite efforts at implementing its medium-term reform program, the 1998's Government did not succeed neither in meeting 1999 targets nor the 2000. Lebanon is currently facing its worst economic conditions since the civil war ended in 1990. Real GDP growth rate is around zero. Public debt exceeds 140% of GDP and the budget deficit exceeds 11% of GDP (Lebanese Ministry of Finance, 2001 and Hobeika, 1999). Following September legislative elections in 2000, a new government was elected and headed by the opposition leader and former Prime Minister and his allies, however, it faced the same challenges as the previous one. The short-term outlook for the Lebanese economy could be positive. However, the new Government, that took office in November, will need to take a quick action in implementing the required fiscal adjustment and structural reforms, particularly to halt the snowball effect European Conference on e-Government, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, September 27-28, 2001 3 of the public debt. The medium-term outlook depends heavily on the developments on the peace settlement in the Middle East, from which Lebanon would benefit greatly. 2. Political Developments Lebanon still faces the daunting task of unifying a land divided along multiple regional and religious fault lines. It has more than 30 political parties, 12 of which are represented in the national Assembly. However, the majority of parliamentarians are independent representatives, often elected along sectarian lines. Following the September 2000 elections, a government with many technocrats has been formed. Mr. Rafiq Hariri, the former Prime Minister, who won these elections, would have to sustain a stable government to face the challenges. 3. Economic Developments The economy is far to recover from the output slump, which started in 1996 and continued as activity in the construction sector tails off. 1999 saw GDP contraction by 1% in real terms. This was the result of low business confidence, stagnant domestic demand, and the attempt of the Government to bring the public finances under control by raising taxes and pursuing a restrictive monetary policy with high interest rates so as to support the exchange rate peg visà-vis the USD. This rise in indirect taxes has inhibited domestic demand, while high interest rates have stunted investment. Price stability was basically attained in 1999 and 2000, with inflation reaching a low of 0.2% and 0.3% respectively (LMF, 2001). The Lebanese pound's (LBP) peg to the USD and the strong dollar itself have been important factors, given the economy's dependence on imports. In addition, the decline in growth dampened price pressure from non-tradable goods. Domestic interest rates have been kept high to fight inflation, attract investors to public debt instruments, and avoid the withdrawal of reserves. 4. Future Outlook The performance of the local economy over the last decade has undoubtedly shown the sincerity and the commitment of the stakeholders towards the building of a constantly developing and sustainable future. The heavy development and the steady reconstruction of European Conference on e-Government, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, September 27-28, 2001 4 all major infrastructure projects coupled with Lebanon's rich diversity have boosted Lebanon's attempts to build on those resources in the promotion of its national identity. In the next 5 years, the country will see (ABL, 2000): (i). Intensified fiscal consolidation efforts, (ii). A continuation of upgrading/building of infrastructure facilities, (iii). Additional investments in the manufacturing and service sectors, (iv). A revival of the information technology sector, (v). An activation of e-commerce activities, and (vi). An active and relatively liquid capital market as privatization gains ground. The above mentioned expectations are reinforced by several other conditions. The challenges that the economy is currently facing are believed to be more of a short term and cyclical nature. An upward shift is quite plausible once the general environment factors are alleviated. The Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, the further liberalization of the Lebanese economy through the alleviation of trade and non-trade barriers, the potential launch of privatization of public utilities and the arising signs of economic openness in Syria, all constitute promising developments in this respect (Audi, 2000). Lebanon's outlook is finally encouraged by a significant regional potential driven by its historical comparative edges at large. 5. Lebanon's agenda to face the upcoming digital challenges. The vision of Electronic Government is one where government, business and citizens work together for the benefit of the nation. The implementation of e-government provides a golden opportunity to the public sector to upgrade the quality of civil service delivery. Processes involving the daily lives of citizens will be transacted electronically. Governmentbusiness transactions will undergo changes through the use of information technology and the Internet. A government can save time and money by using modern technology such as computer networks and e-mail in preference to the old manual procedures. When a bureaucratic procedure is completed by one person instead of two, and in less time, valuable resources will be preserved. By reviewing, restructuring, and promoting transparency of governmental organizations, systems, and procedures, administrative reform helps to reduce the economic burden on the country and to strengthen the commitment of its citizens. Administrative reform clearly aims at building a more service-driven and result-oriented government. European Conference on e-Government, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, September 27-28, 2001 5 In May 12, 1997 the Lebanese government manifested its full involvement and support of a strategic plan for administrative reform. The decision was to adopt information and communications technology to modernize the much needed infrastructure after almost two decades of civil war. For this task a professional team for administrative reform was formed and located under the Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR). The main tasks were the following (Farah et al., 1998): (1). Provide expert opinion on policies, goals, standards, and procedures for the implementation of adequate information technology in the different entities of the Lebanese government according to a needs assessment scheme. (2). Reengineering the government's services to the citizens ac


