We report how clutch size, annual reproductive success, and annual survival of breeders and offspring vary with laying date in Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in southwestern Nebraska, from 1982-1993. Clutch size declined significantly across the season for both parasite-free (fumigated) and naturally infested nests. Larger clutches of 4 and 5 eggs were initiated significantly earlier in warm and dry seasons; laying dates for smaller clutches showed no relationship with weather. Incubation period declined significantly with laying date and was shorter in the absence of ectoparasites. Fledging success declined significantly with laying date in nonfumigated nests, primarily through greater loss of nestlings to parasitic swallow bugs (Oeciacus vicarius). First-year survival probabilities of offspring varied significantly with date among nonfumigated nests but not among fumigated nests; earlier-hatched young survived best in some years, and in other years intermediate- or late-hatched young had highest survival. Number of young locally recruited was highest for early nesters in 5 of 7 years with intermediate nesters doing best in the remaining years. Annual survival of female breeders increased with laying date, suggesting a benefit to late nesting and a potential life history trade-off between reproduction and adult survival. Nestling body mass did not vary with laying date, suggesting no decline in food availability over the summer. Female body mass prior to and during laying declined significantly with laying date but during brood rearing increased significantly with laying date. Female body mass had no significant effect on clutch size independent of laying date. The primary environmental factor causing the seasonal decline in reproductive success is ectoparasitism. A seasonal decline in clutch size may be a strategic adjustment to reduce ectoparasitism by lowering the parasite carrying capacity per nest. Greater apparent survival of late-nesting females may prevent directional selection for earlier breeding times in Cliff Swallows.


Affected by the climate change and human activity, the hydrological regime of Poyang Lake has changed greatly, and the ecological environment is degenerating slowly. This article based on the measured data of water resources, water environment and water ecology of Poyang Lake, gives a systematic account of status, at present, Jiangxi Province continues to promote the protection of the ecological environment of rivers and lakes, and gradually strengthens the protection, and the overall ecological environment of Poyang Lake tends to be stable. This article summaries problems; lakes lack the ability of ecological regulation; the connectivity of rivers and lakes is blocked, and the aquatic biodiversity of rivers and lakes decreases. Then it puts forward countermeasures combined with the social economic development, such as improving the ecological regulation capacity of rivers and lakes, implementing ecological protection and restoration in key areas, enhancing the protection of aquatic biodiversity and strengthening the ecological construction of soil and water conservation.


mutants byinvitro complementation, electron microscopy, andsodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gelelectrophoresis showed that thehost-defective mutations interfere withT4+capsid formation atthelevel of phagegene31function, before assembly ofanyrecognizable capsid structure. The mutations mapnearpurA,butattwoorpossibly three different sites. Thego mutantphages abletoovercome thehostdefect carry mutations ineither gene 31,asfoundbyothers forsimilar defective hosts, orinthegeneforthemajor capsid protein (gene 23). Thegene23gomutations donotbypass therequirement forgene31function. Theseresults suggest thatatleast three components must interact toinitiate T4headassembly: gp3l, gp23, andoneormorehostfactors. Thecompensatory effects ofmutational alterations inthese components are highly allele specific, consistent withtheviewthatphageandhostcomponents interact directly inprotein complexes.


Today, supply chains encountered with instability in the environmental factors due to increased competition and technology changes. On the other hand, entering the information systems, Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) emerged to integrate the organization to such changes. This study aims to provide a model for supply chain management (SCM) using SISP process. This model prepared for improving the performance of supply chain management described by several indices. Finally, there have been provided 4 hypotheses on proposed stages with the accuracy of them tested. There are used the views of 200 superior management of information organizations through Iran discussing the sales in fiscal year, 2006 to test these hypothesis. In conclusion, the results have been analyzed and discussed based on the designed model.


The goal of software requirements management at Grumman is to provide Systems Engineering's internal and external customers with the right information to produce and evaluate a computer program that meets the system's needs. A valuable approach to requirements management is to model one or more aspects of a system and communicate and control the system and software requirements via a database of the model elements.Engineering models can range from abstract models such as a series of partial differential equations for the solution of harmonic vibrations to isomorphic models such as a data flow diagrams or perspective drawings. The modeling method chosen uses a graphical notation and an Entity‐Relationship‐Attribute (ERA) database to create four isomorphic models to define a system and is currently implemented using RDD‐100® from Ascent Logic Corporation.The models used to specify the system are:1) Design Knowledge Capture (DKC) model‐an ERA model of the requirements flowdown from the perceived need to the requirements specification. 2) Behavior model – built using entities that represent functions and items, along with temporal notations of the functional flow. 3) Physical model –sometimes called the system architecture, includes the hierarchical structure of the components that build the system, the interfaces between the components, and the physical links that comprise the interfaces. 4) Resource model‐allows the engineer to evaluate the amount of resources needed when specified behavior is exhibited by a system architecture and to determine the behavior of the system when resources are depleted.The customization of the RDD language and the augmentation of RDD with other tools to add the required capability is described. The elements of the model are mapped from the RDD database to the an expansive interpretation of the Data Item Description for a Software Requirements Specification (DI‐MCCR‐80025A). The interpretation is based on interchanges between the requirements provider and the requirements implementor.The paper describes the aspects of systems specified using the database of models method. The method is heavily driven by the need to meet the MIL‐STD 2167A requirements for a Software Requirements Specification. However; the main value of this paper may be in the identification of the information produced while engineering the system that is not in the Systems Requirements Specification (SRS).


In support of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's efforts to protect the economy and the environment through clean technology, the Panel awarded job training contracts to various eco-friendly businesses. San Diego-based Cali Bamboo, LLC, which sells and distributes bamboo building products, received $26,400 to train 20 of their 25 employees in all aspects of their business operations. Hill Partnership, Inc., of Orange, an architectural firm focusing on environmental design and green building, received $20,196 to train 27 or their 34 employees, in continuous improvement and business, commercial and computer skills. Label Impressions, Inc., a small label printing manufacturer that uses only paper materials that come from sustainable forests that are managed responsibly, located in Orange, was awarded a $35,828 contract to train all 26 of their employees.


Chronologically, Sundanese dances can be divided into traditional and modern dances. Traditional dances
generally depict life, nature, animals and human traits. Dances are not merely a form of entertainment. They
also signify the cultural identity of a group of people. There are a wide range of movements in Sundanese
dances. Each movement has its specific name and the names of all the movements in Sundancese dances
form a lexicon. For example, the term ajeg denotes steady,constant, udar off, and langkah step. Not only
do the terms have aesthetic meanings, but they also have philosophical meanings for Sundanese people.The
research aims to describe the types of lexicons in Sundanese traditional dances, their philosophical values,
and the socio-cultural representation of Sundanese traditional dances.The data, the Sundanese traditional
dance lexicon, are collected by means of literary study and interview, as well as observation and are
analyzed based on Riley's theory of ethnolingustics (2008). The analysis results in descriptions of the types,
meanings, aesthetic and philosophical values of the Sundanese traditional dance lexicon, as well as the
sociocultural representation of the lexicon from an ethnolinguistic perspective.


A series of dimeric through octameric (1→5) amide-linked sialooligomers were prepared using solid-phase peptide methods on Rink resin with Fmoc protecting group chemistry. The oligomers were conjug...


The purpose of this study was to identify the suitability of VR welding simulator application towards CBT in developing welding skills upon new trainees at the Centre of Instructor and Advanced Skills Training (CIAST) Shah Alam Selangor and National Youth Skills Institute (IKBN) Pagoh Johor. The significant of the study was to create a computer-based skills development approach in welding technology among new trainees in CIAST and IKBN as well as to cultivate the elements of general skills among them. This study is also important in elevating the number of individual knowledge workers (K-workers) working in manufacturing industry in order to achieve a national vision which is to be an industrial nation in the year of 2020. The design of the study was a survey type of research which using questionnaires as the instruments and some 136 trainees from CIAST and IKBN were interviewed. Descriptive analysis was used to identify the frequency and mean. The findings of the study shows that the welding technology skills has developed in the trainees as a result of the application of VR simulator at a high level (min=3.89) and the respondents agreed that the skills could be embedded through the application of the VR simulator (78.01%). In summary, this VR simulator is suitable in welding skills development training in terms of exposing new trainees with the relevant characteristics of welding skills and at the same time spurring the trainees' interest towards learning more about the skills.


ABSTRACTThe objective of this study is to clarify the connectivity: spatial and physical patterns of Banjarese Kampungs in South Kalimantan river networks for the community of Rumah Bubungan Tinggi (RBT) or high ridge houses. It provides a basis for potential reconstructing a Banjarese Kampung in keeping with the sociocultural context. We investigated a total of an urban kampung (177 households) and 12 RBT groups (4 RBTs groups in 1 urban kampung and 8 RBT groups in 2 rural kampungs). We describe the development of kampung throughout the evolution of river networks, then analyze the formation of dwelling in the urban kampung and the changing of spatial composition in the kin-group. The discussion on the evolution river network is based on the reconstruction of waterway patterns from the 15th until the mid 20th century. Finally, the kinship interaction reveals the open-ended multifamily boundaries and the changing level of house connectivity such as rival kin-groupKeywords: Rumah Bubungan Tinggi (RBT) groups, kampung, connectivity, spatial composition, South Kalimantan


Objective To evaluate the efficacy and adverse effects of Kangai injection combined with chemotherapy for postoperative rectal cancer patients and its effects on patients' quality of life.Methods From April 2010 to February 2011,50 patients with postoperative rectal cancer were randomly divided into two groups with 25 patients in each group.Both groups received chemotherapy of FOLFOX,while patients in the test group received added Kangai injection therapy.Clinical efficacy,quality of life and adverse reactions were evaluated after treatment of 6 cycles.Results The efficacy of the test group was 84%,and that of the control group was 88%.The difference between the two groups was not significant(P 0.05).The difference between the two groups in improvement of quality of life was not significant(P 0.05).In the test group,there were fewer gastrointestinal reactions and less decreasing of white blood cells than in the control group.The differences were statistically significant(P 0.05).Conclusion Kangai injection can reduce the adverse effects of chemotherapy for postoperative rectal cancer patients.


