Photopolymerizable poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylates (PEGDM) and similar PEGDM derivatives of various molecular mass were synthesized and characterized. PEGDM hydrogels were studied as model tissue engineering scaffolds for soft tissue regeneration because PEG alone is bio-inert, but can be easily modified to become bioactive. In addition, photopolymerization of dimethacrylates are relative fast reaction, and the resulting hydrogels have been shown to be biocompatible with the unreacted methacrylates having relatively low cytotoxicity. Cells that generate cartilage, chondrocytes, encapsulated in hydrogels retain their native form and over time can generate native cartilage tissue. Despite the large number of studies currently available, there is still a lack of a clear understanding of the correlation between material properties and cell response.


The mixed ligand complexes Cd(Hsal)2(Him)2, Cd(Hsal)2(4-MeHim)2, Cd(Hsal)2(4-MeHim)4, Cd(Hsal)2(1,2-diMeim)2 (where Hsal = OHC6H4COO−, Him = imidazole, 4-MeHim = 4-methylimidazole, 1,2-diMeim = 1,2-dimethylimidazole) have been synthesized and characterized. Single-crystal X-ray structures of Cd(Hsal)2(Him)2 and Cd(Hsal)2(1,2-diMeim)2 have been obtained. Gaseous products of their pyrolysis have been investigated and thermal decomposition pathways are postulated for the complexes.


Genetic interaction and inheritance study in bitter gourd was carried out using six-generation mean analysis to determinate the types and magnitude of gene effects for yield and its attributes. The knowledge portioning to gene action and interaction, is tool for designing appropriate breeding strategy for developing varieties in bitter gourd. Four crosses, viz. DBGS-54 × DBGS-34, DBGS-2 × DBGS-34, PVGy-201 × Pusa Do Mousami and DBGS-2 × DBGS-3 were used for studying six generation (P1, P2, F1, F2, B1 and B2) model. The presence of non-allelic interaction were detected by both scaling test and joint scaling test and observed inadequacy of the additive-dominance model for all traits except vine length in cross PVGy-201 × Pusa Do Mousami.The results revealed the contribution of additive (d), dominance (h) and epistasis interaction (i, j, l) towards expression of all traits studied. In most of the characters magnitude of dominance gene effect was greater than additive gene effect suggested that recurrent selection or heterosis breeding would prove useful. Duplicate epistasis was prevalent in most of the traits like vine length, days to first female flower and fruit weight. Fruit epicarp colour and seed coat colour inheritance suggested these traits were controlled by monogenic.


Key Points Question What is the nationwide proportional change in 30-day hospital readmission among US patients with ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke between 2010 and 2015? Findings In this 6-year population-based cohort study of approximately 2 million adult patients with stroke, 13.7% of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage, 12.4% of patients with acute ischemic stroke, and 11.5% of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage were readmitted within 30 days. Among all patients with stroke, 30-day hospital readmission declined by an annual mean of 3.3% between 2010 and 2014. Meaning It seems that national estimates can be used to benchmark performance, and a temporal trend of 3.3% may be used to evaluate the effectiveness of readmission reduction strategies among patients with stroke.


The present research intents at reviewing the environmental movement within an unfinished modernity, studying the peculiarities of the phenomenon and the incorporation of everyday life in the diffusion of environmental issues. The proposal is to discuss the history of environmentalism in this socio-historical context, to then understand the relevance and possibilities in the communicative processes and then to proceed with specific examples that can illustrate the relationship of the environmental movement with everyday life in a society in which the postmodern condition highlights a still unfinished modernity, which deserves an attention.


Implementation of a novel indexing model for images with verified facial data is presented in this paper. This indexer uses histogram based clustering to select the skin color of the subject of the image, and then classify the image as such. Fuzzy based classification techniques are used to detect the skin tone of the images.


Information on commuter airline trends and aircraft developments is provided to upgrade the preliminary findings of a NASA-formed small transport aircraft technology (STAT) team, established to determine whether the agency's research and development programs could help commuter aircraft manufacturers solve technical problems related to passenger acceptance and use of 19- to 50-passenger aircraft. The results and conclusions of the full set of completed STAT studies are presented. These studies were performed by five airplane manufacturers, five engine manufacturers, and two propeller manufacturers. Those portions of NASA's overall aeronautics research and development programs which are applicable to commuter aircraft design are summarized. Areas of technology that might beneficially be expanded or initiated to aid the US commuter aircraft manufacturers in the evolution of improved aircraft for the market are suggested.


The utility model discloses a power luminous diode bracket which comprises more than one electrode leading leg and a heat sink. The utility model is characterized in that the leading legs form sheet shape; the heat sink is connected with a first electrode leading leg; the upper part of the heat sink is provided with a light reflecting cup, the inner surface of which is plated with a metal plating layer. The bracket is used for effectively quickening the thermal emission of PN junctions of the luminous diode cores, effectively increasing the luminous flux and the brightness of power luminous diodes, and increasing the luminescence efficiency of the power luminous diodes.


Network simulation of network communication design is an important step,and it is also the key to network communication performance analysis. The paper Article describes the advantages of NS2 as a free open source simulation tools in the component library,flexibility and versatility. Then it analyses the system structure,NS2 method and simulation design process. And finally it conducts an experiment on the Distiller's tail queue algorithm by NS2 and gets useful data to prove the validity of the simulation and obtains the generic methods of network communication.


Objective: This work aimed at synthesizing tridentates asymmetrical Schiff base ligands containing sulfur atom and using them for preparing metal complexes with the iron triad metals. The prepared compounds were assayed in vitro for antimicrobial potential and in vivo molluscicidal activity. Methods: The unsymmetrical tridentate Schiff bases (SL1, SL2, and SL3) were prepared using 2-aminothiophenol as primary amine and condensed with 2-carboxybenzaldehyde, 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde, and 7-formyl-8-hydroxyquinoline. These ligands were used in preparing metal complexes with iron triad metals. The synthesized Schiff base ligands and their corresponding metal complexes were characterized and their proposed structures were confirmed using different physical and spectroscopic analytical techniques. All ligands and their corresponding metal complexes were assayed against different bacterial and fungal strains using the agar disk-diffusion technique. The molluscicidal activity was performed according to the standard reported methods as cited in the literature and by observing the toxicity and lethal dose according to the WHO guidelines. Results: The synthesized ligands behave as tridentate (NOS) ligands and form mononuclear complexes with the general formula [M(SL)2] with an octahedral geometry around the central metal ion. Metal complexes were non-electrolytic in nature. The in vitro antibacterial and antifungal examination results showed weak activity of the ligands, and there was enhanced activity with the complexes. The in vivo molluscicidal activity of the tested compounds showed good activity. Conclusion: The targeted compounds were prepared successfully, characterized, and showed some biological activity but lower than the standard reference drugs.


While the duration of leaves in evergreens is not at all a new subject, very little systematic work seems to have been done toward determining durations for an extended list of evergreen species. This work was begun for the purpose of determining the leaf duration of the evergreen species of trees and shrubs in western Washington. It soon developed that the work would not be a mere cataloging of species with their accompanying leaf durations, since a very superficial examination of some of the coniferous evergreens growing under different conditions on the University campus, showed a wide but constant difference in the duration of their leaves. It was then decided to limit the species discussed to those growing under varying conditions that could be examined in the field, and to ascertain, if possible, the factors governing the duration of their leaves. The Pacific northwest is peculiarly an evergreen region. Sargent (I5) described the characteristic coniferous forests as the most luxuriant if not the most diversified on the continent. His report in the Tenth Census states that "Washington is covered with the heaviest continuous belt of forest growth in the United States. This magnificent coniferous forest extends over the slopes of the Cascade and Coast ranges, and occupies the entire drift plain surrounding the waters of Puget Sound." Evergreenness is not only characteristic of the forests, but is equally typical of the forest undergrowth, and of a large list of herbaceous species of the open fields. This is especially true of the Puget Sound region, in which the mild climate affords a practically continuous growing season. This may be one reason why many species elsewhere deciduous are here evergreen. There are, in the state of Washington, according to Frye and Rigg (2), 76 species of woody evergreens, 24 of which are gymnosperms, and 52 angiosperms. In western Washington there are 52 species, i6 of which are gymnosperms, and 36 angiosperms. Of these the writer has studied the following 9 gymnosperms and 22 angiosperms:


Stochastic simulations of cyclic three-species spatial predator-prey models are usually performed in square lattices with nearest neighbor interactions starting from random initial conditions. In this Letter we describe the results of off-lattice Lotka-Volterra stochastic simulations, showing that the emergence of spiral patterns does occur for sufficiently high values of the (conserved) total density of individuals. We also investigate the dynamics in our simulations, finding an empirical relation characterizing the dependence of the characteristic peak frequency and amplitude on the total density. Finally, we study the impact of the total density on the extinction probability, showing how a low population density may jeopardize biodiversity. Cyclic predator-prey models, so-called rock-paperscissors (RPS) models, have provided insight into some of the crucial mechanisms responsible for biodiversity [1–15] (see also [16–18] for the pioneer work by Lotka and Volterra, and May and Leonard). In their simplest version, spatial RPS models describe the space-time evolution of populations of three different species subject to nearestneighbor cyclic predator-prey interactions. Simulations of spatial RPS models are usually performed on a square lattice (see, however, [19] for other lattice configurations). In three-state versions of these models, each site is occupied by a single individual of one of the three species, and there is a conservation law for the total number of individuals, or equivalently, for the total density (these models, involving simultaneous predation and reproduction, are known as Lotka-Volterra models [16, 17]). In four-state versions each site may either be occupied by a single individual or an empty space, and the total density is, in general, no longer conserved (see [20] for a case in which the number of individuals per site can be larger than unity and [21–30] for RPS generalizations involving an arbitrary number of species). For small enough mobility rates, both three and fourstate versions of spatial RPS models have been shown to lead to the stable coexistence of all three species. However, the complex spiralling patterns, observed in stochastic simulations of four-state spatial RPS models, appear to be absent in square lattice simulations of the three-state version. Furthermore, it has been claimed in [31] (see also [32–34]) that the emergence of stable spiral patterns cannot happen in the presence of a conservation law for the total density of individuals. However, as we shall confirm in this letter, in off-lattice simulations, in which the individuals are free to move in a continuous spatial area, the emergence of spiral patterns may occur even in the presence of conservation law for the total density of individuals [35,36] (see also [37–39] for various applications of off-lattice simulations). In this letter we describe the results of off-lattice stochastic simulations of spatial RPS models, by confirming that spiral patterns may form in the case of a large enough constant total density. We shall also investigate p-1 ar X iv :1 71 0. 05 06 6v 2 [ qbi o. PE ] 1 8 A pr 2 01 8 P.P. Avelino1,2 D. Bazeia3 L. Losano3 J. Menezes1,4,5 B.F. de Oliveira6 the dynamical properties of our simulations, quantifying the dependence of the characteristic peak frequency and amplitude on the total density, and study the impact that the total density may have on the conservation of biodiversity. Off-lattice RPS simulations. – In our off-lattice stochastic simulations NA, NB and NC individuals of the species A, B and C, respectively, are initially randomly distributed on a square-shaped box of linear size L = 1 with periodic boundary conditions (NA = NB = NC = N/3 at the initial time). At each time step a randomly picked individual I of an arbitrary species S moves or preys with probability m or p = 1 −m, respectively. For the sake of definiteness, in this letter, we shall assume that both actions have the same probability of being selected (m = p = 1/2). Nevertheless, we have verified that this particular choice does not have a significant impact on our main results. Whenever mobility is selected, a random direction is chosen and the individual I moves in this direction by a distance `m. On the other hand, if predation is selected then the individual I looks for the closest prey inside a circular area of radius `p around itself and replaces it by an individual of its own species S. If no prey is found within this radius, then the action is not executed. In this letter, we shall make the reasonable assumption that the mobility and predation length scales are identical (` = `m = `p) and choose ` = 2 × 10−2 (we will later show that our main results are not affected by this specific choice). Note that, unlike in standard RPS lattice simulations, in our off-lattice simulations position swaps between neighbours never occur. A generation timescale ∆t = 1 is defined as the time necessary for N actions to be realized. In this letter we consider simulations with different values of the (constant) total density % = N/L2 in the interval [2.4× 101, 3× 105]. All simulations have a total duration of t = 1.5 × 104 generations. Spiral patterns. – Figure 1 shows snapshots taken from six of our off-lattice RPS simulations with constant total densities % = 7.0×102, 1.5×103, 3.2×103, 6.7×103, 1.4×105 and 3.0×105 (from top to bottom and left to right, respectively) after t = 104 generations. It was shown in [31], using lattice-based simulations, that spiral patterns would form only if the total density % is not conserved. However, for the off-lattice simulations described in this letter, spiral patterns may form for sufficiently large values of % even if the total is no longer conserved, as it is shown in Fig. 1. On the other hand, Fig. 1 shows that spiral formation does not take place for small values of %. If ` L and d = %−1/2 L, where d is the characteristic distance between neighbours, the size of the box does not have any significant impact on the patterns which emerge from the simulation, these being dependent essentially on the ratio q = `/d. Figure 1 shows that spiral patterns are prominent only if q > 1. For q < 1 the results Figure 1: Snapshots of our off-lattice stochastic RPS simulations after t = 104 generations, for six different values of the total density % (% = 7.0 × 102, 1.5 × 103, 3.2 × 103, 6.7 × 103, 1.4 × 105 and 3.0 × 105, from top to bottom and left to right, respectively)


High fat diet (HFD) is one cause of obesity and type 2 Diabetes and Diabetes is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. Metformin the most common drug to treat T2D reduces blood glucose levels and improves insulin sensitivity and has recently been linked to beneficial effects in cardiac surgery. Metformin has been suggested to act on complex I of the respiratory chain of mitochondria. Our aim was to analyze how high fat diet and metformin treatment influence the activities of the mitochondrial complexes of the respiratory chain. Male SD-rats were fed normal chow or a high fat diet. Animals were treated with or without Metformin. At 23 weeks of age mitochondria of heart and skeletal muscle were isolated. We analyzed individual complex activities of the respiratory chain in both, interfibrillar (IFM) and subsarcolemmal mitochondria (SSM). HFD led to increased body weight and reduced glucose tolerance. Metformin treatment improved glucose tolerance. HFD led to an increase in complex I, III, IV and combined complex I and III activity in both heart and skeletal muscle (complex I, heart IFM NC versus HFD: 28,4 ± 7,59 versus 153 ± 54,5)but did not affect complex II. With HFD, Metformin treatment led to a reduction in complex I, III and in the combination of I and III activities in all tissues (complex I + III skeletal muscle IFM HFD versus HFD-MET: 626 ± 156 versus 143 ± 71,9). Influence of Metformin was strongest in skeletal muscle IFM. Metformin had fewer effects on skeletal muscle SSM or cardiac mitochondria. With normal chow Metformin reduced activity of complex I, III and combined complex I and III respiratory chain complexes (muscle SSM, complex I, NC vs NC-MET: 373 ± 30,1 versus 244 ± 41,5). Contrary to expectations we found no reduction of complex activities with HFD. Metformin treatment slightly decreased activities of complex I in heart and skeletal muscle with HFD. However, metformin treatment in healthy animals impaired complex activities significantly. Thus, Metformin may be detrimental without proper pathological stimulus such as HFD or diabetes. These findings should be considered if general use of metformin in cardiac surgery is discussed.


An improved 3-D beach evolution model coupled with the shoreline model, named "3D-SHORE", was newly developed to estimate both the spatial bottom topography change and the shoreline change. In calculation of the shoreline change, the total longshore sediment transport rate is estimated by integrating the local sediment transport rate in the direction parallel to the shoreline from the breaking point to the run-up point. The applicabilities of the model were verified through comparisons with both the results of the movable bed laboratory experiment and the actual beach evolution. INTRODUCTION In recent years, the 3-D beach evolution model which treats only the sediment transport due to nearshore currents have been applied to many practical problems in Japan. This model, based on the depth-averaged nearshore current model, is called "Medium-term 2DH Coastal Area Model" according to de Vriend et al.(1993). The authors have presented a few attempts to quantitatively verify its field applicabilities through comparisons with the actual medium-term topographical changes around a harbor entrance during f to 5 years(e.g. Shimizu et al., 1990, 1994). This conventional 3-D beach evolution model have reached the stage of being applicable for engineering use to estimating the volume of maintenance dredging around a harbor entrance and to investigating an effective countermeasure against harbor shoaling. It is, however, difficult to estimate the shoreline change, especially shoreline retreat, because the shoreline is used to be Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd., 2-2-8 Koraku, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112, Japan. Professor, Dept. of Civil Eng., Univ. of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan.


Introduction of unsaturation adjacent to the carbonyl drastically improves the reactivity of the Zn-ProPhenol catalyzed Mannich reactions between N-carbamoyl imines and a-branched ketones. Despite only a small change in the substrate acidity, the bimetallic catalyst can preferentially recognize and activate unsaturated ketones over their fully saturated counterparts, providing a chemo-, diastereo-, and enantioselective route to valuable β-aminoketones bearing both cyclic and acyclic quaternary stereocenters, which are common motifs in numerous biologically active alkaloids. Unsaturated ketones and imines with various substitution patterns are viable substrates, and the reaction can be performed on multi-millimole scale at low catalyst loading without impacting its efficiency. More importantly, the unsaturation introduced via the nucleophile provides a useful platform for structural diversification.


While it is sensible that governments and academics endeavour to assess the effectiveness of counterterrorism policies, this article argues that it is almost impossible to measure arithmetically the outcome of counterterrorism efforts for a variety of reasons. However, this does not mean that the effect of governmental policy cannot and should not be assessed. This article argues that it is not necessarily the policy measures and their intended results as such, but much more the way in which they are presented and perceived, that determine the overall effect of the policy in question. The article introduces the concept of 'performativity', which involves the extent to which a national government, by means of its official counterterrorism policy and corresponding discourse, is successful in selling its representation of events, its set of solutions to the terrorist problem, as well as being able to set the tone for the overall discourse on terrorism and counterterrorism. Due to the distinct relation betwee...


In this study, five DNA sequences from ITS, trn H- psb A, mat K, trn L and rpo C1 gene regions were used to explore relationships of 15 conifer species in Highlands of Vietnam. All target gene segments has been cloned at size as predicted by the theory for all 15 species of conifers. Nucleotide-level change of 15 coniferous species in five gene regions showed from the highest to the lowest as follows: the ITS gene region (0.428),  the trn H- psb A region (0.378), the trn L (0.354), the mat K gene (0.192) and the rpo C1 gene (0.105). The mat K gene region showed the highest level of conservation (671 nucleotides) and the trn H- psb A gene region showed the lowest (78 nucleotides). Phylogenetic tree showed that the species in the same family are formatted in a separate evolutionary branch with bootstrap values obtained from the branching nodes of each species ranging from 52 to 97% for the ITS gene, from 50 to 100% for trn H- psb A gene region, from 66 to 100% for mat K gene region, from 50 to 100% for trn L gene region and from 57 to 100% for rpo C1 gene region. Of the three gene regions of mat K, trn L and rpo C1, the grouping of species in the same family showed the most obvious. This result suggests the three gene regions of mat K, trn L and rpo C1 could be used as barcode for the 15 conifer species in central highlands of Vietnam.