The commuting graph of an arbitrary ring R, denoted by ( R), is a graph whose vertices are all non-central elements of R, and two distinct vertices a and b are adjacent if and only if ab = ba. In this paper, we investigate the connectivity, the diameter, the maximum degree and the minimum degree of the commuting graph of group ring ZnQ8. The main result is that ( ZnQ8) is connected if and only if n is not a prime. If ( ZnQ8) is connected, then diam(ZnQ8)= 3, while ( ZnQ8) is disconnected then every connected component of ( ZnQ8) must be a complete graph with a same size. Further, we obtain the degree of every vertex in ( ZnQ8), the maximum degree and the minimum degree of ( ZnQ8).


This paper reports on the cross-collaborative efforts between computer science, special education and mechanical engineering on some of the robotic platforms used in therapeutic environments, and our investigation of using robots as educationally useful interventions to improve social interactions for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Development of a third generation robotic agent is described which uses an approach to treatment as an educational intervention based on Socially Assistive Robotics (SAR), direct instruction pedagogy, the use of social scripts, and our investigative process of using Lego® NXT platforms.


Optical gain measurements on the donor‐acceptor (D‐A) photoluminescence band of CdIn2S4 revealed maximum gain coefficients varying from 1.5 to 3.5 cm−1 at 300 K, in an optical excitation energy range of 2.016–2.101 eV. The threshold pumping intensity required for the onset of gain was found to be dependent on the excitation energy. Such characteristics were used to calculate the energy distribution of the acceptor levels in that energy range, which turned out to be exponential.


The present invention provides a a method of drying the extruded food system. SOLUTION: A) food, stuffing the elongated filling casings by extrusion, the B) ingredients filled link-like casing, the salt solution, the maximum exposed 5 seconds, C) the filled link-shaped casing, one method for producing extruded food product having also a process that has a stroke that aliquoted to each, and the temperature at the start is dried by exposure to air flow of the lowest 95 ° C.. .FIELD 1


Title EMT-driven cancer malignancy: what is the fundamental matter? [an abstract of dissertation and a summary of dissertation review] Author(s) 半田, 悠 Citation 北海道大学. 博士(医学) 甲第13461号 Issue Date 2019-03-25 Doc URL http://hdl.handle.net/2115/74736 Rights(URL) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Type theses (doctoral abstract and summary of review) Note 配架番号:2475 Additional Information There are other files related to this item in HUSCAP. Check the above URL. File Information Haruka_Handa_abstract.pdf (論文内容の要旨)


The study of novel vaccines is very important for the prevention and control of the infectious dis- eases.The conventional vaccines is based on the principle of the antigen that stimulates producing antibod- y,but they mostly stimulate humour immunity.Because the conventional vaccines have many shortcom- ings,the study of novel vaccines is necessary.With the progress of immunology and molecular biology, many different vaccines are appearing.In this paper,the mechanism of action and researching progress of the eight novel vaccines,recombined living carrier vaccines,dendritic cell vaccines,T cell vaccines,food stuff vaccines,DNA vaccines,RNA replicon vaccines,peptide vaccines and antiidiotype vaccines were summarized.The problems existed at present,prospects of application,superiorities and defects of the no- vel vaccines were discussed.


The aim of this work is the application of vis/NIR spectroscopy in order to correlate spectral data acquired on intact olives just before or in pastes during the milling process, to the crucial parameters for the optimization of the process. Physical measurements (i.e. yield point force and total deformation energy) were performed on the olive samples; after the fruit were crushed for olive paste production, chemical analysis (moisture, oil and sugars content) and maturity index (MI) were measured and correlated to the spectral data. The obtained results were encouraging for chemical, texture and MI parameters, demonstrating the feasibility of real-time prediction of important indices for the milling plant settings.