[Objective] To analyze the mutation signature and regularity of STR locus on 23 autosomes in paternity testing cases in Hainan. [Methods] A total of 2715 paternity testing cases accepted by the Forensic Medical Identification Centre of our hospital from 2017 to 2020 derived from counties and cities in Hainan Province were collected, the cases containing gene mutations were selected, the mutation rate and details of each locus were counted, and the mutation regularity of 23 STR loci was analyzed. [Results] Of the 2715 cases identified as "support", 1487 were triplet cases and 1640 were dyad cases, totaling 4614 meioses; There were 50 gene mutation events (including 17 triplet mutations and 33 dyad mutations), with an average mutation rate of 0.0047% and a cumulative mutation rate of 1.0837%. A total of 19 of the 23 STR loci were mutated, with a mutation rate of 0.1301% at the D12S391 locus and 0.0217% at five loci, TPOX, D1S1656, D2S441, D22S1045, and PentaD, while no mutation events were found at four loci, D19S433, TH01, D13S317, and D7S820.


At the last Chilean census 4647 people declared to belong to the Rapanui ethnic group; 51% of these resided on Easter Island, 49% on the Chilean mainland, and 26% of these in Santiago, the Chilean capital. This fact is the starting point for our analysis on the cultural and identity consequences that this territorial dispersion has on contemporary Rapanui society. In this setting Rapanui individuals have strived for the maintenance of cultural practices through the flows which connect the island with its inhabitants living on different continents. Remittances of money or valued goods as well as the flows of people that come and go from one place to another characterize today's Polynesian cultures. In the present work we will show how the links between continental Chile and Easter Island throw light on the contemporary Rapanui identity. We propose that migration has shaped the Rapanui people into a translocal culture. In order to reproduce their culture and identity they have resorted to construct a network of linkages and flows which connect their place of origin with their places of residence. The Rapanui residence in Santiago, Chile, has resulted in a reflective process on their own identity. The Rapanui way of life in an urban setting, their family relationships, their territorial residency, their work, their feasts and even their way to dress, remind them on an everyday basis, that cultural differences are an everyday topic to think about. The difference between being Rapanui and living on Easter Island, of being Rapanui and living on the continent, or of being non-Rapanui, are questions that surround the everyday experience of the urban Rapanui in Chile/Santiago. The ethnic Rapanui identity is always shaped by the tension between growing roots and mobility, between the place of residence and the place of origin.


1 The contribution of various ionic currents to diastolic depolarization (DD) in rabbit sino‐atrial myocytes was evaluated by the action potential clamp technique. Individual currents were identified, during sustained pacemaking activity reproduced under voltage clamp conditions, according to their sensitivity to supecific channel blockers. 2 The current sensitive to dihydropyridines (DHPs), blockers of L‐type Ca2+ current (ICa,L), was small and outward during most of DD. Diastolic DHP‐sensitive current was affected by changes in the driving force for K+, but it was insensitive to E‐4031, which blocks the current termed IK,r; it was abolished by cell dialysis with a Ca2+ chelator. 3 The current sensitive to 2 mm Cs+ (ICs), a blocker of hyperpolarization‐activated current (If), was inward during the whole DD and it was substantially larger than the net inward current flowing during this phase. However, diastolic IK,r, identified in the same cells as the current sensitive to the blocker E‐4031, exceeded ICs 2‐fold. 4 These findings suggest that: (a) Ca2+ influx during the pacemaker cycle increases a K+ conductance, thus inverting the direction of the net current generated by L‐type Ca2+ channel activity during DD; (b) the magnitude of If would be adequate to account fully for DD; however, the coexistence of a larger IK,r suggests that other channels besides If contribute inward current during this phase.


A 1–2 min application of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF; 20 ng/ml) induced sustained elevation of intracellular Ca2+ lasting > 90 min, using the fura-2 imaging of intracellular Ca2+ mobilization, in visual cortical pyramidal neurons isolated from rats. BDNF increased intracellular Ca2+ through the PLC-&ggr; phosphorylation after the TrkB receptor tyrosine kinase activation. Either K252a or U73122 suppressed intracellular Ca2+ in the absence of BDNF. We suggest that sustained activation of Trk B receptor tyrosine kinase and PLC-&ggr; occurs after a brief BDNF application and contributes to the short-term maintenance (< 30 min) of the sustained intracellular Ca2+ elevation.


The US automobile fuel economy program began in 1974 with the publication of a Gas Mileage Guide and the labeling of new cars with their fuel economy ratings. Since that time the program has been modified and a number of new elements added. These included new car and light truck fuel economy standards, a national highway speed limit, government sponsored research and development and a new vehicle tax based on fuel efficiency. This has occurred in parallel with rising fuel prices and increasingly stringent auto safety and emission standards. An integral part of the program has been economic and technical analysis carried out by several government departments to monitor trends and determine the effectiveness of the various program elements. Based on this analysis it has been shown that significant improvements in fuel economy (more than 60% for new cars and 23% for all cars on the road between 1974 and 1980) and major reductions in fuel consumption (800,00 b/d, 127,000 cu m/d or about 12% from 1978 to 1980) have resulted from the fuel economy improvement program and reductions in driving. The automobile fuel economy program in the future will be oriented more towards market response to rising fuel process and less government involvement. However, continuing analysis will be required to determine if this approach is successful in achieving economically efficient improvements in automobile fuel economy.


A Monte Carlo simulation of dynode statistics has been used to generate multiphotoelectron distributions to compare with actual photomultiplier resolution results. In place of Poission or Polya statistics, in this novel approach, the basis for the simulation is an experimentally determined single electron response. The relevance of this method to the study of intrinsic line widths of scintillators will be discussed.


India is witnessing the tremendous growth in usage of technology driven products and services. Telecom or cellular services is adopted and used by majority of the population within shorter span of time. Infact on looking into the cellular growth statistics one can see that cellular services have penetrated all the economic segments (i.e., High, Middle and Low income group) than any other technology oriented products and services. Today owning a mobile and a cellular connection is no more a luxury or status representation. The current scenario witnesses the drastic growth in cellular services connection leading to over more than 500 million subscribers in India. The reasons may be the huge population, the competitive prices offered by the cellular companies; major MNC's becoming the part of the market or it may simply be the need of common man for the purpose of communication.
The objective of this paper is to look into the usage behaviour of common man on various cellular services. Apart, an attempt is also made to identify the various demographic factors which influence the buying/usage behaviour. To find out the same an empirical survey was conducted in Mysore District. Cross tabulation was done with the help of SPSS to analyze the data.
Keywords: Cellular services, Usage behaviour, Technology, Mysore


In this study, the effect of the blast furnace slag which is an industrial waste, on physical and mechanical properties of concrete were investigated. For this purpose, concrete mixes were prepared by substituting the Portland cement in the rates of 0, 10, 20 and 30% (by weight) with the blast furnace slag. For each mixture 3 number of 15x15x15 cm cubic specimens were casted. Unit weight, water absorption, capillarity, ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength tests were performed on the specimens after the 90 day curing period. Based on the test results, an increase were observed on the water absorption and capillarity values although a decrease were observed on the unit weight, ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength values of the concretes obtained by substituting the blast furnace slag. Keywords—Concrete, Portland cement, blast furnace slag, compressive strength, capillarity.


Abstract : The "hygiene hypothesis", the idea that reduced exposure to important microbes, especially in childhood, impacts development of asthma and allergies, may have application to breast cancer. This research project aims to explore the hygiene hypothesis as it might relate to breast cancer development, thereby assessing its utility for more comprehensive future research. This research project aimed to interview a population-based series of Californian women recently diagnosed with breast cancer and a matched set of healthy control women as regards age-specific experiences relevant to microbial exposures. We interviewed by telephone 379 women aged 50-79 recently diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during the period 1/1/2004 and 9/31/2005 and 310 community women without breast cancer, matched on age and race and identified through mailing lists. After consideration of established risk factors for breast cancer, we found significantly protective associations worthy of further analysis for several categories of exposures including 1) school exposures, including attendance at preschool and kindergarten, and ever living at a boarding school where one lived in a dorm. 2) living within mile of barns or stables; and 3) current consumption of lactobacilli-containing supplements. These findings are now being followed up in a separate application to the National Cancer Institute.


In order to finish the design of Dynamic Storages of Digital Frequency Synthesis, the corn of K4S641632B -TC75 was adopted,and S-AMP was used to blowing up drive. The matter of little capacitance in memory unit is solved, the effective recognition is ensured, one unit and the S-AMP passage corresponding. At last, the reading and writing and refurbishing operating and ini-tialization are accomplished.


