33 Impact of Barrett's Esophagus on Inpatient Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized with Atrial Fibrillation Yi Jiang, MD, Konstantinos Damiris, DO, Salil Chowdhury, BSc, Ahmed Ahmed, DO, Umair Nasir DO, Sushil Ahlawat, MD 1Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Internal Medicine 2Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology Introduction Barrett's esophagus (BE) is a metaplastic change of the distal esophageal lining resulting from chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Previous studies have suggested that GERD plays a pivotal role in triggering atrial fibrillation (Afib). This study aimed to exam the impact of BE on the outcomes of patients hospitalized with Afib. Methods The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database was used to identify patients admitted for Afib with BE in 20102014. The primary outcomes were hospital mortality, length of stay, disposition status and total hospital charges. Secondary outcomes measured include acute stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) and acute heart failure. Results 11,953 patients were admitted for Afib with BE. The average age of patients having Afib with BE was 72.8 years old, 60.8% were male and 87.1% were Caucasian. Compared to Afib patients without BE, Afib with BE patients had a greater prevalence of concomitant dyslipidemia, aortic atherosclerosis, prior PCI, tobacco use, chronic liver disease (CLD) and chronic pulmonary disease (CPD) (p< 0.05). There was no difference in the Elixhauser comorbidity index score, CHA2DS2-VASC Score between the two groups. After adjusting for confounders, patients with Afib and BE had less incidence of acute heart failure (aOR 0.72, p< 0.001, 95% CI 0.59-0.87), less hospital mortality (aOR 0.63, p< 0.01, 95% CI 0.46-0.87), and were more likely to have routine disposition (aOR 1.30, p< 0.0001, 95% CI 1.23-1.38). No significant difference in acute stroke/TIA events, length of stay, and total hospital charges were seen between the two groups. Discussion Despite patients with Afib and BE having greater prevalence of concomitant dyslipidemia, aortic atherosclerosis, prior PCI, tobacco use, CLD and CPD, hospitalized patients develop less acute stroke/TIA and acute heart failure leading to favorable hospital outcomes. This can suggest that the autonomic activity and local inflammatory responses seen with GERD are hindered by these metaplastic changes in BE.


Although there is a potential demand for customizing voices, most customization is limited to the visual appearance of a figure (e.g., avatars). To better understand the users' need, we first conducted an online survey with 104 participants. Then we conducted a semi-structured interview with a prototype with 14 participants to identify design considerations for supporting voice customization. The results show that there is a desire for voice customization especially for non-face-to-face conversations with someone unfamiliar. In addition, the findings revealed that different voices are favored for different contexts from a better version of one's own voice for improving delivery to a completely different voice for securing identity. As future work, we plan to extend this study by investigating voice synthesis techniques for end-users who wish to design their own voices for various contexts.


We compare the tunneling behavior of artificial Y(Ho)BaCuO- based HTS-I-HTS trilayers with our previous data obtained in YBaCuO/Pb junctions with natural barriers. Y2O3, SrTiO3 and PrBa2Cu3O7-(delta ) have been used as insulating layers in the HTS-based heterostructures that, investigated by X-ray and HREM TEM analysis, all showed good structural properties. However, we cannot exclude spurious effects due to the critical interface formation with the Y(Ho)BaCuO superconducting electrodes in the tunneling characteristics of the Y2O3, SrTiO3 trilayers. For the YBa2Cu3O7-(delta )/PrBa2Cu3O7- (delta )/HoBa2Cu3O7-(delta ) junctions, we have found quasi-ideal conductance characteristics with maxima at V equals plus or minus 40 mV. These values well relate to the plus or minus 20 mV structures measured in YBaCuO/Pb junctions with natural barriers. The low values of the G(O)/G(100 mV) approximately equals 0.05 and the flat background conductances measured in the artificial junctions, seem to confirm better defined interfaces in these structures with CuO2 planes facing the barrier insulating layer.


The present invention relates to an electrochemical device using an organic-metal complex compound capable of performing an aqueous solution process and, specifically, to an electrochemical device comprising a lower substrate, an anode, a solid electrolyte, a cathode, and an upper substrate, which are sequentially layered, wherein the solid electrolyte is an organic-metal complex compound.


Recently, Cohen and Vandembroucq proved that the reduced topological complexity of the Klein bottle is 4. Simultaneously and independently, we announced a proof of the same result. Mistakes were found in our argument, which was quite different than theirs. After correcting these, we found that our description of the obstruction class agreed with theirs. Our approach to showing that this obstruction is nonzero failed to do so, while theirs did not fail. Here we discuss our approach, which deals more directly with the simplicial structure of the Klein bottle.