We investigate the massless scalar field perturbations of a new loop quantum gravity motivated regular black hole proposed by Ashtekar et al. in [Phys.Rev.Lett. 121, 241301 (2018), Phys.Rev.D 98, 126003 (2018)]. The spacetime of this black hole is distinguished by its asymptotic properties: in Schwarzschild coordinates one of the metric functions diverges as $r\to \infty$ even though the spacetime is asymptotically flat. We show that despite this unusual asymptotic behavior, the quasinormal mode potential is well defined everywhere when Schwarzschild coordinates are used. In addition to calculating the quasinormal mode spectrum and the ringdown waveform of the effective field theory metric, we propose a useful new approximate form of the metric. This new approximation makes the calculations significantly easier and is more suitable for such calculations than the previous approximation used in the literature to probe the global structure of the spacetime. While the calculations are in principle possible using the exact form of the metric, our approximation allows us to produce quasinormal mode frequencies and ringdown waveforms to high accuracy with manageable computation times. Our results indicate that this black hole model is stable against massless scalar field perturbations. We show that, compared to the Schwarzschild black hole, this black hole oscillates with higher frequency and less damping. We also observe a qualitative difference in the power-law tail of the ringdown waveform between this black hole model and the Schwarzschild black hole. This suggests the quantum corrections affect the behavior of the waves at large scales.


Simultaneous escape routing on dense boards is a very challenging task and lots of efforts have been spent. Most previous works focus on routing with one or two components, but in reality more components are possibly involved. In this paper, we propose a new simultaneous escape routing algorithm that considers multiple components at once. The proposed routing algorithm can solve simultaneous escape problem when two or more busses are connected to the same component. The experimental results show that, our routing algorithm can efficiently arrange escape paths properly to avoid net crossings and blockings between different busses.


The University of Florida training reactor (UFTR) is a 100-kW light-water-cooled, graphite- and light-water-moderated argonaut-type reactor. Although currently fueled with highly enriched (93% {sup 235}U) fuel, conversion to low-enriched fuel is planned within 2 yr. The core of this reactor is composed of six fuel boxes in which flow is constrained to a loop containing a coolant storage tank and a heat exchanger versus the usual pool configuration with stacked shielding limiting core access. Since first licensed to operate at 10 kW in 1959 and then at the present 100-kW limit in 1969, this non-power reactor facility has been actively involved in a broad but ever-evolving spectrum of teaching, training, research, and service projects, especially in recent years. Not only has there been a major shift from utility operator training over the past decade, but there has been a gradual evolution from usage for graduate nuclear engineering laboratory courses to laboratory usage at the undergraduate level and in several disciplines, especially including radiological engineering/health physics, which now constitutes a significant component in the University of Florida Department of Nuclear Engineering Sciences.


The Harahan Bridge, a double-track railroad bridge built in 1916, spans the Mississippi River between Memphis, Tennessee, and West Memphis, Arkansas. A century later, one of the former wagonways on the bridge has been converted into one of the longest active bicycle and pedestrian walkways in the United States, now known as the Big River Crossing. It was the key piece of the Main Street to Main Street Multi-Modal Connector Project, a 10 mi multimodal corridor between these two cities.


A piece of software is critical when the consequences of its malfunction can damage materials, injure or even kill Humans. This type of software usually requires 5 or 6 times the development time of non-critical software. To control the safety of such critical software, many norms and standards have been proposed (e.g., in Europe, in the USA, in specific countries). These procedures help classifying and analyzing these risks, and finally proposing solutions to reduce them to an acceptable level. Now let us consider the case of decisional software: these pieces of software take decisions on the course of actions of an aircraft, a spacecraft, or, more generally, of any autonomous system, instead of having a Human deciding on them. Hence these pieces of software have potentially a high impact on the safety of a system or device (a wrong decision may result in the crash of the system, potentially with 1 This work has been funded by the Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (the French Procurement Agency). consequences for human beings), such as uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAV). In this paper, we present a study of norms and standards from the point of view of decisional software embedded in UAV or autonomous spacecraft. On the one hand, we analyze the existing norms and standards in (aero-) space, safety and software domains, to exhibit how they constrain the design of decisional software (e.g., regarding non determinism, verifiability, memory space, response time). On the other hand, we summarize the characteristics of decisional software (e.g., non determinism, combinatorial explosion resulting in huge memory space and too long response time). Based on these, we propose recommendations, inspired by the domain or Artificial Intelligence, to adapt norms and standards to this kind of software (e.g., study of the shape of a search space, semantic phases in the input variables, taxonomy of tests, use of anytime algorithms, software architecture of agents, limited depth in the search tree).