In this correspondence paper, we propose a new cooperative jamming technique for an amplify-and-forward relay network with multiple relays. Also, we propose a joint power allocation and relay selection scheme for the network with the proposed technique. The secrecy outage probability of the network is derived and a joint power allocation and relay selection problem is proposed to minimize the secrecy outage probability. By using the primal decomposition method, we divide this problem into a master problem and a subproblem each of which solution is obtained. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme for the network with the proposed technique provides lower secrecy outage probability than a conventional scheme for the network with a conventional technique.


The comparative efficacy of combination of ricobendazole with ivermectin, fenbendazole with ivermectin, ivermectin and fenbendazole alone was examined against gastrointestinal nematodes at the University Goat Farm


It has been more than four decades since "European Identity" first appeared in EEC document in 1973.Therefore,the discursive construction of the notion has undergone a long and complex process.While the representative documents of EU are the legitimate underlying file to demonstrate "European Identity" discourse pf which the systematic research is relatively barely noticed.From the horizon of "social discourse" theories,this paper focuses on sorting out the representative documents of EU,and analyses the word frequency and diachronic evolution derived from "European Identity" perception,in order to reveal the discursive legitimate progress of "European Identity" and the issues triggered from it.


Films of conjugated carbyne-like system was obtained by dehydrochlorination of poly(vinylidene chloride) (PVDC) by the two step treatments with 1,8-diazabicyclo [5,4,0]undec-7-ene (DBU). Amorphous region of PVDC was dehydrochlorinated in the proper swelling solution at the first step treatment and the crystalline region was treated in the pure solvent at the second step, so that the film shape was kept after the whole treatments. Two characteristic IR absorption bands were observed at ca. 2000 and ca. 1650 cm−1 which are assigned to stretching vibration of polyyne structure (VC=C) and that of polyene structure (VC=C), respectively. The intensity of VC=C decreased with time upon storage even under the inert atmosphere.


The aim of this article is to study the national-cultural specifics of the concept Word and peculiarities of its verbalization on the material of paremiological units of the English, Russian and Uzbek languages. The scientific novelty of the research is determined by the identification of the specific features of the verbalization of the image-bearing and evaluative components of the concept Word in the languages under consideration. The image-bearing component of the concept Word in each language is represented by metaphorical nominations, which, according to the way of reflecting cognitive thinking, are subdivided into objective, natural, ornithological and anthropomorphic. The evaluative component of the concept Word is characterized by the accentuation of evaluative component, which expressing cognitive-conceptual signs of a positive and negative character, forms the conceptual space of axiological dominants, a set of which forms a certain conceptosphere topical for a particular culture and gives opportunity of revealing the national identity of each linguoculture under consideration. As a result of the comparative and cross-cultural analysis of cognitive-conceptual features identified at the level of proverbial units, universal and national-specific features of the verbalization of the concept Word were determined. National and cultural specifics of the concept Word is determined by the peculiarities of the national perception of this concept by the representatives of the studied linguocultures in accordance with their axiological dominants. Analyzed units were compared according to the followings: a) metaphorical nominations and cognitive-conceptual features (image-bearing, evaluative) expressed by them; b) according to the degree of representation of cognitive-conceptual features in each of the languages under consideration; c) by the thematic relevance of the identified cognitive-conceptual features; d) on the basis of the presence/absence of cognitive-conceptual features in a particular linguistic culture.


Engaging students in the creation of learning resources has been demonstrated to have pedagogical benefits and lead to the creation of large repositories of learning resources which can be used to complement student learning in different ways. However, to effectively utilise a learnersourced repository of content, a selection process is needed to separate high-quality from low-quality resources as some of the resources created by students can be ineffective, inappropriate, or incorrect. A common and scalable approach to evaluating the quality of learnersourced content is to use a peer review process where students are asked to assess the quality of resources authored by their peers. However, this method poses the problem of "truth inference" since the judgements of students as experts-in-training cannot wholly be trusted. This paper presents a graph-based approach to propagate the reliability and trust using data from peer and instructor evaluations in order to simultaneously infer the quality of the learnersourced content and the reliability and trustworthiness of users in a live setting. We use empirical data from a learnersourcing system called RiPPLE to evaluate our approach. Results demonstrate that the proposed approach can propagate reliability and utilise the limited availability of instructors in spot-checking to improve the accuracy of the model compared to baseline models and the current model used in the system.


2026Background: The efficacy of dose-dense temozolomide (TMZ, 1 week on/1 week off ) in grade II gliomas is not well known and could depend on the molecular subtype. Methods: Between 2006 and 2010 a single arm phase II study on 60 patients with grade II oligodendroglial tumors was performed. Inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) age ≥ 18 years; 2) KPS ≥ 70; 3) biopsy-proven grade II oligodendroglioma or oligoastrocytoma ; 4) a measurable residual tumor after surgery. The primary endpoint was tumor response on MRI according to RANO criteria, while the secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and seizure control. Most patients (65%) had seizures. Molecular factors (IDH 1-2 mutations, 1p19q codeletion, MGMT methylation) were available in 49/60 patients (81.7%). The median number of cycles was 11 (2-18). Median follow up was 64 months (7-112). Results: Response rate was PR in 21/60 (35%) patients, minor PR (mPR) in 14/60 (23%), SD in 21/60 (35%) and PD in 4/60 (7%). Mo...


With increasing use of the E-commerce for the business over the cyber space, security threats are also increasing. The trustworthiness of the business over the internet has become critical both for the consumer as well as for the service provider. In this paper I'm going to discuss how Intelligent Agents can help to securely exchange the information while doing a transaction over the internet. I will evaluate the current techniques used by the multiple agents, especially for the agents developed for the E-commerce. Also, analysis of the agent based system in regards of their ability for tackling threats. Keywords— MAGNET (Multi AGent NEgotiation Testbed), Multi Agent System (MAS), RETSINA, SAFER


Abstract This study aims to identify the perceived impacts of tourism by residents in a community, Kusadasi, located on the Western Turkish coast. Based on a survey of 238 local residents, tourism impacts were assessed by a 33-item tourism impact scale, which measures both belief and affect toward the impact attributes. According to the mean measures, the most strong and favorable perceptions toward tourism impacts are found to be associated with economic, and social and cultural aspects of tourism, while environmental aspects are found to be the least favorable in terms of the perceived impacts of tourism. The study also identified whether there exist any significant differences between socio-demographic variables and resident's attitudes toward tourism by the analysis of variance.


Today, the media of VR and Telepresence are in their infancy and the emphasis is still on technology and engineering. But, it is not the hardware people might use that will determine whether VR becomes a powerful medium--instead, it will be the experiences that they are able to have that will drive its acceptance and impact. A critical challenge in the elaboration of these telepresence capabilities will be the development of environments that are as unpredictable and rich in interconnected processes as an actual location or experience. This paper will describe the recent development of several Virtual Experiences including: `Menagerie', an immersive Virtual Environment inhabited by virtual characters designed to respond to and interact with its users; and `The Virtual Brewery', an immersive public VR installation that provides multiple levels of interaction in an artistic interpretation of the brewing process.


We report some new results on the Anomalous Hall effect induced by the Berry phase in momentum space. Our main calculations are performed within the model of a two-dimensional electron gas with the spin-orbit interaction of Rashba type, taking into account the scattering from impurities. We demonstrate that such an "intrinsic" mechanism can really dominate but there is a competition between the geometric Berry-phaseinduced term σIIxy in the Hall conductivity and the impurity-induced term σIxy, related to the contribution of the states in the vicinity of the Fermi surface. We also show that the contribution to the Hall conductivity from the electron states close to the Fermi surface has the intrinsic property as well, and it does not vanish in the clean limit. The main effect of the impurity-related contribution is a possible change of sign of the off-diagonal conductivity. The resulting magnitude and sign of the Hall conductivity strongly depend on the electron density in the system. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Objective To understand the clinical medicine graduates competency status of Kunming Medical University in the past 5 years and provide important reference for cultivating students in medical university. Methods The questionnaire results in the relevant departments responsible person of Yunnan provincial municipal and district 26 hospitals were system analyzed by fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. Results In the past 5 years,the graduates occupation competence of clinical medicine in Kunming Medical University is good. Among them,the graduates' core competency gets the lowest score, but the graduates' post competency gets the highest score.Conclusion The graduates' core competency should be strengthened in training of doctor-patient communication skills and quality evaluation of clinical practice for medical students.


Virtual water has become the enter issue of water sciences, and has been regarded as a main countermeasures to solve risks of food security and water security. On the base of calculating the total quantity of main crop-livestock product virtual water from 1996 to 2006, this paper utilized the causal analysis of Pseudo-Gini Coefficient to decompose the regional virtual water disparities in China. The result evidenced that the livestock such as eggs, pork, beef and the crops such as the paddy, wheat, maize are the primary factors to impact the spatial disparities of the virtual water in China. Meanwhile, based on the decomposition of Theil index sequence using wavelets by different spatial scales, the conclusion showed that the whole regional inequality tend to decrease from 1996 to 2006. By the decomposition of Theil index, it shows that the dominant sources of overall regional inequality is the between-region disparities of the eight regions in China. This paper aims at offering a new method for research of the virtual water per cultivated land size and assisting the formulation of agricultural policies at national and regional levels.


Observational evidence shows that the Walker circulation (WC) in the tropical Pacific has strengthened in recent decades. In this study, we examine the WC trend for 1979–2005 and its relationship with the precipitation associated with the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) using the sea surface temperature (SST)-constrained Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) simulations of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) climate models. All of the 29 models show a strengthening of the WC trend in response to an increase in the SST zonal gradient along the equator. Despite the same SST-constrained AMIP simulations, however, a large diversity is found among the CMIP5 climate models in the magnitude of the WC trend. The relationship between the WC trend and precipitation anomalies (PRCPAs) associated with ENSO (ENSO-related PRCPAs) shows that the longitudinal position of the ENSO-related PRCPAs in the western tropical Pacific is closely related to the magnitude of the WC trend. Specifically, it is found that the strengthening of the WC trend is large (small) in the CMIP5 AMIP simulations in which the ENSO-related PRCPAs are located relatively westward (eastward) in the western tropical Pacific. Therefore, the zonal shift of the ENSO-related precipitation in the western tropical Pacific, which is associated with the climatological mean precipitation in the tropical Pacific, could play an important role in modifying the WC trend in the CMIP5 climate models.