Introduction: Fine needle aspiration cytology( FNAC), is an initial investigation in evaluation of thyroid lesions. Due to lack of standardized system for reporting thyroid cytology in 2007, "The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology(TBSRTC)" was introduced. It is a six tier system. Aim: To classify thyroid FNACs based on "The Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology." Objectives : To analyse thyroid cytology through TBSRTC and analyse the distribution of lesions in various categories. Materials and methods : The study is a cross sectional study done in Department of Pathology, Coimbatore Medical College from July 2015 to June 2016. Observation and Results:  A total of 143 cases were studied, 108 patients were females and 35 males.  Age of patients ranged from 9 to 80 years. Majority in 3140 years.  Adequacy rate was 96 %.  119 cases were non – neoplastic, 19 cases were neoplastic, and 5 cases –unsatisfactory (Category I).  Category II (Benign) had maximum number of cases (119), majority was colloid goiter (70 cases).  No cases in the category III (Atypia of undetermined significance).  Category IV (Follicular neoplasm or suspicious of follicular neoplasm ) 13 cases.  Category V (Suspicious of malignancy ) 3 cases  Category VI (Malignant ) had 3 cases of Papillary carcinoma. Conclusion : The Bethesda system of reporting cytopathology is a standarised system which is universally acceptable and reproducible. It also describes about the malignancy chance in each category and suggests management protocol for the patients in each category thereby guiding the treating clinician in treatment and followup of the patients.


Background The relationship between obesity and diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains controversial. The aim of this study was to assess the association of generalized obesity [assessed by body mass index (BMI)] and abdominal obesity [assessed by waist to hip ratio (WHR)] with incident DR, and vision-threatening DR (VTDR), and DR progression among Chinese adults with type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM). Method This prospective cohort study was conducted at the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, from November 2017 to December 2020. DR was assessed based on the 7-filed fundus photographs using the modified Airlie House Classification. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations of BMI and WHR with the development and progression of DR after adjusting for age, sex, traditional risk factors, and mutually for BMI and WHR. Results Among the 1,370 eligible participants, 1,195 (87.2%) had no sign of any DR and 175 (12.8%) had DR at baseline examination. During the 2 years follow-up visit, 342 (28.6%) participants had incident DR, 11 (0.8%) participants developed VTDR, 15 (8.6%) demonstrated DR progression. After adjusting for confounders, the BMI was negatively associated with incident DR [relative risk (RR) =0.31; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.26–0.38; P < 0.001] and incident VTDR (RR = 0.22; 95%CI, 0.11–0.43; P < 0.001), while WHR was positively associated with incident DR (RR = 1.47; 95% CI, 1.27–1.71; P < 0.001). BMI and WHR level were not significantly associated with 2-year DR progression in multivariate models (all P > 0.05). Conclusions This study provides longitudinal evidence that generalized obesity confer a protective effect on DR, while abdominal obesity increased the risk of DR onset in Chinese patients, indicating that abdominal obesity is a more clinically relevant risk marker of DR than generalized obesity.


A mathematical model describing the transverse vibration of an axially accelerating strings is given. Based on Crank Nicoson's technique, and a new approach for the numerical simulation of the model is raised. The truncation error of the one step difference method reaches O (Δ t 2+Δ x 2 ) and of quite good stability condition. The numerical method can be used for elastic models as well as viscoelastic ones. As a numeric example, a special model of the transverse vibration of a moving string is given and its dynamical analysis is made. The effects of some parameters of the model acted on the string system, such as that of the axial velocity, the acceleration and the Young's modulus, are analyzed and showed in figures. A conservative quantity is used to check the results.


This essay investigates the cultural implications of digital spectacles of contemporary Hollywood cinema in light of the technological imaginary with...


There are 15 super sweet plants spicies in India which are 100-10,000 times sweeter than
sugarcane sucrose (saccharide ) and accumulate non saccharide super sweet principles like proteins,
terpenoids, flavonoids, coumerin etc and their 100 mg provide little or no calorie and sweetness
equivalent to 1kg sucrose. Consequently these are becoming useful to diabetic, cardio vascular,
kidney, obesity and dental caries patients and are reducing their disorders and mortality significantly.
The ingrained higher microbial activities in such plants have been found to deplete CO2 fast
through active carbonic anhydrase enzyme and thereby help in combating environmental warming.
Similarly because of high potency for bio-fuel production and intense sweet principles
accumulation, these plants species appears to be most suitable to solve energy and sucrose crisis
and save about 4.5 million ha land of sugar cane for the use of agriculture, industry and housing
in India.


We investigate the effect of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) on magnetic domain nucleation in a ferromagnetic thin film with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. We propose an extended droplet model to determine the nucleation field as a function of the in-plane field. The model can explain the experimentally observed nucleation in a Co/Ni microstrip with an interfacial DMI. The results are also reproduced by micromagnetic simulation based on the string model. The electrical measurement method proposed here can be widely used to quantitatively determine the DMI energy density.


Besides the desired K-shell X-rays produced by Z-pinches, there may be unwanted emissions of "hot", >50 keV electrons . We used two types of diagnostic to look for such hot electrons produced by the Sphinx generator . Sphinx uses LTD technology to produce >4 MA pulsed power, driving large diameter (>=14 cm), long implosion time (>500 ns) Z-pinch implosions. Our diagnostics comprised stacks of radiochromic film (RCF) and filtered Faraday cups (FC). The RCF provided time-integrated data on both the X-ray and potential electron outputs of the Z-pinches. With a range of filtrations, the FC let us establish the possible time correlations between the X-rays and the electrons. These sensors were complemented on some Sphinx shots with "sweeping" magnets to confirm the presence of the electrons. On aluminum wire array pinches, there was no evidence for hot electrons; the signals seen on our diagnostics were due solely to the free-bound K X-ray continuum. We will discuss the design and use of the electron diagnostics along with more recent data on the possible presence of hot electrons from the argon gas puff loads.


Background  Seborrhoeic keratosis (SK) is a common skin disease associated with skin ageing and photoageing, but only limited studies have been performed on SK and the senescence of keratinocytes.


Exceptional Laguerre and Jacobi polynomials

 p
 n

 (
 x
 )

 p_n(x)

 are bispectral, in the sense that as functions of the continuous variable

 x
 x

, they are eigenfunctions of a second order differential operator and as functions of the discrete variable

 n
 n

, they are eigenfunctions of a higher order difference operator (the one defined by any of the recurrence relations they satisfy). In this paper, under mild conditions on the sets of parameters, we characterize the algebra of difference operators associated to the higher order recurrence relations satisfied by the exceptional Laguerre and Jacobi polynomials.


Objective: To establish a method for the simultaneous detection of diphacinone and chlorophacinone in biological sample by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry(LC-MS).Methods:After the whole blood was extracted by methanol+acetonitrile(50+50,v/v) and urine was cleaned and enriched by Waters OasisHLB SPE cartridges,the samples were separated on an Extend C18 column(150 mm×4.6 mm i.d.,5 μm)by using the mobile phase consisting of ammonium acetate-acetate acid(0.02 mol/L,pH 5.5)+methanol(15+85,v/v).Detection was carried out by LC-MS using a negative electrospray ionization interface in the selected ion monitoring(SIM) mode.Quantified ions were selected for their molecular ions,m/z 339.0-for diphacinone,m/z 373.0-for chlorophacinone.Results:Calibration curves of the whole blood were linear within the range of 2.0~500.0 μg/L and 1.0~200.0 μg/L,and the limits of quantification were 2.0 μg/L and 1.0 μg/L for diphacinone and chlorophacinone,respectively.The extraction recoveries of the whole blood were 92.1%~94.5% and 93.0%~94.2%,and the RSD were less than 7.5% and 6.5% for diphacinone and chlorophacinone,respectively.Calibration curves of urine were linear within the range of 0.5~100.0 μg/L and 0.2~40.0 μg/L,and the limits of quantification were 0.5 μg/L and 0.2 μg/L for diphacinone and chlorophacinone,respectively.The extraction recoveries of urine were 95.2%~97.0% and 92.0%~96.5%,and the RSDs were less than 6.0% and 7.5% for diphacinone and chlorophacinone,respectively.Conclusion:This method is simple,sensitive,accurate and of good specificity for the satisfactory determination of trace diphacinone and chlorophacinone residues in poisoned patients.


The steady-state rotation of plasma centrifuge is theoretically analyzed to understand the physics of rotating plasmas and its feasibility for isotope separation. The centrifuge system under consideration consists of an annular gap between coaxial cylindrical anode and cathode in the presence of an externally-applied axial magnetic field. A problem for coupled partial differential equations describing centrifuge fields is formulated on the basis of the magnetohydrodynamic equations. Two-dimensional solutions are found analytically in the form of Fourier-Bessel series. The current density and velocity distributions are discussed in terms of the Hartmann number and the geometrical parameter of the system. At typical conditions, rotational speeds of the plasma up to the order of 10m/sec are achievable, and increase either with increasing Hartmann number, or with increasing ratio of the axial length to the inner radius of the cylinder. In view of much higher speeds of rotation which can be achieved in plasma centrifuge, it is expected that its efficiency is superior to mechanically driven gas centrifuges.


The invention relates to a projectile weapon used for hunting and for submarine, sport and entertaining shooting. The inventive pulley-provided projectile weapon comprises a gunstock (1), the lower part of which is provided with fixed thrusts (11, 12). An elastic strain mechanism is placed between said thrusts (11, 12). The front part of the gunstock is embodied in the form of fixed arms (2) which are arranged perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis. Said arms comprise three pairs of rotatable receiving pulleys (3) which are fastened, at an angle of 90 degrees therebetween, to a corner fixed to the gunstock, guides (5) which are connected to the front vertical surface of the fixed arms and bow-string forming means which are fixed to the ends of the top part of the fixed arms (7). The invention makes it possible to produce a small-sized weapon, to exclude the side displacement of the bow-string and the jump of the weapon and to protect against the bow-string rupture.