Ti-Al alloys from prealloyed powder of Ti-47.5Al-2.5V-1.0Cr were prepared by spark plasma sintering(SPS).The results show that Ti-Al-based alloy with higher density and uniform microstructure is obtained by SPS at sintering temperature of 1100℃ or above.However,the microstructures of the alloy change with the sintering temperature variation.While sintered at 1100℃ and 1150℃,they consist of equiaxed(γ) and lamellar(α_(2)+γ) grains;sintered at 1200℃,they are of fully lamellar microstructure.The alloys sintered at 1100℃ with fine duplex microstructure exhibit better compressive properties at room temperature,with the compressive strength of 3321 MPa and the compression ratio of 35.2%.


Warfare has always resulted in extensive loss of life, brutal injuries, and enormous mental strain. It has also inspired, over time, major innovations within medicine.1,2 During the wars of the twentieth century, psychiatrists came to have a role—despite the ambivalence of military officials—in treating soldiers who had suffered mental breakdowns.3−6 World War I's high incidence of what was initially called shell shock led to significant treatment innovations and the reconceptualization of mental disorder, although mainstream psychiatry after the war was hardly affected.7,8 The participation of U.S. psychiatrists in World War II has received less attention from historians but proved to be far more significant for the field of psychiatry itself.9,10 Before the war, most American psychiatrists


Objective
To investigate the clinical outcomes of modified digital artery island flap pedicled with metaphysis branch of the middle phalanx for repair of the middle and distal segment wounds of the same finger with the second palmar anastomotic branch injury.

Methods
From August 2014 to March 2017, 11 cases of soft tissue defects with the second palmar anastomotic branch injury were treated with modified digital artery island flap pedicled with metaphysis branch of the middle phalanx. The dorsal digital nerve of the flap was sutured to the contralateral digital nerve to restore flap sensation. The donor site was covered with free skin graft.

Results
All the flaps and skin graft survived completely. All the patients were follow-up from 6 to18 months. The flaps had good appearance and supple texture. The two-point discrimination was 7 to 11 mm. The Cold Intolerance Severity Score (CISS) ranged from 5 to 39 with an average of 21. Ten fingers had mild cold intolerance, while 1 finger had moderate cold intolerance. According to the upper extremity function evaluation criteria issued by the Hand Surgery Society of the Chinese Medical Association, the results were rated as excellent in 8 cases, good in 2 cases, and fair in 1 case.

Conclusion
The application of modified digital artery island flap pedicled with metaphysis branch of the middle phalanx is a simple method with satisfactory sensory recovery and reliable blood supply for repair of the middle and distal segment wounds of the same finger with the second palmar anastomotic branch injury.

Key words:
Finger injuries; Surgical flaps; Treatment outcome; Proper digital artery


Database reverse engineering (DBRE) attempts to recover the technical and semantic specifications of the persistent data of information systems. Dependencies between records (data dependency) form a major class that need to be recovered. Since most of these dependencies are not supported by the DBMS, (foreign keys are the main exception, at least in modern relational DBMS), they have not been explicitly declared in the database schema. Careless reverse engineering will inevitably ignore them, leading to poor quality conceptual schema. Several information sources can contribute to the elicitation of these hidden dependencies. The program source code has long been considered to be the richest, but also the most complex, of them. The authors analyze and compare, through their respective quality and cost, different program understanding techniques that can be used to elicit data dependencies.


The Pierre Auger Observatory is being used to study cosmic rays with energies larger than 10 EeV. An essential quantity that must be deduced from data is the lateral distribution function (LDF). Knowledge of the LDF is important for the reconstruction of the shower core and the shower direction. Here we describe how the LDF is measured using the large sample of events recorded with the surface detector (SD) array and with a small sample observed with the fluorescence detectors (FD). For hybrid events, in which SD and FD measurements of the same shower are available, the core position is much better constrained than for SD-only events, thus providing an important cross-check on the LDF determined from SD measurements alone.