We developed a levee health monitoring system within the UrbanFlood project funded under the EU 7th Framework Programme. A novel real-time levee health assessment Artificial Intelligence system is developed using data-driven methods. The system is implemented in the UrbanFlood early warning system. We present the application of dedicated signal processing methods for detection of leakage through the water retaining dam and subsequent analysis of the measurements collected from one of the UrbanFlood pilot levees at the Rhine river in Germany. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the organizers of the 2013 International Conference on Computational Science


British children as young as nine are eligible to board the train for a sex reassignment surgery, according to the Mail on Sunday.


MOCVD is one of the most successful technologies in the growth of group Ⅲ nitride.The selection of gallium is an important procedure in this technology.In this paper,the influence of two major gallium sources(TMGa and TEGa)on the microstructure,morphology, electronic and optic properties of the samples is discussed in details.Factors causing different influence are proposed.


Objective: Evaluation of anti-diabetic potential ofIxorapavetta in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats Methods: Diabetes was induced by thesingle dose of streptozotocin (65 mg/kg body weight i. p.) to female Wistarrats. Diabetic rats were stabilized for six day and from seventh day butenolic fraction of Ixorapavetta(BIP) was administered at a dose of 250 mg/kg, p. o. and 500 mg/kg for 3 weeks. Glibenclamide 10 mg/kg P. O. was used as a standard. The effects of BIP and standard drug on following parameters were recorded - body weight, blood glucose and various biochemical parameters like serum lipid profile eg. total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG), HDL-C, LDL-C and VLDL. At the end of the study oxidative stress markers like CAT, GSH, and lipid peroxidation were analyzed in the pancreases. Histopathological changes were studied in pancreases of representative animals of the each group. Results: Administration of butenolic fractionof Ixorapavetta(BIP) at a dose of 250 mg/kg, p. o. and 500 mg/kg, p. o did not show any significant change in blood glucose level of normoglycemic rats, whereas, oral glucose tolerance test depicted significant (P<0.001) reduction in blood glucose level at 30 to 60 min. In streptozotocininduced diabetic rats, BIP was found significantly beneficial in controlling elevated blood glucose level and serum lipid parameters. The findings were strengthening by improved antioxidant status in diabetic rats as well as protection towards pathological damage of pancreases. The results showed by 500 mg/kg of butenol fractionof Ixorapavettawere comparable with standard treatment of Glibenclamide 10 mg/kg.


According to Sivian's analysis of the acoustic resistance of small orifices a close correlation should exist between three kinds of measurable resistance in small orifices. If the losses are mainly due to the kinetic energy acquired by the air in the orifice the non‐linear acoustic resistance RN, the analogous flow resistance RF, and the analogous differential resistance RD, are related thus: RN = 12RF, RD = 2RF. The non‐linear acoustic resistance RN of orifices of 0.375 cm and 0.50 cm diameter has been obtained from plane wave transmission loss measurements made in a three‐inch tube equipped with a ρc termination. Orifice thicknesses were varied from 0.05 to 1.25 cm. In this manner RN was measurable at incident pressures greater than that required to cause a deviation from constancy in the transmission loss. It was found that, in the non‐linear region, the sound pressure of the wave transmitted by the orifice depends on the square of the incident sound pressure. This relation has been verified for incide...


Consider a decision problem whose instance is a function. Its degree of undecidability, measured by the corresponding class of the arithmetic (or Kleene-Mostowski) hierarchy hierarchy, may depend on whether the instance is a partial recursive or a primitive recursive function. A similar situation happens for results like Rice Theorem (which is false for primitive recursive functions). Classical Recursion Theory deals mainly with the properties of partial recursive functions. We study several natural decision problems related to primitive recursive functions and characterise their degree of undecidability. As an example, we show that, for primitive recursive functions, the injectivity problem is Pi^0_1-complete while the surjectivity problem is Pi_2-complete (omit superscripts from now on). We compare the degree of undecidability (measured by the level in the arithmetic hierarchy) of several primitive recursive decision problems with the corresponding problems of classical Recursion Theory. For instance, the problem "does the codomain of a function have exactly one element?" is Pi_1-complete for primitive recursive functions and belongs to the class [Delta_2 - (Sigma_1 UNION Pi_1)] for partial recursive functions. An important decision problem, "does a given primitive recursive function have at least one zero?" is studied in detail.


This article explores how Nick Stacey and John Robinson, two central figures in Anglican radicalism, navigated the tensions between their institutional embeddedness and their radical theological inspiration during the 'religious crisis' of the 1960s. These tensions operated on the level of strategy, as radicals calculated the opportunities and costs of leaving Anglican institutions, but also on the level of emotion, as radicals weighed institutional loyalties that went deep inside themselves. In the mid-1960s, Anglican radicals attempted to resolve these tensions by campaigning to transform the Church of England. By the early 1970s, however, the failure of these attempts had led to the movement's disintegration, leaving individuals to address the emotional tensions between inspiration and institution in their own particular ways. Thus Anglican radicals failed to evade the central paradox of their movement, namely that their brief moment of prominence in the early 1960s owed much to the prestige of the institution they were critiquing so influentially.


Introduction: Hypertension (HTN) is associated with inflammation and loss of structural integrity and functional impairment of the vasculature and among women carries the highest attributable risk of mortality. Circulating progenitor cells (PCs) play a key role in endothelial homoeostasis and promote vascular repair. Reductions of circulating PCs and their functional activity are associated with cardiovascular risk factors, but the relation between HTN and PCs remains unclear. Objective: To test the hypothesis that numbers of circulating PCs are related to systolic blood pressure (SBP) in women with symptoms/signs of ischemic heart disease (IHD) without obstructive CAD. Methods: Circulating PC counts were measured using flow cytometry for expression of CD34, CD133, CXCR4 and VEGFR2 epitopes on CD45med mononuclear cells from peripheral blood of 285 women enrolled in the WISE-CVD cohort. Correlation analyses were conducted between SBP and circulating PC numbers. Results: The age of these women was 60±11 years (mean±SD), 34% had a history of HTN, 10% diabetes, 10% hyperlipidemia, and 7% smoking. Higher SBP correlated with lower circulating levels of CD34+ (r=-0.19, p=0.001), CD34+/CD133+ (r=-0.20, p=0.001), CD34+/CXCR4+ (r=-0.14, p=0.01), and CD34+/CXCR4+/CD133+ (r=-0.15, p=0.01). In multivariate analysis after adjusting for CAD, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and usage of antihypertensive medications, SBP remained significantly associated with lower CD34+ (beta coefficient= -2.95, p=0.004), CD34+/CD133+ (beta coefficient= -3.48, p Conclusions: Among women with symptoms/signs of IHD without obstructive CAD, there is a significant association between SBP and reduced fraction of circulating PCs. Less circulating PCs may contribute to impaired vascular repair among women with HTN. These findings merit further investigation in other cohorts.


Abstract The report is designed to examine, analyse, and evaluate where appropriately the current Mini Cooper's marketing strategy, its digital marketing initiative, branding, and the importance of ethical values in Mini Cooper as well as other organisations. That is important for understanding of the practical applications of marketing is achieved by applying theory to them. It is determined that Mini's marketing strategy has shifted in terms of targeting and brand positioning. As previously it was an affordable iconic British car, now it has become a cool luxury car dominantly for a young segment. Its international marketing strategy is differentiated in a way that a brand is built up on the historical iconic image of Mini for the UK and associated market, but it is not associated with any values in the past for the US customers. Overall, Mini's marketing strategy is considered to be innovative, creative, and sometimes 'silly', which is of great value for its young energetic target audience. Digital marketing initiative also corresponds to the latest IT and social trends worldwide by 'digitalising' marketing initiatives and active social networking with the consumers. Brand is a core competence and 'everything' for Mini. Marketing is centered on its brand, not vice versa. An analysis of the Mini's strategy shows that it is efficient in terms of its branding strategy. Ethical values also play an important role for Mini as well as the other organisations. It is important to pursue them nowadays as it helps to support the communities and the organisations both in the same direction and with dynamic progress.


The ms. Leidensis Voss. F. 25, written in France in the late ninth or early tenth cen- tury, contains the works of Virgil and the commentary by Servius. The manuscript, which belonged to Alexandre Petau and to Queen Christina of Sweden, may have come from the Monastery of Fleury. The present paper includes an examination of its relationship with the manuscript tradi- tion of Virgil, both ancient and medieval. Study of the most interesting variants.


In order to investigate H2 rich blowout limit at different blockage ratios and flow velocities, a CFD software FLUENT was used to simulate H2 burning flow field in bluff-body burner, and the software CHEMKIN was adopted to analyze the sensitivity of each elementary reaction. Composition Probability Density Function (C-PDF) model was adopted to simulate H2 combustion field in turbulence flame. The numerical results show that reactions R2 and R9 possess the largest positive and negative temperature sensitivity. Temperature has a very important influence on these two reactions. When equivalence ratio is 1, the mixture is most ignitable, and the critical ignition temperature is 1550 K. There should be an optimal blockage ratio which can stabilize the flame best. When the blockage ratio remains unchanged, the relationship between H2 RBL and flow velocity is a logarithmic function. When the flow velocity remains unchanged, the relationship between H2 RBL and blockage ratio is a parabolic function. A complete extinction requires three phases: the temperature sudden decline in the main stream, the energy dissipation from the recirculation zone to the main stream, and the complete extinction of the flame.