Abercrombie & Johnson (1946), in Part I of this investigation of the quantitative histology of Wallerian degeneration, found that the number of nuclei in rabbit peroneal and tibial nerves increased to a maximum at about 25 days of degeneration, after which it declined somewhat, though at 100 days it was still five times as great as that of undegenerated nerve. They analysed the nuclear population into various sub-populations, those of endoneurial connective tissue, blood-vessel walls and Schwann tubes, dividing the Schwann tubes into those of large, medium and small calibre. Each sub-population was found to multiply to a different extent during degeneration. Since there were big differences in the amount of multiplication of nuclei of Schwann tubes of different sizes, Abercrombie & Johnson suggested that the multiplication of nuclei in any nerve undergoing degeneration would be found to depend, at least in part, on its fibre spectrum,(that is, on the relative numbers of nerve fibres of different sizes which make up the nerve). The present investigation was undertaken, first, in order to discover whether a similar general pattern of rise and fall of nuclear numbers occurs in nerves other than the peroneal and tibial; and secondly, to find out whether there are quantitative differences in the magnitude of changes of numbers of nuclei which could be correlated with differences in the fibre spectra of the nerves. Both problems bear on the wider problem of the mechanism of mitotic stimulation. In this paper the changes during degeneration in the number of nuclei in the nerve to the medial head of the gastrocnemius muscle (henceforward called the n.g.m.) and in the sural nerve of the rabbit are surveyed. The n.g.m. and sural nerve were chosen because they both occur in the same region of the thigh, immediately alongside the peroneal and tibial nerves previously studied, but are-very different in fibre spectrum, the n.g.m. consisting mainly of large fibres, and the sural nerve mainly of small ones. The average fibre diameter of the peroneal and tibial nerves is similar and roughly intermediate between that of the n.g.m. and sural nerve. The anterior tibial nerve also was studied, but not in such detail as the n.g.m. and the sural nerve. The anterior tibial is the distal branch of the peroneal nerve in the shank; its fibre spectrum is similar to that of the sural nerve but, since it is in a different anatomical region, it gives some


The aim of this study is to identity and analyze the Moiphology of
Contemporary Acehnesc, particularly, morphological process, grammatical properties
and types of morpheme. The data of the study were collected from the daily
conversation uttered by Acehnese speakers. The samples of the study were 30 persons
as Acehnese speakers. They consist of 15 old m
ce nese. orp ological processes involved the contemporary words which were
spoken in daily conversation , namely, morphological process in contemporary
Acehnese, internal change process in Acehnesc, compounding, and conversion.
Affixation consists of derivation, determination of basic forms, types of derivation,
inflection and morphemes


Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is an alternative to LASIK and can cause intense acute pain that is often not relieved by standard treatments. To assess potential therapeutics for this type of acute pain, appropriate preclinical models are needed. Herein we describe a rodent preclinical model of PRK and a multi-faceted approach to determine the therapeutic potential of resveratrol, a natural phytoestrogen, on pain, tear production, and the corneal epithelium. Studies were conducted in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Heptanol was applied to one eye and the superficial corneal epithelium was removed, mimicking the abrasion seen in PRK. Spontaneous pain was assessed with orbital tightening (OT) scores for 7 days. Corneal abrasion increased OT scores in both male and female rats with peak responses at 24 - 48 hours. Topical application of resveratrol had a sex-specific effect on OT scores and tear production. Resveratrol increased OT scores in abraded males, but not females, at 72 hours and 1 week after abrasion. Resveratrol dose-dependently increased tear production in abraded males, but had no effect in abraded females. While there was no correlation between OT score at 1 week and tear production, CGRP content of corneal nerves was positively correlated with 1 week OT score. There was also a significant increase in CD68-labeled macrophages in resveratrol-treated abraded corneas as compared to naïve corneas. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of our preclinical PRK model for the assessment of ocular pain therapeutics and indicate that topical resveratrol may not be useful for managing PRK-induced pain.


We build a theoretical model to examine how supervision (auditing) can be utilized to enhance the efficiency of corporate governance and how collusive supervision (auditing) can be deterred. We introduce the outcomes of "Monotone Comparative Statics" ala Topkis (1978) and Edlin and Shannon (1998), and Milgrom and Segal (2002)'s generalized envelope theorem, and construct a three-tier agency model with a mathematically tractable structure. This should be an advantage in modeling in comparison with the collusion literature e.g., Kofman and Lawarree (1993)'s auditing application of the three-tier agency model ala Tirole (1986, 1992). The basic trade-off involved in adding the auditor (supervisor) into the hierarchy is the benefit from the discrete reduction in information rent and the improvement of marginal incentives (outputs) versus the resource cost of the auditor (supervisor), and this bottom line is consistently preserved through the extension and generalization of the model. In addition to the theoretical (mainly technical) investigation, the paper also derives some clear and robust implication applicable to corporate governance reform.


The selection and interpretation of methods and workflow within the product development process are not synchronous and practice usually varies between the departments involved (e.g. development and production). This complicates the utilization of company potential. The integration of the different practices could increase corporate understanding, work-content consistency and generate synergy benefits. The paper examines the possibilities and benefits of a consolidation of up to now detached approaches for problem solving, such as Design Methodology (DM), Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and describes a possible first approach to an interdisciplinary consolidation of viewpoints and presently applied approaches, bearing the entire product development process in mind, beyond the classical boundaries of production and design.


The rising cost of drug therapy coupled with late referrals and decreasing length of stay is a prescription for financial woes in the capitated hospice health care arena. The drive to provide the best symptom management in endof-life care and still maintain a fiscally sound bottom line highlights a need for examination of the ways that hospices assess individual patient drug therapy and factors that influence drug choices. Performing an individualized drug therapy evaluation promotes effective, efficient, and economical care.


We have previously designed a hierarchical lexical representation for reversible spelling/phonemics generation. In this paper, we demonstrate the advantages of using higher level linguistic knowledge in a hierarchical framework to provide constraints for spelling-to-pronunciation generation. We expect our current findings to be applicable to pronunciation-to-spelling generation also, since our approach casts the two tasks as directly symmetric problems. Comparison with an alternative, single-layer approach illustrates how the hierarchical framework provides a parsimonious description for English orthographic-phonological regularities, while simultaneously attaining competitive generation accuracy. The hierarchical approach achieves a top-choice word accuracy of 67.5% for spelling-to-sound generation (computed over the entire test set, including nonparsable words), and is capable of reversible generation using about 32,000 parameters. In comparison, the single-layer approach requires over 40 times the number of parameters (about 693,300) to achieve a word accuracy of 69.1%, and is incapable of reversible generation.<<ETX>>


In this paper, the most popular micro channel small program is combined, based on "off-peak parking", using Hyperledger Fabric, Spring Boot and other advanced technologies to solve the problem of "difficult parking", so as to achieve a new shared parking mode. Based on the current private cars and private car occupancy rate data in China, this paper conducted a survey and questionnaire survey on "private car parking tendency of citizens" in Caidian District of Wuhan city, sorted out and analyzed the survey data, analyzed the demand, and designed and implemented a 5G shared parking system. The main function modules of this system include user login, user registration, parking information release, order submission, navigation management, payment order and so on. Through the testing of wechat application software for shared parking, it is verified that this application software can well meet the needs of users for parking space sharing.


Celiac disease (CD) is a longevity food intolerance to gluten. Quinoa has complete nutritional characteristics and is gluten free, so it is tolerable for CD. The objective of this study was to estimate chemical, sensory and biological evaluation of some formulated quinoa products as an alternative food suggested for CD. Quinoa, rice, corn, chick-pea flours and their products (cake, biscuit and toast) in different ratio were prepared and examined for sensory properties. It was found that; the best acceptable blends were quinoa flour: rice flour: corn flour with rito1:1:1in cake and toast and quinoa flour: rice flour: chick-pea flour with rito1:1:1in biscuit. Biological evaluation was done on 32 albino male rates classified into four equal groups of eight rats each. Group 1 was the control group, the other groups were fed on the products for 8 weeks. Weight gain and relative organ weights were estimated. Blood picture, lipid profile, alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), total protein, albumin, bilirubin, creatinin, uric and glucose were estimated. The results revealed that quinoa flour was free of gluten and the percentage of saponin after washing was 0.2 %. Quinoa flour had 16.4% protein, 8.2 % fat and was rich in Ca, P, Na, K, Mg and Cu. The percentage of some essential amino acids in quinoa flour surpassed the FAO model. Quinoa flour had low percentage of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, but it had high contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids ω6 and ω3. Cake and biscuit were higher in protein, fat and fiber than toast, while toast was the highest in minerals content except for Cu. The biological evaluation for the three products showed that; the weight gain decreased in all the treated groups. All the parameters of the blood tests were as that of the control except for the hemoglobin level. Total lipids, cholesterol, triglycerides and low density lipoprotein (LDL) were higher in cake fed group than the control group. Liver functions and kidney functions were not affected by feeding on the products; there were no differences in AST and bilirubin levels between the treated groups. Further research, including human clinical trials, is needed and recommended.


Woven coronary artery (WCA) is an extremely rare and still not a clearly de ined coronary anomaly. It is characterized by the division of epicardial coronary artery into thin channels which then reanastomose with the distal part of the abnormal coronary artery [1]. Since the angiographic imaging of WCA looks like an intracoronary thrombus and dissection; the differential diagnosis between atherothrombotic coronary arteries with recanalization of organized thrombi in coronary arteries and WCA may be very dif icult for invasive cardiologists, especially in patients with single or two coronary artery involvements [2].