An intuitive physical mechanism for single attosecond pulse generation in multi-cycle pulse regime is proposed. We suggest that the continuum spectra of HHG can be controlled through the modulation of carrier wave, while keeping the multi-cycle envelope unchanged approximately. By increasing the time interval between the adjacent maximum return kinetic energy peaks, the kinetic energy of the side peaks will be apparently suppressed by the multi-cycle envelope. The photons with energies near the cutoff burst only at the pulse center with high coherence, which contribute to the generation of single attosecond pulse. We verify this mechanism by using a multi-cycle tri-color pulse as driver field.


HIV-1 contzins highly structured motifs in its RNA genome. One element refered to as TAR (Trans-Activation Responsive element) is implicated in the transactivation of viral transcription when interacting with regulatory factors. In the laboratory, we use routinely in vitro selections (SELEX) to select high affinity ligands against the TAR element. An RNA aptamer called R06 which interact tightly and specifically with TAR RNA by forming a so-called kissing complex was identified. Peptid in vitro selection by "mRNA display" and phage display were driven against TAR RNA. Beside, the efficiency of this aptamer in a cellular context was evaluated. On the one hand we expressed R06 into cells by targetting three compartments, namely, cytoplasm, nucleus and nucleolus. On the other hand, the evaluation of a HNA-modified version of R06 aptamer was conducted for the interaction with TAR RNA and for the ability to inhibit transactivation of transcription in vitro and in cellulo.


Cost-related issues and limitations of the current technology are important thresholds of 3G+ services. Privacy and security are not critical. Benefits are enhanced communication features, flexibility with respect to the user's location and the time of day, and convenience and handiness of small, wireless mobile devices.


This paper presents information about a theoretical model that provides different interpretations for the correlation between family wealth and tertiary education enrollment; the empirical model; a description of data sources and the main variables used in the analysis.


What were the occasions, objects, and grounds for praise and blame on Aristotle's view? Aristotle's views about praise and blame (έπαινος και ψόγος) are expressed in their clearest and most sophisticated form in Nicomachean Ethics III, Chapters \ — 5, and illuminated by further remarks in the Politics and Rhetoric.* These views have been obscured somewhat by inadequate interpretations of a key distinction advanced along with them, the distinction between acting or reacting in the way Aristotle calls εκών or εκουσίως and acting or reacting in the opposite way, άκων or ακουσίως. The object of this essay is to illuminate Aristotle's views on praise and blame. This will require, among other things, removing the obscurity of the distinction between εκών and άκων which figures so prominently in Aristotle's explanation of those views.


A method of improving map data using positioning data with time stamps received from a plurality of devices provided with GPS, said map data comprising a plurality of navigable sections representing sections of a navigable route in the area covered by the map. , each section having a speed information associated with it or that can be deduced immediately from a property of it that specifies a category of the road represented by said section, comprising the method: i. processing of the positioning data, using the map data and the time stamp, to obtain measured velocity data and the assigned time at which they are associated with most if not all of the navigable sections within said map data, ii. categorize the measured velocity data in a plurality of predetermined time periods of said navigable sections; and iii. averaging the measured velocity data within each predetermined period of time in order to generate a profile of measured velocities of the majority if not of all navigable sections; characterized in that the method also includes the following steps: iv. group the measured speed profiles of sections that have similar speed profiles identifying the similarities between the speed profiles measured in such a way to provide various speed profiles generated by the group regardless of the category of the road; and V. Associate the velocity profiles generated by the group with the map data.


The development of a sound management and staff compensation plan is crucial for business success. This study assesses the relevance of strategic compensation in developing countries by investigating the strategic compensation practise in Malaysian five-star hotels. Focusing on managerial and non-managerial employees, it finds that there is considerable variation in the
extent of strategic compensation adoption in these hotels despite the similarities of their target market, star rating and external environment. The adoption of strategic compensation also varies within the hotels to match the system with employees' perceived strategic value. While some
hotels adopt compensation based on seniority, others compensate managerial employees based on performance with some preference for the later. Although the findings raises some issues which requires future quantitative research, the present findings provide some suggestions on how to improve the compensation systems for five-star beach resort hotels in Malaysia and potentially in other countries with similar environment such as Thailand and Indonesia.


Abstract : A dual-energy radiographic technique is reported which could significantly enhance the corrosion detection and damage assessment capabilities of any radiometric system. Digital radiographs taken at two different effective energies are manipulated in such a way as to greatly improve the conspicuity of detail in the image by reducing the amount of structural noise present. The improved sensitivity offered by the method can be traded for an equivalent detectability at a much lower dose level, an important consideration for on-board or in-situ inspections. In addition, an important consideration when foreign material is present. Results indicate that the effective atomic number of unknown contaminants can be determined to better than 3% absolute error. Keywords: Photoelectricity; Nondestructive testing; Software development; Experimental data.