The invention relates to a lead-acid storage battery plate grid and a forming surface treatment method, and belongs to the technical field of storage batteries. In the prior art, the existing punching plate grid has disadvantages of poor adhesion of lead paste, easy paste shedding during the production process, and influence on the battery performance. With the present invention, the problem in the prior art is mainly solved. The method is mainly characterized by comprising: 1, preparing a lead alloy; 2, melting the lead alloy; 3, casting a lead plate; 4, pressing a lead strip; 5, punching, wherein continuous punching is performed on the pressed lead strip to form a continuous plate grid framework structure; 6, carrying out a plate grid surface roughening treatment, wherein a roughening treatment is performed on the surface of the continuous plate grid framework structure, the roughness is 3.2-12.6, and the plate grid production is completed; and 7, coating and filling the pole plate, wherein lead paste coating and filling is performed on the plate grid framework so as to complete the pole plate production. According to the present invention, the bonding force of the punching plate grid and the lead paste can be improved, the plate grid thickness can be thinner than or equal to 1 mm, and the method is especially suitable for production of the high-power storage battery punching plate grid.


Observational detection thresholds naturally define three-dimensional volumes for gravitational lenses within which a single lens or source must fall to be detected. Integration over these detection volumes and the corresponding interior number density yields the probability of detection of single lens phenomena. Amplification and angular separation criteria are used to calculate the probability of detecting compact and isothermal lenses in Newtonian and Einstein-de Sitter cosmologies. 12 refs.


It introduced the energy regeneration principle of the invertor system, and used the TI digital signal processor TMS320F2811 to design the invertor energy regeneration system. The design divides into the hardware part and the software part. Applrcation test showed the method could save energy effectively.


When caring for special kids with neuro-development disorders, much needs to be done as there is no medical test to detect some of the special needs. The main problems faced by special kids are social skills and learning disabilities. They cannot communicate like others in the real physical world. To develop these skills a virtual imaginary world or virtual reality can be used where they will learn skills in a virtual manner. It reduces the fear of social intimacy. Augmented-Reality and Virtual-Reality are used to develop their skills and provide a platform for phobia treatments too. These technologies give the kids simple strategies that lead to awareness and acceptance of the actual physical world by stimulation in the virtual world. The use of Augmented-Reality and Virtual-Reality in the field of teaching special kids improves the concepts of understanding. Rather than learning from old or domestic teaching methods technology, where the stimulation of the actual world and the objects in it can enhance the experience of learning and understanding and implementing the knowledge or the discipline that occurred from the process in the real world without the fear of being wrong and removes the margin of the mistakes. This leads to a child having a normal and educational life. In this article proposed Feasible Virtual Reality Application for Special Kids.


(57) Abstract: tool tool adapted to be equipped with a tool disc-shaped (100) spindle (52) is supported so as to be rotated in the spindle axis (C) around the head (46), and in cooperation with the workpiece support (82), to the workpiece support member, working as the addendum of the cutting tooth to be machined (12) (18) is on the fixed reference axis (a) We arranged things (10). Tool head (46), across the reciprocating feed carriage back and forth across the reference axis (A) is along a reciprocating feed bar guide means (32) (34), also a reciprocating feed bar guide means (32) the supply feed table adapted is advanced along the feed feed bar guide means (22) Te (24), further defines the parallel pivot axis in a reciprocating feed bar guide means (32) (B) pivot the bearing means (42), and is movably supported. Tool head (46), the pivotal drive means (60), the reference axis of the surface of (A) to the cutting teeth extending parallel (12) from the normal position for machining, the inclined surfaces of the cutting teeth (12) and the inclined position for machining, it is possible pivotal about a pivot axis (B). Distance working surface of the tool (100) (106) is spaced from the pivot axis (B) (X) can be measured by measuring means (108). Numerical control means (98) is supplied feed bar (24) is the spacing of the pivot axis from a reference axis (A) (B) is equal to the distance (X) when the tool (100) is in the normal position position with selecting the tool head (46) to ensure that select each correction position when in the tilted position.


The damping of the effective value of the cosmological constant by an unstable scalar field is investigated. It is shown that an instability induced by coupling to spacetime curvature can cause cosmological-constant-damping behavior which reduces the present-day value of the cosmological constant to a value which is consistent with observation. It is also shown that localized distributions of matter such as stars need not be unstable in the presence of such unstable fields.


Purpose - This paper considers borrower-specific characteristics to understand the factors affecting both the probability and quantum of loan default by individual borrowers under Islamic and Conventional banking. Design/methodology/approach - Borrower-specific characteristics that explain the probability of default may not necessarily be similar factors that determine the quantum of default. We therefore apply a Box-Cox double hurdle model to treat both the probability and quantum of default in a two-step approach. We also explain the differences in default risk and quantum of default between Islamic and Conventional banking borrowers from their behavioral perspectives following the Sharia principles in financial transactions between lenders and borrowers. We use borrower-specific information of two separate bank branches of the United Arab Emirates that solely deal with either Islamic or Conventional banking products. Findings - The paper demonstrates that the probability of default and the quantum of default appear to be influenced by different set of client-specific factors. The results suggest that the probability of default does not vary significantly between Islamic and conventional banking borrowers. The evidence also shows that Islamic banking defaulters, compared to those in Conventional banking, repay a large quantum of overdue when their financial leverage improves. However, they do not tend to reduce their outstanding quantum of overdue faster than Conventional banking defaulters. Research limitations/implications - Availability of data from only two bank branches may limit the explanatory power of empirical findings Practical implications - The study findings will enable the Islamic and Conventional banks to appropriately address Basel Capital requirements based on the borrowers' behavior. Originality/value - Religious beliefs are crucial in borrower's default behavior in Islamic banking.


Judicious repair maintenance of machine components subject to extreme wear conditions is always a pain to industry, especially when technology/ process clarity is not available. In the present article, the wear of the digestor screw in pulp and paper mills is discussed, from the angle of stipulating low-cost maintenance solution. Using three options, viz., electric arc welding, TIG welding and thermal spray (HVOF) processes were considered for repair and evaluated by characterizing wear (weight loss data). The performance of latter was considered the best and it was concluded that components sections which encountered maximum wear could be thermal sprayed. If, however, a larger build up was desired, the cheaper process of electric welding could be used as the electric welding and TIG welding responded better when higher layer processes were deployed evaluated to a maximum of three layers.


Abstract New samples of Pb(Fe1–xInx)2/3W1/3O3 solid solutions were synthesized for the first time by the ceramic technology and detail of X-ray and dielectric studies were carried out. It was established that in the concentration region 0 < x < 0.12 the obtained samples are practically single-phase and represent perovskite solid solutions. The temperature and frequency dependences of the dielectric properties of the obtained solid solutions were firstly studied. It was found that the samples exhibit the characteristics of ferroelectrics-relaxor with pronounced maxima of dielectric permeability at Tm = 175–200 K, the position of which is shifted with increasing frequency towards high temperatures. Substitution of Fe for In in the solid solutions lowers the maximum value of dielectric permeability (from ∼4700 at x = 0 to ∼3700 at x = 0.10) without significantly changing its peak position on the temperature scale.


LBA4009 Background: Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and mitomycin-C (MMC) is standard treatment for anal cancer. This trial addresses two questions: whether (i) replacing MMC with cisplatin (CDDP) improves the complete response (CR) rate, and (ii) two cycles of maintenance chemotherapy after CRT reduces recurrence.

METHODS
Between 2001 and 2008, 940 patients (pts) were recruited to a multicenter, randomized factorial trial. Pts received 5-FU (1,000mg/m2/day on d1-4 and 29-32), radiotherapy (RT) (50.4Gy in 28 fractions), and either MMC (12mg/m2, d1; n=471) or CDDP (60mg/m2 on d1 and 29; n=469). Pts were also randomized to receive maintenance therapy (n=448) 4 weeks after CRT (two cycles of CDDP and 5-FU weeks 11 and 14) or no maintenance (n=446). Maintenance randomization was not considered appropriate in 46 pts. Statistical power was ≥80% to detect a difference in the CR rate of 5% (CDDP vs MMC), and 30% reduction in recurrence (maintenance vs no maintenance).

RESULTS
Median age 58 yrs; 62% male, 38% female; tumor site - canal (81%), margin (15%); stage T1-T2 (50%), T3-T4 (43%); node negative (62%), positive (30%). Median follow-up was 3 yrs. The CR rate was 94% MMC and 95% CDDP (p=0.53). MMC pts had more acute grade 3/4 haematological toxicities (25 vs 13%, p<0.001) but this did not result in an increase in neutropaenic sepsis (3.1 vs 3.2%, p=0.93). Non-haematologic grade 3/4 toxicities were similar (61 vs 65%, p=0.22). Preliminary analysis shows no statistically significant difference in recurrence free survival (RFS) (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.68, 1.18; p=0.42) or overall survival (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.56,1.12; p=0.19) for the maintenance comparison. The number of pre-treatment colostomies not reversed were similar between treatments (18 MMC vs 14 CDDP, p=0.65, Maint/No maint, p=0.23) and only 9 disease-free pts had colostomies performed (5 MMC, 4 CDDP).

CONCLUSIONS
ACT II is the largest trial conducted in anal cancer. High CR (95%) and RFS (75% at 3 yrs) rates were achieved with this CRT. This excellent outcome may have been influenced by the absence of a gap in the RT schedule. There was no difference in CR rates between MMC and CDDP or in RFS rates with or without maintenance chemotherapy. 5-FU, MMC with RT remains the standard of care. [Table: see text].