This article describes a method to automatically assign hierarchical addresses in switched networks and proposes some applications areas to be further explored. Hierarchical addressing and routing are since long recognized as scalable and effective. However, its application in fixed and mobile ad hoc networks is restricted due to the overhead needed to group the nodes into clusters, maintain the hierarchy of nodes and the configuration complexity to assign and keep up to date the hierarchical addresses. The node differentiation due to the different roles at different hierarchy levels is also a disadvantage. The address assignment protocol uses the hierarchy set up by the rapid spanning tree protocol with the designated ports numbers of bridges as identifiers. A Bridge address results as the chain of designated port identities from the root bridge to that bridge. These addresses express the node (bridge) position in the network. However, as IP and MAC addresses usage is well established in networks, the proposed hierarchical addresses shall neither typically be used as layer two or layer three addresses, but just as routing aids. Other applications seem possible. Although this proposal is at a initial stage, application looks promising like enhancement of up/down routing protocol and group leader election problems at network level. The protocol is simple and fully distributed among all spanning tree levels.


Practicing clinicians need to understand that there is nothing "magical" about a geriatric assessment. The process can easily be accomplished by gathering community-based resources in nursing, social work, physical therapy, et al. for a concerted effort. The evaluation of ADL function can be recorded by a paramedical observer/recorder. The physician's task becomes the coordination of services, delineation of biomedical, psychological, social, and functional problems, and the assignment of tasks to responsible parties on the team. Assessment primarily focuses on the impact of comorbidity on function. A wonderful team could be assembled within the office if one could recruit a core team of committed members and a source of financial support while Medicare deliberates on the reimbursement issues of geriatric assessment. Brief office visits with patients provide only a "slice in time" regarding their functional status; we must rely on other observers to gather data for us. A consultant geriatrician could both assist the family physician group in the assembly of such a program and also provide expertise on the physiological changes of aging and the integration of sound geriatric principles for the geriatric assessment program.


Public Service Broadcasting is a popular form of news consumption in many European countries. In this paper, we document and analyze bias in the TV news content of the oldest and the largest public broadcaster in the world, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Following Laver, Benoit and Garry (2003), we compare the similarity of language in news transcripts to speeches in the UK Parliament from 2013-2016. We find consistent pro-Labour bias relative to Conservative party, for all but the period after the 2015 election, where we find a proConservative bias. This shift in bias towards language more similar to Conservative speeches is also evident in online news reporting on bbc.com, and is robust to alternative specifications and placebo tests. Further, topic modeling analysis shows that the bias stems from BBC spending more time covering topics that are Conservative in nature. These findings suggest that shifts in bias stemming from political power and control may be evidence of a "weak" form of media capture in the UK. ∗Preliminary, please don't circulate. †Department of Economics, University of Zurich and Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). Email: firstname.lastname@example.com ‡Department of Economics, University of Zurich. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


Practical work is part of the compulsory process of learning for any engineering student in polytechnic Malaysia. This study focuses on the ergonomic risk assessment during the practical work for Malaysian Polytechnic for mechanical diploma programme. Consequently, it is also implemented to identify potential harm caused by ergonomic risk factors. This study uses quantitative method through the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMQ) framework and is followed by a Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). The instruments used are measuring tape, smartphones for recording audio and video as well as digital images, assessment checklists (CMQ and REBA), personal protective equipment, goniometers and weights scale. Based on the study, all elements of value provide high level risk score results and require ergonomic risk control. Therefore, it is recommended to review the body's posture and improve the techniques during the weld practical work process to reduce ergonomic risk factors.


This paper studies the effects of TTPC with three different concentrations on micro-ecosystem in 96 h.The results shows that the relationship between concentration of TTPC and water temperature,salinity,pH,DO,COD,NO-2-N tends to negative,but the relationship between concentration of TTPC and transparency,NH3-N,TN,PO3-4-P,TP tends to positive.According to the results of acute toxic effects of killing plankton,of the changes of environmental factors and of safe experiments on carp fry at different concentration of TTPC,the recommended safe concentration of TTPC for aquaculture is 0.6 mg/L.Meanwhile,we also recommended that peasants open aerators and add feasible living bacterium agents when using TTPC in aquaculture.


The potential for biomass fuels produced in decentralized facilities to replace the centrally produced fuels currently used in agriculture is examined. Two issues are examined. Will biomass fuels become cost-competitive relative to central fuels. And, what is the potential for biomass fuels to replace central fuels during emergency conditions when central fuels are unavailable. To answer these questions, descriptions of a range of currently available biomass technologies have been prepared and estimates made of current and projected agricultural fuel needs and biomass-feedstock availabilities. A variety of assumptions about future conditions have been adopted, the most important of which is that central fuel prices escalate at 7.5% annually relative to the commodities and inputs used to produce biomass fuel products. Under these assumptions, a number of biomass fuels will become cost-competitive during the 1980s, but most will do so late in the decade. Moreover, once these fuels become cost-competitive, penetration will occur gradually. Market forces thus will not markedly reduce the vulnerability of agriculture to energy-supply interruptions during this period. Biomass fuels could, however, play an important role during a fuel emergency. Estimates indicate they could replace up to about 60% of annual agricultural-sector fuel consumption by 1990, during the coursemore » of a fuel emergency of one year's duration.« less


Synthesis of La2O3-SiO2-B2O3 (LSB) based glass-ceramic composites using glass melting and tape-casting methods of glass powder/filler has been conducted in this study. The LSB mixture could be melted homogeneously at 1300oC. XRD result showed that some LSB glass systems were entirely amorphous. Among those glasses, LSB3 glass (molar ratio: La2O 3 22%, SiO2 10%, B2O3 68%) showed a superior sintering ability (∆T=115oC). The LSB/mullite (LSBM) glass-ceramics (with a mass ratio of 60/40) composite could be sintered at a low temperature of 760oC, giving an optimal sintered density of 3.39 g/cm3, and porosity less than 0.5 %, which matched the requirements for the low-temperature-cofired- ceramics (LTCC) application. Moreover, dispersive behavior of the L3 glass powder with six kinds of commercial dispersants in MEK and toluene solvents had been studied. Toluene and RE-610 (with an addition of 1.0 mass % to the glass) were found to be the optimal system to L3 glass powder. Furthermore, the investigation on crystal phase formation and microstructure analysis of the LSBM was conducted. LSBM system had two crystal phases, including flaky LaBO(SiO4) crystals and bulky crystalline LaB3O6 grains when sintered above 840oC for 1 h, while the LaBO3 crystal phase was a transient phase between 800oC and 840oC. The dielectric constant (


The paper presents a new conception of the poetic art of speech genesis. The ritual and mythological unity comes out as a syncretic primordial cradle of original poetry.


iming at the high frequency data in the financial markets,based on the study of Realized Volatility and Realized covariance,the Structural change of Realized volatility has been introduced,and the correlation coefficient of "realized" volatility for the grading data has been calculated,then volatility spillover in the financial markets has been studied through testing whether the correlation coefficient of Realized volatility has significant changes around the structure point,and conducts the empirical analysis.


Abstract : Four successful tests were conducted to demonstrate the usefulness of lithium oxide as a catalyst and manganese as a fuel for the release of oxygen by the decomposition of lithium perchlorate at low temperature. The test apparatus included two stainless vessels, one to hold molten lithium perchlorate and the other the reaction vessel. The molten perchlorate was fed to the reaction vessel using dry nitrogen gas as a driver. Two tests were conducted using lithium oxide as a catalyst with the reaction chamber at 1,000 deg F. Both tests produced oxygen immediately upon introduction of 600 deg F lithium perchlorate. These tests lasted for eight and thirteen minutes. Two additional tests were conducted using a mixture of manganese and lithium oxide in the reaction vessel at 600 deg F. In both cases there was an immediate, significant temperature increase indicating oxidation of the manganese. The feed nozzle plugged during both manganese tests, most likely due to lithium perchlorate decomposition in the nozzle due to high temperature. The report includes a go forward plan for additional quantifying tests.


Objective To prepare porous bacterial cellulose-poly lactic-co-glycolic acid-hydroxyapatite scaffolds and study their properties.Methods The porous BC-PLGA-HA scaffolds were prepared by solvent casting/particulate leaching method.The morphology and the structures of the scaffolds were observed and analyzed by SEM.The tensile strength and porosity were also measured.The SEM-scanning,MTT and ALP test were done to assess the attachment,proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of Osteoblasts(MG-63) cultured on porous BC-PLGA-HA scaffolds,which was compared with those cultured on cell culture plate.Results The porous BC-PLGA-HA Scaffolds had good physical properties with(8.923 1±0.901 2) N/mm2 tensile strength and(64.73±5.65)% porosity.The SEM-scanning,MTT and ALP test showed that MG-63 cells cultured on porous BC-PLGA-HA scaffolds exhibited a higher proliferation and ALP activity.Conclusion The porous BC-PLGA-HA scaffolds has good mechanical properties,porosity and biocompatibility,so it has the potential for the use in tissue-engineering.


Chart of Terra Australis by Matthew Flinders, Commander of H.M. Sloop
"Investigator". South coast sheet V, 1798, 1802-3 (published as the Act directs by G. & W. Nicol Feb. 1st 1814).