A well-designed and properly operated building automation and control system (BACS) is key to attaining energy-efficient operation and optimal indoor conditions. In this study, three healthcare facilities of a different type, age, and use are considered as case studies to investigate the functionalities of BACS in providing optimal air quality and thermal comfort. IBACSA, the first-of-its-kind instrument for BACS assessment and smartness evaluation, is used to evaluate the current systems and their control functionalities. The BACS assessment is reported and analyzed. Then, three packages of improvements were implemented in the three cases, focusing on (1) technical systems enhancement, (2) indoor air quality and comfort, and (3) energy efficiency. It was found that the ventilation system domain is the best performer in the three considered cases with an overall score of 52%, 89% and 91% in Case A, B, and C, respectively. On the other hand, domestic hot water domain scores are relatively low, indicating that this is an area where Danish healthcare facilities need to provide more concentration on. A key finding indicated by the assessment performed is that the three buildings score relatively very low when it comes to the impact criteria of energy flexibility and storage.


This book presents an analysis of a non-retention policy in Primary Education in Brazil called as Cycles of Learning and its implementation in a sample of Brazilian primary schools. The policy investigated was designed to reduce retention and dropout rates and age/grade mismatch, provide students with more time to learn and ultimately create a more inclusive educational system. The theoretical framework used in the thesis is based on the 'policy cycle'' approach developed by Stephen Ball and his colleagues and Basil Bernstein''s theories of recontextualisation and pedagogies. The data, which are largely qualitative, derive from interviews with policy makers and analysis of policy documents. The research also involved qualitative investigation of four primary schools, consisting of interviews with 20 teachers and eight heads and observations of classrooms and schools'' activities. Overall the research has found that the policy''s implementation has been contested and patchy. This book demonstrates the need to analyse the mode of implementation and the nature of the policy itself so that the process of reform can be better understood.


themselves in need of critical ammunition when defending their area of research, such pointed remarks risk annoying rather than convincing skeptical readers. Even so, the book as a whole makes a strong case in favor of taking fantasy (and fantasy scholarship) seriously. With these few exceptions, however, Attebery's text is neither defensive nor confrontational but insightful, informative, and accessible. It successfully encourages readers to learn more about the cultural appropriation of myths other than those of North America and Australia—about, for instance, the angels in Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, the layering of myths in Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood, or the invented mythologies in multivolume fantasy series. Attebery has clearly chosen his examples to provide a starting point for readers who wish to continue with their own inquiries. That the examples also reflect his own tastes and interests is, after all, only to be expected. Stories About Stories is a book that shows deep care for its subject and offers useful tools for further studies to anyone interested in the theory and history of fantasy or the literary application of myths.


Currently, the attention of the medical community to a non-invasive method of laboratory diagnostics - the study of oral fluid (oral, saliva, saliva test) in various fields of clinical medicine and mainly in adult patients has been updated. Saliva testing has shown good results, especially in the areas of genomics, microbiomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and transcriptomics. The review presents the possibilities of using a non-invasive method for infectious and non-infectious diseases in children. Saliva contains a wide range of protein DNA and RNA biomarkers that help detect many viral infections in children. Oral fluid tests for human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus have improved access to diagnostics for infants. Both serological and molecular analyzes of the oral fluid are suitable for routine examination and early detection of measles virus RNA, polyomaviruses. Angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor expression was found in the saliva of children with COVID-19, which can be used to diagnose SARS-CoV-2. The saliva test is as effective as the standard test at identifying asymptomatic individuals in contact tracing. The possibilities of saliva diagnostics are positively assessed in transplantology. New biomarkers in saliva have been identified for the diagnosis of many somatic diseases in children. The role of oral fluid as an alternative to blood serum in patients with terminal renal failure, chronic kidney disease (determination of creatinine, urea) in both adults and children is shown. The data obtained may influence the recommendations for the treatment of patients. As a non-invasive method, the study of oral fluid is promising for the diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring of diseases, large-scale typing of children, and the search for new biomarkers.


Claire Auzias, Political Generations ; Are political generations historical spaces of memory and forgetting ? Far from being a simple aspect of years of crisis, the social act of forgetting has a long history of political practice. Political generations are themselves the products of memory and forgetfulness.


Objective To observe the clinic effect of LiuWeiDiHuang Pill combined with periodental non-surgical treatment on periodontitis patients with deficiency of kidney "Qi".Methods80 periodontitis patients with deficiency of kidney "Qi" were randomly divided into two groups.The patients in test group were given LiuWeiDiHuang Pills and periodental non-surgical treatment.Other patients in control group were only given periodental non-surgical treatment.The periodontal indexes such as PLI,GI,PD and AL were measured before treatment and after 6 months therapy respectively.ResultsBefore the treatment,the periodontal indexes showed no significant difference(P0.05).While re-examined 6 months later,PLI and AL had significant difference between the two groups(P0.001).ConclusionLiuWeiDiHuang Pill combined with periodental non-surgical treatment is effective in the treatment of periodontitis patients with deficiency of kidney"Qi".


In the renal cortex of guinea fowl, cortical and juxta-medullary renal corpuscles were observed. The intermediate renal corpuscles could not be noticed. The cortical renal corpuscles were distributed throughout the cortex but concentrated more in the periphery of the cortex. The cortical renal corpuscles were found to be numerous than that of juxtamedullary corpuscles in guinea fowl. Proximal convoluted tubules of nephrons were distributed throughout the cortex along with other segments of nephrons. The brush border of the proximal convoluted tubules was positive to PAS along with the basement membrane of cells, in all age groups studied except in day-old. Further, the microanatomical studies of other components of nephrons in the cortex were discussed.


The Founder of Homeopathy Homeopathy's roots emerge from the findings, teachings and writings of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), a German physician. Hahnemann first coined the word "homeopathy" ("homoios" in Greek means similar, "pathos" means suffering) to refer to the pharmacological principle, the law of similars that is its basis. Actually, the law of similars was previously described by Hippocrates and Paracelsus and was utilized by many cultures, including the Mayans, Chinese, Greeks, Native American Indians, and Asian Indians, but it was Hahnemann who codified the law of similars into a systematic medical science.


The of Montana will restore the confluence of Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers following the removal of the Milltown Dam and some of the contaminated sediments located there. The Restoration Plan for the Clark Fork River and Blackfoot River Near Milltown Dam - October 2005, describes the restoration actions that are currently being planned (WestWater Consulting et al., 2005). In order for the restoration activities to occur, a portion of the project needs to be integrated with the EPA Superfund remedy for the Milltown Reservoir Sediments Operable Unit (USEPA, 2004). EPA, the State of Montana, ARCO, Northwestern, and Envirocon all participated in this integration process through the negotiation of the consent decree and it's attachments, principally the Statement of Work, which outlines who will implement various aspects of the remedial and restoration actions (Envirocon, 2005). The integration limits full restoration of all the natural river processes, but this is a concession that is outweighed by the benefits and cost savings of integration. All river and stream restoration projects have site constraints, e.g., landownership, roads, property lines, etc. The Milltown restoration project's integration with remediation results in additional constraints beyond the typical ones: legal constraints required by a consent decree, contaminated material remaining within the restoration work area, geographic limits to the project area, and negotiated actions. In order, to be successful the State and the other natural resource trustees have established goals and objectives for this project that considers the integration.


*Corresponding author: Won-Il Choi, MD Department of Internal Medicine, Keimyung University School of Medicine, 194 Dongsan-dong, Jung-gu, Daegu 700-712, Korea Tel: +82-53-250-7572 Fax: +82-53-250-7434 E-mail: email@example.com Purpose: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Its incidence after pulmonary embolism and associated risk factors in the Korean population are not well documented. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to assess the incidence of symptomatic CTEPH in patients with an acute episode of pulmonary embolism without prior history of venous thromboembolism. Patients experiencing unexplained persistent dyspnea during follow-up underwent transthoracic echocardiography, ventilation–perfusion lung scanning and computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiography. CTEPH was considered to be present if estimated systolic pulmonary-artery pressure exceeded 40 mm Hg with evidence of thromboembolism on either ventilation-perfusion scanning or CT pulmonary angiography. Results: The cumulative incidence of symptomatic CTEPH was 1.9 percent at six months, 3.2 percent at one year, and 3.9 percent at three years. One case of recurrence after three years was noted among the patients with more than three years of follow-up data. Conclusion: CTEPH is a not uncommon disease and suggests the need for careful evaluation of pulmonary embolism during follow-up.


Baclground
Due to increasing
number of patients treated by cardiac
implantable electronic devices we observe
increasing number of complications
after these procedures

Material and methods
We analysed
causes of early surgical revision of
implantable devices connected with
1673 procedures of implantation
(871 procedures) or exchange (802
procedures) of pacing systems (PM),
cardioverter-difibrillators (ICD) and
resynchronisation systems (CRT) in
one local centre of electrotherapy in
years 2012 to 2015. We characterised
risk factors and its influence on encountered
complications.

Results
In analysed period 72
reinterventions after implantations
or exchanges of PM/ICD/CRT were
performed. Main causes of early
complications were: lead malfunction
(2.5%), including the dislodgement of
the leads in 1.9%, pocket hematoma
(1.4%) and other abnormalities of the
pocket (0.4 %), including pocket infections
in 0.2%. The most important risk
factors of early complications were
often implantations of the leads with
passive fixation and anticoagulation
therapy in perioperative period.

Conclusions
The knowledge of
the early complications after implantations
and exchanges of PM/ICD/CRT
should improve the safety of procedures
through more often used of the
leads with active fixation and properly
preparation of the patients requering
the antithrombic therapy.


Abstract Concepts and processes of benchmarking are briefly discussed. Studies in this special issue are reviewed, and the future collaborations in the hospitality and tourism sector are suggested to perform better by benchmarking the best practices.


'Digital opera' can be characterised as a bourgeoning operatic form that emerges naturally from digital culture. Qualifying works interrogate how key features of traditional opera are retained or transformed when entirely mediated. One significant area of exploration in this context is the operatic voice as conveyor of human expression. This paper presents a new, and potentially rich mode of vocal expressivity in opera: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR). ASMR is a neologism that describes a tingling sensation, often in the scalp or spine, that occurs in response to auditory stimuli such as the whispering of plosive consonants. The paper articulates the intersection between ASMR and opera using the locative opera game, Fragments as a personal case study. It describes the ASMR-led compositional approach, notation system, and recording techniques deployed in Fragments to advance a profound sense of connection between the player, and the opera's protagonist.


Design patterns, a common discussion topic in software development teams in the world and one of the techniques to support software reuse, is used to develop statistical packages JavaStat and StatGraphics. Several well-known patterns used to implement statistical methods or algorithms are introduced. In addition, based on these patterns, a new pattern, referred to as Data Analysis, is proposed to help the statisticians develop code for data analysis. The applications of the proposed pattern are demonstrated via several examples. In addition, how design patterns can provide a solution deployed in R is also discussed via illustrative examples.


Background: Using grafts in order to facilitate peripheral nerve regeneration, it is important to consider immune system stimulation, flexibility and strain bearing. Success is mainly due to Schwann cells, growth factors and the extracellular matrix. Since endogenous Schwann cells are not sufficient, exogenously cultured cells play an essential role in axonal regeneration, especially in peripheral locations. Methods: Two grafting techniques were compared including venous grafts with and without Schwann cells in rats during a 4-month period of time. Results: Grafts containing Schwann cells showed 8-times greater motion power compared to the control group. Conclusion: It seems Schwann cells play a crucial role in axonal regeneration and repair in the peripheral nervous system.


(1938). Food Habits of Sixth- and Seventh-Grade Pupils in Ten Elementary Schools of Chicago. Research Quarterly. American Association for Health and Physical Education: Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 75-80.


The ever increasing demand for very high data rate multimedia services such as audio, video, image and data requires the technologies which make use of the available electromagnetic resources in the most intellectual manner. Multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) is one of the best techniques to meet the requirements of next generation wireless mobile communication systems. MC-CDMA system combines the benefit of both orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technique and code division multiple access scheme (CDMA). It offers high spectral efficiency, high data rate, low transmit power, lower implementation complexity, large system capacity and narrowband interference rejection capability. Direct conversion receivers in multi-carrier systems are very sensitive to carrier frequency offset (CFO), gain and phase offsets called IQ imbalances. CFO leads to loss of orthogonality among the subcarriers resulting in intercarrier interference (ICI). IQ imbalance will cause severe degradation in the detection accuracy. To reduce the ICI and to improve the demodulation accuracy, a receiver phase rotated conjugate cancellation (RPRCC) using joint iterative CFO& IQ imbalance estimation and compensation algorithm is proposed in this work. Simulation results show that the proposed method provides better carrier to interference ratio (CIR) and bit error rate (BER) performance compared to phase rotated conjugate cancellation (PRCC) without CFO and IQ compensation and conventional conjugate cancellation (CC) techniques.


A common approach for the quantitative analysis of a generalized stochastic Petri net (GSPN) is to generate its entire state space and then solve the corresponding continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) numerically. This analysis often suffers from two major problems: the state space explosion and the stiffness of the CTMC. In this paper we present parallel algorithms for shared-memory machines that attempt to alleviate both of these difficulties: the large main memory capacity of a multiprocessor can be utilized and long computation times are reduced by efficient parallelization. The algorithms comprise both CTMC construction and numerical steady-state solution. We give experimental results obtained with a Convex SPP1600 shared-memory multiprocessor that show the behavior of the algorithms and the parallel speedups obtained.


Event synopsis: It is crucial to start imagining today the possible – as well as the desirable – roles for higher education in tomorrow's societies.

The OECD/France conference Higher Education to 2030 was held on 8 and 9 December in Paris with a view to present and discuss possible and desirable futures for higher education. The event drew on analytical findings and stakeholder consultations carried out in the framework of the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) project on the Future of Higher Education, with a particular focus on globalisation as well as on higher education participation, access and expansion. Future challenges and opportunities related to demographic change and use of new technologies were also explored. The first volume Demography of the new OECD book series entitled Higher Education to 2030 was lauched on this occasion.

The conference was opened on 8 December by high-level keynote speeches by OECD Deputy Secretary-General Mario Amano, European Commissioner Jan Figel, UK Minister of State David Lammy, UNESCO's Assistant Director-General Nicholas Burnett and Daniel Vitry, Director at the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. Portuguese Secretary of State Manuel Heitor made a presentation at the concluding session on 9 December.
Overall, the conference was rich of insightful and forward-looking presentations by prominent international experts and major stakeholders in the field of higher education. The following specific questions were addressed:
What kind of policy options and opportunities could be used to respond to the main challenges for future higher education access, attainment and achievement?
How does higher education expansion influence the reduction of social inequalities?
How could the future challenges of higher education financing be met?
In what different ways may globalisation influence the role and the governance of future higher education?


In Spain, few studies have been carried out to explore the erosion caused by processes other than interrill and rill erosion, such as gully and ephemeral gully erosion, especially because most of the available studies have evaluated the erosion at the plot scale. A study was undertaken into the environmental and economic impact of different soil management strategies, spontaneous grass cover with and without gully control (SC/SCGC) or conventional tillage with and without gully control (T/TGC), based on the experimental results obtained in an 6.1 ha olive crop microcatchment. Initially, two years of rainfall-runoff-sediment load data series, (34 events) recorded under the current management (SCGC), was used for the calibration of the AnnAGNPS model at event and monthly scales providing suitable adjustments of runoff, peak flow and sediment loads (E >70, r >0.85). Ephemeral gullies were also identified using aerial orthophotography and field work. The module of the AnnAGNPS model for simulating ephemeral gully generation and the tillage operations based on a bibliographical review were used to compare different scenarios and to perform a 10 year-analysis. The results showed mean runoff coefficients of 10.0% for SC/SCGC and of 3.2% for T/TGC while the average sediment loads were 2.0 t.ha-1year-1 (SCGC), 3.5 t.ha-1year-1 (SC), 3.3 t.ha-1year-1 (TGC) and 4 t.ha-1year-1 (T). Significant differences in sediment sources (rill/inter-rill erosion and ephemeral gullies) were evaluated between SC (46% of gully contribution) and T (19% of gully contribution), in order to optimize the environmental and economic effort required in each case. Finally, the annual costs associated with soil losses were estimated (< 1 C.ha-1year-1). SC was the most profitable alternative for soil management. Despite the additional reduction in soil losses of the SCGC approach, the higher cost of its implementation and the minor effect on yield losses in the medium term suggest that without additional support (such as subsidies for gully control measures), farmers would have not an obvious incentive to use it.


The research actuality and development of roller module replacement technology are talked over in this paper. Positioning scheme of one plane and two pins with the special rounded edge diamond pin that is suitable for the longer roller is discussed, which is meeting the parallelism tolerance requirement for the roller within the full length; thus reducing manufacturing tolerance requirement for the spacing between pin axes and reducing manufacturing difficulty. And on this basis, adaptable interface design of roller module rapid replacement system which is suitable for the longer roller has been completed. The invention patent on the roller module rapid replacement system has already been applied for, and the precise positioning of roller module can be realized.


Many timing laboratories are currently employing Two-way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer technique to compare their respective time scales and contribute to the Coordinated Universal Time calculated monthly by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). It is not unusual to implement multiple TWSTFT stations or install multiple modems to ensure redundancy. Some SATRE (SAtellite Time and Ranging Equipment) modems, which are widely used in this context, are manufactured with expansion slots for multiple signal receiving (RX) modules, increasing the capability for redundancy. In this case, it would be useful to characterize the different delays introduced between modems and between their RX modules, if applicable, in order to switch devices in the event of a module or system failure while maintaining service continuity and calibration results. This work presents the preliminary measurement results of the delays of various SATRE modems used: #079 and #416 at INRIM and #077 and #321 at LNESYRTE (OP).


From getting out of speculative kingdom and solving the problem,Marx is different from other philosophers.He denies the basic principle through the thinking mode revolutionary transformation which the traditional ontology presents argument.That is,the revolutionary changes of Marx's philosophy prominently manifests in from the entity asking to relationship thinking.


Abraham Lincoln's "Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions," taken with his contemporaneous "Address to the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society," presents a coherent view of the role of science in a democratic society. While often read either as a celebration of technology or as only a subtle condemnation of slavery, these speeches are best understood in the context of an antebellum divide between Whigs and Democrats about science and technology. Lincoln's deft deployment of biblical language in "Discoveries and Inventions" suggests that he shared the Whig concern about the social effects of unconstrained technology.


The invention relates to a synthesis method of palmitoyl amino acid sodium in the surfactant field, in particular relates to a method for preparing palmitoyl amino acid sodium by using palmitoyl chloride synthesized by a phosgene method. The synthesis method comprises the following steps: by taking palmitic acid and phosgene as raw materials, preparing palmitoyl chloride through reaction in the presence of an organic amide catalyst; dropwise adding palmitoyl chloride in an amino acid alkaline solution to obtain palmitoyl amino acid through reaction; and dissolving obtained palmitoyl amino acid with ethanol and adding the ethanol solution of sodium hydroxide to finally obtain palmitoyl amino acid sodium. In the synthesis method, a lot of phosphorus-containing wastewater is not produced even though phosphorus trichloride is used as a chlorination agent; sulfur dioxide generated by a thionyl chloride method can heavily pollute the environment; and the synthesis method reasonable in process, high in reaction yield and good in product quality, and the product does not contain residual phosphorus and sulfur and can be widely used in high-end anti-aging cosmetics.