This map includes Bass Strait, King Island, and the Furneaux Islands, along with several others. It depicts the north coast of Van Diemen's Land, including Port Dalrymple [Tamar River], and part of the south east coast of Australia including Port Philip. It also includes inset plans of Port Dalrymple and Port Philip. Paper, linen backed. Size: 88 cm x 60 cm.
Presented to Royal Society of Tasmania by T.W. Fowler 1913.
Royal Society Map Collection RS Mp/13


This work is the result of personal experiences, adding the necessity felt of giving voice to elderly people and their families about what old age itself means, motivated by the wish of expanding the elderly people comprehension of this period of life. It is a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study. As subjects, we had eleven elderly people from a suburb of Pelotas' city – Brazil, with whom we adopted a semi-structured interview, as a survey instrument. The obtained data results showed that elderly people, in the majority, do not reflect upon or plan their old ages, noticing it only in the moment that routine expressions become visible and apparent. During the survey, the marking comparisons between the term "old" as "useless, loneliness and lack of aim for life", and the word "elderly" as "respect and maturity", became evident. We considered the study a positive opportunity of reflection upon life of elderly people and their families.


The application characteristics of power industry are very consistent with the technology mode of cloud computing. Task and resource scheduling is one of the basic problems in the cloud computing environment. It is a big challenge to find the optimal solution in a limited time because of the large solution search space. To meet the need of the higher requirements for quality of service and response in the power trading cloud computing platform, a resource scheduling method is proposed based on Improved Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. Firstly, weight of particle is optimized. And then dual fitness function for particle selection strategy is proposed not only aiming at minimum completion time, but also considering quality of computing measurement. Simulation experiments show that the algorithm has a significant improvement in task completion time and resource usage.


ABSTRACT This essay argues that depictions of small craft sailing in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883) indicate an underlying crisis in the kinship structures of the age of sail as wrought by industrial capitalism's rising reliance on steamships. Theorizing an older form of "maritime kinship" and its continuation in "oceanic kinship," this essay re-evaluates the gap between late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century seafaring fiction and bridges the two through a continued connection to the sea and maintained sailing heritage. Countering a rhetoric of loss, it presents Treasure Island's nearness to the sea as highlighting an environmental interconnection that might allow us to reimagine how we relate to oceans and provide key approaches to confronting the current climate crisis.


Five automatic welding systems are currently available for commercial use, marketed by three US companies - CRC Automatic Welding Co., H.C. Price Co., and Diametrics Inc. - as well as by Belgium's S.A. Arcos Co. (the Orbimatic welding device) and France's Societe Serimer. The pioneer and leader of the field, CRC has served on 52 projects since 1969, including the 56-in. Orenburg line in the USSR. In comparison, the other systems have seen only limited activity. The Orbimatic welder has been used in the Netherlands and other Western European countries on projects with up to 42-in.-diameter pipe. The H.C. Price welder proved successful in North Sea construction and last year in Mexico's Troncal Sistema Nacional de Gas. The Diametrics welder relies on the electric flash-butt system used on large-diameter projects in the USSR. The most recent entry into the commerical market, France's Serimer completed field testing last year. Four other welders have recently been announced but are not yet commercially available.


In a survey of macroscopic, benthic, marine algae, the known distributions ofDesmotrichum undulatum, Dictyosiphon foeniculaceus, Striaria attenuata, andCallithamnion roseum along the Atlantic Coast of North America have been extended southward to Accomack County, Va. In the same region of this survey, there is a markedly seasonal alternation of species. The winter flora is composed predominantly of members in the division Phaeophyta and the summer flora is composed of a majority of species in the division Rhodophyta.


Among the invertebrates, some insects are able to produce natural silk fibres which can serve as an alternative to the threads of the spider's web. The larvae of the caddis-fly make use of a multifunctional silky floss in producing hunting nets and residential tubular structures. Many species of caddis-fly build their capture webs in fast-flowing rivers. Therefore we suggest that such fibres must be strong. However, these webs have been studied and researched previously, taking into consideration the webs' shape and the geometry of the meshes. This paper presents preliminary results concerning some of the web material's morphological properties and tensile strength. We investigated the product of silk gland coming from Hydropsyche pellucidula, which is one of the most common caddisflies in Polish lowland rivers. Our researches proved that a cross-section of caddisfly fibres is circular, with an average diameter of 10 µm. The mean tensile strength of the fibres investigated is 45 cN/tex (5.7 ⋅109 N/m2), and is comparable to the strength of most spider thread.


Over the past decade, tensions between the United States and the People's Republic of China have increased due to the situation in the South China Sea. The tensions between the two countries are the result of the Chinese military campaign in the South China Sea, which aims to execute its territorial claims over a large percentage of the region, including sovereign territories. The tensions have inevitably generated uncertainty and fear in the international community due to the possibility of a direct conflict between the two countries in the future. Considering the economic, commercial, and strategic importance of the South China Sea, the United States wants to support its regional allies to keep their legal territories unaffected, peacefully resolve disputes, and preserve the norms of international law in this area. A direct confrontation between the United States and the People's Republic of China could cause historic instability and unprecedented damage to the world. For these reasons, in this text I will analyze what options exist for the United States to counter China's territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea. For such an analysis, I will examine a strategy involving direct military conflict, a containment strategy, and an offset strategy.


As new functional requirements of products lead to the definition of more complicated shapes, reverse engineering is playing a more important role. The process consists in defining a CAD model of the object surfaces from the measurement of the real object. Reverse engineering takes advantage of new advances in noncontact measuring systems leading to a representation of the surfaces as large clouds of points. Nevertheless, scanning without path planning may affect completeness and accuracy of the measured data. This paper addresses the problem of intelligent scan planning within the context of reverse engineering. A measuring system allows us to acquire a cloud of points, which represents the first measurement of the free-form object. This incomplete and locally inaccurate cloud of points is used as a basis to generate an intelligent scan planning. A pretreatment of the point cloud is performed to determine the quality of the first scan and to find out the characteristic edges. The method relies on a voxel representation of the data. According to given thresholds of quality criteria (noise and completeness), unsatisfactory quality zones and digitizing gaps are identified. The new scan paths for an optimal digitizing are then calculated including optimal orientation search. An experimental application of the presented work is described through the digitizing of a face mask.


Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) has emerged as one of the most influential and popular conceptual frameworks for studying human action. Human behavior is guided by three types of considerations, namely: attitudes toward behavior, subjective norms, behavioral control and the formation of intentions. Spiritual intelligence is the ability of the soul that is owned by a person to establish himself as a whole which is related to awareness and willingness to face challenges (Zohar at al., 2001). Spiritual intelligence affects intentions (Hage et al., 2015). Someone who has high spiritual intelligence will influence behavior in every decision making (Sina et al., 2012). The objectives of this study are: (1) Analyze the influence of attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral control, and spiritual intelligence on intentions in marketing through e-commerce by SMEs; (2) Analyzing the influence of behavioral control and spiritual intelligence on behavior in marketing through e-commerce by SMEs; (3) Analyzing the influence of behavioral control, and spiritual intelligence on behavior and intentions as mediation in marketing through e-commerce by SMEs. Based on data at the Malang City Office of Cooperatives and SMEs, a total of 2,764 SMEs were assisted. The sample size in this study uses the formula of the number of indicators multiplied (5-10) = 18x7 = 126. While the sampling technique is Simple Random Sampling. Data analysis techniques using PLS (Partial Least Square) modeling resulted in the development of the Theory of Planned Behavior model in marketing through e-commerce by SMEs. The results of this study are attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral control, and spiritual intelligence affecting intentions. Behavioral control, spiritual intelligence, and intentions influence behavior. Behavioral control and spiritual intelligence affect the behavior of SMEs in marketing through e-commerce by SMEs in Malang City and the intention to mediate.


Sternberg (2001) defines processing modules as distinct parts that are separately modifiable—a process is separately modifiable when each of its modules can be modified without effect on other modules. Sequentially arranged process modules are "stages" and explanations aimed at decomposing complex processes into stages are "stage models." In this commentary, I look at one issue that arises for Tovey and Herdman's (2014) stage model of change perception. I argue that Tovey and Herdman's introduction of a "gating mechanism" complicates interpretation of their model as a stage model. I use Tovey and Herdman's model as a cautionary example for interpreting stage models generally.

One aspect of stage models that is sometimes underappreciated is that the process modules revealed by techniques such as the additive factors method are functions operating over epochs of time rather than functional components operating in space. Process modules are actions rather than actors (see, e.g., Townsend and Ashby, 1983; Townsend and Nozawa, 1995; Sternberg, 2001). This feature of stage models is important, as it is sometimes tempting to assume that information flow between process modules is also information flow between processing devices.

One issue with this way of thinking is that it can produce misleading accounts of how process modules relate to processing devices. There are many processor types that can carry out the same set of processing stages. Several possible relations exist for even a three-stage process, for example. A separate processor might carry out each process, the same processor might carry out every process, or there be might some complex combination of the two, where one processor carries out two processes and another processor carries out one process. To avoid confusion, stage models should avoid discussion of processor devices where possible.

The slide between process and processor descriptions of stage models is easy to make. Consider, for example, Tovey and Herdman (2014). Tovey and Herdman investigated the effects of familiarity on change perception using a 2 × 5 × 2 factorial design. They examined the effects of orientation (upright vs. inverted, set size (4, 7, 10, 13, 16) and change size (Small vs. Large) across four different experiments. In line with Rensink (2000a,b, 2002, 2005), they suggested that change perception is divided into three process modules: a pre-processing, feature extraction, and identification stage. Tovey and Herdman (2014, p. 232) proposed that an interaction between change size and orientation and change size and stimulus quality suggested that change size exerted an effect not only at the feature extraction stage but also at the identification stage of change perception. This prompted them to propose a "gating mechanism." They claimed that when changes in size are detected they are either passed on to the feature-extraction stage (assuming they are large) or retained and verified at the identification stage (assuming they are small). Figure Figure11 provides an illustration.

Figure 1

Tovey and Herdman's stage model.

Introduction of a gating mechanism, however, complicates interpretation of Tovey and Herdman's model as a serial stage model. This is because it introduces a functional property into the model. Process modules, at least traditionally understood, are not the sorts of structures that possess functional properties (e.g., the ability to channel or redirect information). They are operations carried out over successive periods of time, not physical structures with causal powers. The processor devices that carry out process modules might have functional properties, but the processing modules themselves, at least as informed by techniques such as the additive factors method, are neutral with respect to such questions (see Sternberg, 2001).

Tovey and Herdman have unduly inferred processor properties on top of process modules. Though Tovey and Herdman's model may be correct, inclusion of functional properties complicates interpretation of the model as a serial stage model. It is not that the results of Tovey and Herdman are suspect, but their interpretation of the model.

Another reason to think that Tovey and Herdman's model has slid into discussion of processing devices is the diagram provided by the model. Replicated in Figure Figure1,1, Tovey and Herdman's model places change size outside of any processing stage, residing after feature extraction but before identification. This seems to change the structure of the diagram from a flowchart to a circuit diagram, as the arrows no longer represent a succession in time of a series of processes but the flow of information from one processor to another. The problem, as Sternberg (2001) points out, is that since process modules are events in time they need to be strung together end to end, as in a flowchart. When represented as a circuit diagram—that is, as describing how processing devices are connected—stage models can misleading suggest that the process modules are, in fact, also processing devices arranged in a serial sequence; an interpretation, as mentioned, that fails to acknowledge the variety of possible relationships that might obtain between process modules and processing devices.

Tovey and Herdman might, in response, point out that change size is conceived of as factor, and that therefore its inclusion outside of the stage merely denotes where its effect is felt. Though, I am sensitive to this interpretation, my worry is that it does not satisfactorily resolve the issue. The gating mechanism is still conceived of as the change size. It therefore denotes the redirection of information from one stage to another, not only how change size influences time duration. If the model represented the effect of change size, it would have to effect the period of time as represented by the box, not the passage or succession of time as represented by the arrows.

The slide between process/processor interpretations of stage models is subtle but important. In using Tovey and Herdman's model as a representative example, I have tried to highlight the cognizance required to avoid interpretative and conceptual confusion within discussions of stage models. One way to see the current commentary, then, is not so much as a criticism but as a cautionary tale for future research.


The Islamic Revival movement is gaining members worldwide who share a desire to return to the traditional Islamic way of life with its traditional attitudes on family size. This may influence the fertility practices of women in Muslim society. This study explores the possible effects of membership in the movement on future fertility practices of educated girls in Egypt. 800 female students in Cairo drawn in equal numbers from the oldest class at the primary preparatory and secondary levels were followed for 3 years. Their average ages were 12 15 and 18. The sample was subdivided into girls who were members of the movement (41 girls) and those who were not (471). This ratio approximates the ratio of members to nonmembers in Egypt at the time of the study. The sample was controlled for age education and socioeconomic level. The attitudes of the girls were tested in 4 areas: family size employment education and population problems. Members were less likely to view education as important and those who attend universities may be more likely to seek marriage than employment upon completion of their educations. Members were more likely to feel that a woman should not work after marriage but should have children immediately. They did not advocate the use of contraceptives and were more likely to want large families. The results of the study indicate that the Islamic Revival movement may alter the future of girls who previously favored family planning and Egypt may face a greater population problem in the future.


The perceptual and cognitive structures for music recognition possessed by trained musicians and musically naive listeners were examined through a similarity judgement task. Listeners rated chord pairs for perceived musical similarity. Chord pairs were identical or different in musical structure. Timbre, an acoustical property not related to musical structure, was manipulated independently by playing chords on harpsichord and guitar. Chord pairs involved the same or different instruments. Musicians' similarity ratings were unaffected by timbre differences. Attributes related to the musical structure of the chords (e.g., pitch equivalences and component intervals) determined their ratings. In contrast, nonmusicians did not separate musical similarity from acoustical similarity and used different criteria for rating chord pairs played on same than on different instruments. These results support earlier findings (Beal and Allard, Canadian Psychological Association Convention, June, 1980) that musicians devel...


In the present paper, we discuss an obstruction theory to modify equivariant framed maps on even-dimensional compact smooth manifolds to homology equivalences by equivariant surgery. In 1974, Cappell-Shaneson already developed such obstruction theory in the nonequivariant setting. Our definition of the surgeryobstruction group presents a new aspect of Cappell-Shaneson's group in the nonequivariant setting and enables us to define directly the surgery obstructions of certain framed maps that are not necessarily connected up to the middle dimension. Using our framework defining the equivariant surgery obstruction, we prove a basic conjecture related to geometric connected sums and algebraic sums of surgery obstructions.


Termite-aided mesocarp removal of Teak fruits is an efficient pre-sowing treatment for early and enhanced germination. For termite-treatment, fruits were left heaped in open-ground infested with subterranean termites ( Odontotermes guptai ) and supplemented with dry twigs and sufficient moisture. The termites ate away entire mesocarp within 13 days leaving behind fruits with stony endocarp. Cumulative germination at 20 days after sowing in termite-treated fruits was 10.7% as compared to 3% in alternate wetting and drying (weathering) treatment for 13 days; at 45 days the corresponding figures were 45% and 17.3% respectively. Mesocarp removal also reduced seed bulk and weight considerably; when mesocarp was removed, the seed volume reduced to 33% and the seed weight to 61%. Reduction in bulk and weight reduces the seed handling costs.


Urbanization causes an increase in runoff volume and peak runoff rate from a catchment. In
addition to runoff quantity, the runoff that flows over roads, roof-tops, and parking lots in
domestic, commercial and industrial areas picks up pollutants causing deterioration in the water
quality. Detention ponds are stormwater best management practices meant to control the quantity
as well as quality of urban runoff. The aim of this work is to evaluate the risks of runoff overflow
and pollutants discharge from an extended detention dry pond. At the beginning, the risk of
runoff overflow for various pond volumes begins from zero and increases monotonically with
detention time and converges at 100% as detention time becomes very long. Also at the
beginning, the risk of pollutants discharge begins at almost 100% and decreases with increasing
detention attaining its lowest value and then increases with increasing detention. Both the runoff
overflow and pollutants discharge risks are higher at smaller pond volumes and lower at larger
pond volumes. Design of detention pond can be accomplished through the selection of
appropriate risk, and thereafter the corresponding volume and detention time can be determined.
If the design variables are not satisfactory, new values can be chosen and the whole process
repeated.


Increasing attention is being paid to racial and ethnic differences in the structure and measurement of physical health and mental health constructs. The objective of this study was to examine the reliability of four measures of physical health and mental health in a sample of 400 older (50+ years) African Americans and Caucasians. These measures are the instrumental activities of daily living and activities of daily living scales of the National Chronic Care Consortium Health Risk Appraisal Survey, the SF-12, the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale, and the John Henryism Active Coping Scale. The measures were tested by racial group. The results of factor analyses reveal that the overall reliability of each scale, as measured by Cronbach's alpha, was near or above .70. However, the item-to-scale correlations of many of these scales were low. This finding indicates that the measurement of the constructs may be different for older African Americans and Caucasians.


This article examines developments in empirical research in family therapy training since Kniskern and Gurman's (1979) review. It assesses present knowledge concerning training outcomes in marital and family therapy, evaluates research methodologies, and makes recommendations for future rearch.


ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the analysis of the COVID-19 effects on passenger shipping in Danish waters as an example and aims to analyse the differences in passenger vessel activities and emissions before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Two sets of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data for the passenger ships sailing in Danish waters associated with the whole year respectively for 2020 and 2019 are used for a comprehensive evaluation of the passenger shipping activities in the region by means of the analysis of variance and bottom-up emission models. A comparison of those results based on the two datasets shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has a major impact on cruise ships, with a significant reduction in the number of ships, average speed, and average draught. In contrast, the pandemic has a smaller impact on ferry-pax only and ferry-ro pax vessels. The effects can also be seen from the fact that, after the COVID-19 outbreak, SOx emissions from cruise ships, ferry-pax only and ferry-ro pax vessels were reduced by 50.71%, 0.51% and 0.82%, respectively. This investigation provides an important reference for policy makers in the marine environment sector.


The interaction between a premixed turbulent V-shaped flame and a lateral wall, separated by a laminar boundary layer of fresh gas, is experimentally studied. The objectives of this work are: (1) to analyze the modifications induced by the interaction on the flame topology before quenching, and (2) to investigate the evolution of the flame surface density and the mean reaction rate in the interaction zone. Laser tomography is used to study quantitatively the interaction by processing images algorithms. Results show that the wall induces an important reduction in the flame brush thickness, associated to a damping of the turbulent wrinkles. The flame front length is not reduced as mush as the flame brush thickness. The appearance of tongues of burned gas leads to a local increase of the flame front length, and thus an increase of the mean reaction rate. Profiles of the flame surface density show an increase in the maximum of Σ, corresponding to a decrease in the w rinkles amplitude and a modification in their wavelength.