The isophorone diiocyanate(IPDI) and polycaprolactone(PCL ) were used to prepare water-borne polyurethane(WPU) by copolymerization method and blending method,and the WPU was modified byγ-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane(IPTS).The effects of IPTS content on the thermal and mechanical properties of WPU were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis(TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry(DSC).The experiment results showed that the waterproof ability,heat resistant, hardness and impact resistance of WPU were all improved when the addition quantity of IPTS was lower than 3.0 g/100 g,whether the blending method or copolymerization method was applied,but the properties of WPU by the copolymerization method were better.


Public opinion must change if green consumerism is to be promoted and making this change will be easier with an understanding of society's movement toward green consumption. Businesses can benefit from this adjustment and make their processes and products more sustainable and eliminate any kind of waste. This study uses sentiment analysis to determine social media's contribution to the promotion of sustainability. It intends to quantify public attitudes toward green consumption and identify significant points of attitude shift by applying text mining and deep learning algorithms on structural and semi-structured data from YouTube. Long Short-Term Memory, Support Vector Machines and Random Forest algorithms were used in this study. In addition, class-wise performance was measured. The keywords related to ecofriendly consumption were selected and then a class-wise performance analysis was performed related to each word structure. Encouraging sustainability and sustainable consumption by businesses can be very beneficial for them. In this way, companies will be able to strengthen both their own and their country's resilience with a sustainable economy


In this study, Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis mini-transposon5 lacZ1 mutant strains induced under iron starvation were analyzed. Inverse polymerase chain reaction (IPCR) was used to isolate iron starvation-induced DNA fragments upstream of mini-Tn5 (containing a promoter-less lacZ gene) insertion in S. entericasubsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis mutants showing β-galactosidase activity during growth in Fe3+-deprived media. Out of ten mutant strains analyzed, four (Ez188, Ez477, Ez1819 and Ez2508) were induced during growth in the presence of the iron chelator, 2,2'-dipyridyl. IPCR products of Ez188 and Ez2508 were reamplified by nested PCR. Sequence analysis of the Ez188 PCR product revealed that a putative xylanase gene was induced under iron starvation conditions.

 Key words: Salmonella mutants, iron starvation, induced, genes, putative xylanase.


Information transmission device which comprises: an n-bit data input (104; 306) for an actual to be transmitted n-bit data word; and an interface (110) having a first input (106) for a valid data word, a second input (112) for a data mask signal that of the actually indicating a Verwerfbarkeit to be transmitted n-bit data word, and an output (114); and a Datenbitinversionsmodul (102; 312) with the n-bit data input (104; 306) is coupled and having a to the first input (106) coupled to the m-bit data output for a m-bit data word, wherein the m -bit data word includes an n-bit output data word and an inversion signal, wherein the n-bit output data word is either inverted or not inverted relative to the actual to be transmitted n-bit data word and the inversion signal indicating the inversion or non-inversion, such that a number of zeros or ones in the bits of the m-bit data word is within a predetermined range, wherein the interface is adapted to a function of the data mask signal, the data word or a data word by a outside the predetermined ...


Flipped learning is basically a pedagogical model that reverses classroom activities. Materials or contents are provided online (in learning management systems or other learning platforms) and students will study the material prior to the lesson. Therefore, classroom time can be used to engage in activities such as problem-solving, discussion, and analysis. This study is an extended study of a previous research which explored the effects of the flipped learning approach in a grammar classroom. For this study, the focus is shifted to the grammatical errors made by students in their video presentation during the flipped learning session. The analysis of the findings showed that students' grammar errors are mainly on missed formation errors, addition error, omission error, and lastly, improper ordering. The findings of this study give ESL practitioners a better insight into student errors and should lead to improved grammar usage in the classroom through blended learning.


Pentaquark states have been extensively investigated theoretically in the context of the constituent quark model. In this paper results of an experimental search for pentaquarks in the Ξ − π − , Ξ − π þ , ¯ Ξ þ π − and ¯ Ξ þ π þ invariant mass spectra in proton-proton interactions at ffiffiffi s p ¼ 17 . 3 GeV are presented. Previous possible evidence from the NA49 collaboration of the existence of a narrow Ξ − baryon resonance in p þ p interactions is not confirmed with almost 10 times greater event statistics. The search was performed using the NA61/SHINE detector which reuses the main components of the NA49 apparatus. No signal was observed with either the selection cuts of NA49 or newly optimized cuts.


Tile \(\mathbb{R}^2\) into disjoint unit squares \(\{S_k\}_{k \geq 0}\) with the origin being the centre of \(S_0\) and say that \(S_i\) and \(S_j\) are star adjacent if they share a corner and plus adjacent if they share an edge. Every square is either vacant or occupied. Star and plus connected components containing the origin have been previously studied using unicoherence and interface graphs. In this paper, we use the structure of the outermost boundaries derived in Ganesan (2015) to alternately obtain duality between star and plus connected components in the following sense: There is a plus connected cycle of vacant squares attached to surrounding the finite star connected component containing the origin. There is a star connected cycle of vacant squares attached to and surrounding the finite plus connected component containing the origin.


This study aims to highlight the importance of topsoil in human life from the viewpoint of daily rice consumption in Japan. A questionnaire on rice and/or soil was distributed to elementary, junior high, and high school students and university students in order to investigate how much they know about soil and its importance. The results were reported using an earlier study (Hirai and Hirai, 2015). The findings revealed that most of the students recognized the soil function of plant production, but few recognized the area of paddy fields required to produce the amount of average rice consumed per person per year in Japan. In order to convey the importance of topsoil, an interactive class on “rice” was conducted with students in October 2019, as part of a soil education program. Before it, a rice hill with topsoil of 15 cm was taken from a paddy rice field and kept in a plastic container. We chose rice as the topic because Japanese students can easily relate to it. Students were told that to produce 150 g of edible rice, 70 g of dried rice is used. As part of an activity, they were asked to: 1) Count grains in 2 g of dried rice, and then calculate the number of grains in 70 g dried rice, 2) Observe a rice hill with topsoil , 3) Count the number of panicles of the rice plant and the number of rice hull in a panicle, 4) Multiply the number of rice hull with the panicle number to obtain the total number of rice hulls, and 5) Measure the total area and the weight of the topsoil. Thus, the students could understand how many rice hills with topsoil of 15 cm depth with a certain area are required to produce 150 g of edible rice. The students were also asked to touch and feel the soil and the rice plants, following a presentation about their learnings and findings. After this activity, a lecture from a professor of soil science was delivered. Moreover, the following questionnaire survey was conducted before and after the soil educational program aiming at recognizing the importance of soil. The number of participating students was 19, consisting of 5th and 6th graders of primary school and 1st to 3rd graders of junior high school. The following questions were asked: Q1. Would you like to have places with soil around where you live? Q2. If you prefer to have a place with soil around, what are the reasons behind it? Q3. Would you like to know more about soil? The number of students who answered Q2 with “because having a place with soil stops groundwater from drying up” increased from 5 to 15 after the program. In case of Q3, the number of students who answered “I would like to know as much as possible” increased from 10 to 18. Moreover, it is noteworthy that attendants stressed on touching the soil and measuring the area under rice plant cultivation.


A script language "msharpmath" or "cemmath" that can be downloaded from www.msharpmath.com has been successful to handle mathematical equations in engineering and mathematics. It is here extended to solve thermal problems. Although the example problems are limited to very simple geometries, the possibility of growing as a commerical code can be acknowledged.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


A method for providing adaptive control of the flow of a plurality of ejector valves arranged in close proximity to each other in a sorting machine is described. The method comprises measuring a temporal response curve for each ejector valve, comparing the measured temporal response curve for each ejector valve to a library set of previously stored temporal response curves, determining from the comparison a predicted flow for each ejector valve, and adapting a drive signal for each ejector valve in dependence on the predicted flow. Temporal response curves may be measured and compared in a calibration (non-sorting) mode, and real-time feedback of the measured temporal responses in a sorting mode may be used to indicate health of a valve and to further adapt the drive signal to provide conformal performance. The number of neighbouring ejector valves may also be taken into account.


LED lighting as one kind of new lighting source,with environmental protection,safety and high reliability etc..In order to make it are widely used in the Tibet area,taking into account the Tibetan family decoration practices and beliefs of Tibetan whisk,based on Tibetan teacup holder and lotus appearance,design with rich ethnic characteristics of optically controlled LED lotus lamp design and implementation.This paper mainly on optically controlled LED lotus lamp internal circuit design is introduced.


Field experiment with yielding of maize hybrids of different maturity group depending on the sowing density was carried out in 2009–2011 in the Department of Agronomy at the Poznań University of Life Sciences, in the fields of Experimental Station in Swadzim. The aim of this trial was to study the response of selected maize hybrids to different sowing density, especially in the appearing drought periods. Tested hybrids were yielding at the same level from 9.88 to 12.11 t∙ha-1 in 2009 and from 6.79 to 7.13 t∙ha-1 in 2010, with the exception of the early hybrid PR39D60, which grain yield was significantly lowest in both years. Under less favorable conditions, with periodic water shortage in August 2009, and April and June 2010 the yield reached the highest value (10.73 and 6.86 t∙ha-1 respectively) at density of 7 plants∙m-2 was decreasing significantly with increasing density to 10 plants∙m-2. In 2011, the year in which the water needs of plants were met, there was a tendency to yield at a higher level at higher sowing densities.


The present invention relates to a device acceleration, pressure or the like for measuring the micromechanical. It comprises a substrate having at least one fixed electrode, a movable inertial mass disposed at the substrate, a ground electrode disposed at least at the inertial mass and the inertial mass to the initial position of the reset mechanism, in which fixed electrode and the ground electrode are designed in a measurement plane, for measuring acceleration of the measurement plane, pressure or the like, and wherein the stationary electrode and the ground electrode is designed to measure the perpendicular to the measurement plane the acceleration acting on the inertial mass, pressure or the like. The present invention also relates to a corresponding method and a corresponding use.