A shed cave structure with a sand cushion is often used as a protective structure for rockfall disasters. Because of the randomness and unpredictability of rockfall disasters, the cushions of shed caves often suffer multiple impacts from rockfalls. Aiming at the problem of multiple impacts of rockfall, this paper uses the three-dimensional discrete element method to study the dynamic response of multiple rockfall impacts on sand cushions from different heights. Before conducting large-scale simulation studies, the input parameters in the numerical model are verified with data from laboratory experiments. Analyzing the simulation results shows that when the same point is impacted multiple times, the maximum impact force and the maximum penetration depth will increase with the number of impacts. According to the numerical results, a calculation formula of the maximum impact force that considers the number of impacts is fitted. At the same time, considering the impact response when the rockfall impacts different positions multiple times, the distance range that the subsequent impact is not affected by the previous impact is given. The significance of studying the multiple impacts of rockfalls is shown by a numerical study of rockfalls impacting a sand cushion multiple times from different heights, and it provides a reference for the design of rockfall disaster-protection structures in practical engineering.


1. Introduction.- 2. The Clockwork Universe.- 3. First Inklings of Chaos.- 4. Building the Groundwork for Understanding Chaos.- 5. Strange Attractors.- 6. The Transition to Chaos.- 7. Fractals.- 8. Chaos in the Solar System-Introduction.- 9. Chaos in the Asteroid Belt.- 10. The Strange Case of Hyperion, and Other Mysteries.- 11. Is the Solar System Stable?.- 12. Stars and Galaxies.- 13. Chaos in General Relativity, Black Holes, and Cosmology.- 14. Quantum Chaos and the Early Universe.- 15. Epilogue.


As the applications of Wireless Sensor Network are increasingly associated with the rapidly growing field of the Internet of Things, resolving the problem of precisely locating sensor nodes has become a pressing need. As a result, several location identification methodologies have been proposed to address this need. This paper proposes a machine learning-based algorithm that allows the sensor node to identify its own location accurately using a single mobile anchor node. The mobile anchor node moves along a relatively short straight path, reducing the energy consumption associated with its movement as well as the total time needed to identify the locations of all sensor nodes. The proposed machine learning model is based on the Multi-Linear Regressing model and it is trained offline, reducing the burden on the resource-constraint sensor nodes. The performance evaluation results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve location identification accuracy of less than half a meter.


This paper describes the composition of hardware and software,working principles and the functions of an intelligent metal de-tector which mainly consists of AT89S52 and linear Hall-Effect Sensor.The equipment adopts UGN3503U linear hall-effect sensor as probe to detect the magnetic field change of the centre of a search coil resulted from eddy current effect and turn this magnetic field change into voltage change.The MCU measures the peak alue of voltage and compares it with reference voltage.Then determine whether detect metal or not.In case of detection of a metallic mass,the Metal Detector provides an acoustical and optical alarm.


The present study is aimed at ascertaining the effect of oral feeding of Cannabis sativa on blood parameters and immunity in rats. Administration of Cannabis sativa was done by orogastric feeding. All the groups had free access to water and food. The experiment lasted for 28 days. At the end of the 28 days of feeding, we observed that the mean red blood cell count was 5.68±0.09 x 10 6 /mm 3 , 5.90± 0.04 x 10 6 mm 3 and 6 .38 ±0.22 x 10 6 mm 3 for control, low dose (LD) and high dose (HD) respectively. The red blood cells count in high dose was significantly higher (P<0.05) than low dose and control (P<0.01) respectively. However there was no significant difference between c ontrol and low dose. The total white blood cell count for control, LD and HD groups was 2.26±0.13 x 10 3 /mm 3 , 1.69± 0.04 x 10 3 mm 3


Financial burden from health expenditure is a serious cause of concern for low-income and developing countries. Studies have shown that low public investment in health, lack of adequate safety net mechanisms and poor quality of public health system in these countries are few basic grounds for placing high financial burden on people. In order to make both ends meet during illness, poor people resort to various alternative means. One of the popular strategies adopted is to reduce or reallocate the consumption bundle, so as to meet the medical expenditure. The impact of out of pocket (OOP) health expenditure on the consumer expenditure has immediate and direct impact especially among the poor sections of the society. This article aims to study the impact of out of pocket health expenditure on the constituents of consumer expenditure and how the composition of consumer expenditure differs with the levels of out of pocket expenditure among different consumption quintiles. The study uses IHDS household level survey data for the year 2011–2012. A mean comparison test is carried out to check whether significant difference exists in the consumption bundles of households with and without medical expenditure. A system of Engel curves is estimated with seemingly unrelated regression equation (SURE) to study the impact of out of pocket medical expenses on the consumption bundle. The results show that there exists significant difference in the share of different consumption items in the consumption bundles of households with and without out of pocket expenditure. Despite having larger share for food expenditure, poor households tend to protect the consumption of food share in the bundle. Compensation for rise in medical expenses is reflected in the reduced share of non-food expenditure items like fuel, education, entertainment, clothing and footwear. With high share of out of pocket expenditure, poor households in the states with high public health expenditure mainly reduced their education expenditure whereas consumption of most of the non-food items were reduced by poor households in low public health expenditure states.


An Arabidopsis partial male-sterile mutant was isolated from a library of mutants mutagenized by enthyl methane sulfonate(EMS)treatment.Genetic analysis indicated that the mutant was controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene named PMS15-16-2-3.Cytological observations of the anther development of pms15-16-2-3 mutant and the wild-type plant showed that the mutant middle layer degenerated later,both the tapetal cell morphology and the tetrads were abnormal,which resulted in few fertile pollen grains formed in the anther.The mutant PMS15-16-2-3 gene was mapped to a region of 28-kb in BAC T24C20 on chromosome 3 using a map-based cloning strategy.No genes involved in microspore formation were reported in this region,so we believe that PMS15-16-2-3 gene could be a new gene controlling microspore development in Arabidopsis.This work provides the basis for further molecular cloning and functional analysis of this gene in Arabidopsis pollen development.


,,planation of the cardiovascular actions of tyramine. in the present study, the vasodilator effect of tyramine was Seen immediately after the intra-arterial administration and this effect was not altered in animals pretreated with reserpine (2.5 mg kg-l, i.p. 24 h before). It was also found that repeated injection of tyramine failed to produce tachyphylaxis. All these findings suggest that released catecholamines from the storage sites are not responsible for vasodilator action of tyramine in perfused hindquarter experiments. Recently in our laboratory it was observed that in the perfused mesenteric artery preparation, tyramine (50-150 pg, i.a.) elicited a dose-dependent vasoconstrictor effect (Fig. 2). These two different actions of tyramine may be due to the structural differences in the vascular bed. The mesenteric artery preparation consists of arteries and arterioles while the hindquarter preparation comprises precapillary resistance vessels as well as intact blood vessels. These results would suggest that the action of tyramirie in the hindquarter preparation may be a balance between the direct vasoconstriction of arteriolar smooth muscle and vasodilatation of precapillary resistance vessels of the vascular bed. July 29, 1976


Research on the comparative efficacy of artificial lung ventilation in the patients with sepsis and mild acute respiratory distress syndrome under various regimens is the issue of today. The actual view on the topic being diverse, in most scientists view further research is needed. The objective of the research has been to compare the treatment outcomes of the patients with severe neurotrauma, sepsis, and mild acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), depending on whether forced ventilation with regulated volume or noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is used as the regimen of ventilation support. Materials and methods: Involved in the randomized multicenter research were 60 men (mean age 43.8+8.6 years) with craniocerebral trauma, sepsis, and mild ARDS. The patients were divided into 2 groups (30 men in each) using random distribution method. In group 1, synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation (SIMV) with regulated volume was used, whereas in group 2 continuous positive airway pressure (СPAP) was applied. Excluded from the research were those with impairment of consciousness, unstable hemodynamics, and X-ray evidence of pneumonia. In SIMV forced ventilation, respiratory volume was based on 4-6 ml/kg, the plateau level not exceeding 30 mbar, 8 mbar positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) being applied. Non-invasive lung ventilation was performed at 8 mbar PEEP, up to 15 mbar support pressure, the maximum pressure not exceeding 30 mbar. Results: In comparison with invasive lung ventilation, application of non-invasive lung ventilation in the patients with severe craniocerebral trauma, sepsis, and mild ARDS has been shown to contribute to the improvement of disease course, revealing itself in 1.32 times leukocytosis decrease, 2 times reduction in the blood serum procalcitonin content, as well as in 5 and 3 times decrease in the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonias and mortality rate, respectively. Conclusion: Our findings taken into consideration, it may be concluded that application of non-invasive lung ventilation in the patients with mild ARDS and sepsis is appropriate, this treatment technique decreasing both the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonias and mortality rate. It can be argued that the application of non-invasive lung ventilation reduces the activity of septic process.


Al-Quran affirm that human as khalifah who has right to optimize the crops. However, some other people have different meaning to interpret this potential as the exploitation of crops exaggeratedly which resulted in the loss of ecosystem balance. This unbalance causes the various damages in the earth and cause the disaster. Al Quran has warned this condition and forbids people doing consumptive-exploitation. The researcher applied thematic interpretation approach in collecting the verses of Al Quran which explain about human and its relation with the environment. This research provide suggestion to apply Eco-Theologies interpretation as the practical interpretation to make human aware about the importance of environmental conservation.


Focusing on descriptions of the land this article examines the production of space in Les Voyages aux Isles de l'Amerique (1693-1705) by J. B Labat, missionnary in the order of the Dominicans. It argues that in Labat's travel writing the narrated journey offers a double construction of a colonial space and of a self as master of the world. By privileging the direct experience of the traveling missionary through various spatial representations and practices, Labat organizes the Caribbean landscape according to a European model and domesticates nature. However, whereas such spatial construction allows for the self to emerge it is based on the exclusion of the Other. In Labat's travel account the Caribbean is constructed as a utopian space for experimentation, resembling a French garden where the colonial engineer-hero may bloom.