This paper presents a five-order Butterworth low-pass filter with DC offset cancellation (DCOC) for WLAN Applications in a 65-nm CMOS process. The low-pass filter employs transconductance cell instead of conventional two-stage amplifiers to avoid internal poles which may otherwise cause the reduction of GBW. In order to achieve an appropriate 1-dB bandwidth of the integral filter, extra parasitic capacitances have been carefully considered. The proposed LPF achieves a maximal 1-dB bandwidth up to 80MHz with tunable gain and bandwidth. The LPF consume 4.2mA of current from a 1.2V power supply. A superior 1dB compression point of -2.57dBm is also achieved while with a noise figure of 27.55dB at 20MHz as a result of a good balance between linearity and noise.


Application of the mathematical structure of classical dynamics to the theory of value will provide a formulation of the theory of economic motion in which growth theory and price theory merge. Here only problems of the theory of value will be modelled. The labor saving principle provides a basis for study of questions of price theory. Ever since Leon Walras [1960] first advocated the application of mechanical methods to elucidate the central problems of value and economic motion, economists have been intrigued by the idea and explored its possibilities in representing particular economic problems (see, e.g.) Amoroso [1940], Magill [1970], or Cass and Shell [1976]. Making use of these methods we shall define here a principle of labor saving which bears a resemblance to the variational principles of mechanics, as treated by Lanczos [1957]. By way of illustration the labor theory of value will be used in the form of a dynamic Leontief-type linear economy. This schematic case in point, however, only serves as an example. The framework of the analysis, its formalism, is applicable to far more general cases of nonlinear relations and, what is more, it is only in this broader domain that the advantages of the new approach become apparent.


the inquirw that but loss of an extent which definitely was excessive four complete cal curettage; no abnormality three different hamatinics, each gastric hysterectomy, haemoglobin concentra- tion ferrous citrate haemoglobin 13.6 g. and menstrual loss within the original normal"


The aim of this paper is to identify antecedents to supplier integration in China. A deductive approach was deployed by building on a qualitative pre-study and various strands of SCM literature. All in all, 14 hypotheses were derived and subsequently tested by drawing on an empirical sample collected from 88 manufacturing firms operating in China. The data was then analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) analysis. The results indicated that supplier integration was positively influenced by collaborative supplier capabilities, continuous supplier development, and supplier quality mindset. These in turn proved to be sequentially influenced by supplier top management support, buyer-side leadership effectiveness and internal support.


Abstract : Dynamic current/voltage characteristics are calculated for silicon diodes at microwave frequencies. Forward and reverse half cycles are studied separately. Little current flows unless the forward half period exceeds the carrier transit time; then, as the frequency decreases, the peak forward current increases essentially linearly with the half period, until the dc value is attained. Avalanche multiplication is noted in the forward direction at about one half of the reverse breakdown voltage. Below the reverse breakdown voltage, the current consists solely of the stored forward charge. Above the reverse breakdown voltage, the peak current has a maximum at a frequency which depends on the diode width and temperature. (Author)


Objective:To inquire the value of calcification by molybdenum target mammography in diagnosing breast cancer.Methods:Calcification had been found on mammogram and verified by pathology or biopsy in 116 cases of breast cancer and 40 cases of benign breast lesions,then,the characteristics of calcification with eight indexes between benign lesions and malignant lesions were compared.Results:The calcification of breast benign and malignant lesions in terms of shape,size of point,number,average density,density or not,degree of concentration, and distribution existed significant difference(P0.05).Among them,degree of concentration,shape,average density and size of point,were particularly significant difference(P0.001).But,whether the size was consistent or not,there existed no significant difference(P0.05).Conclusion:The X-ray features of calcification plays an important role in the diagnosis of breast cancer.


We performed a multiwavelength study toward the infrared dark cloud (IRDC) G34.43+0.24. New maps of 13CO J = 1–0 and C18O J = 1–0 were obtained from the Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) 13.7 m radio telescope. At 8 μm (Spitzer-IRAC), IRDC G34.43+0.24 appears to be a dark filament extended by 18′ along the north–south direction. Based on the association with the 870 μm and C18O J = 1–0 emission, we suggest that IRDC G34.43+0.24 should not be 18′ in length, but extend to 34′. IRDC G34.43+0.24 contains some massive protostars, UC H ii regions, and infrared bubbles. The spatial extend of IRDC G34.43+0.24 is about 37 pc, assuming a distance of 3.7 kpc. IRDC G34.43+0.24 has a linear mass density of ∼1.6 × 103 M⊙ pc−1, which is roughly consistent with its critical mass to length ratio. The turbulent motion may help stabilize the filament against the radial collapse. Both infrared bubbles N61 and N62 show a ringlike structure at 8 μm. In particular, N61 has a double-shell structure that has expanded into IRDC G34.43+0.24. The outer shell is traced by 8 μm and 13CO J = 1–0 emission, while the inner shell is traced by 24 μm and 20 cm emission. We suggest that the outer shell (9.9 × 105 years) is created by the expansion of H ii region G34.172+0.175, while the inner shell (4.1 ∼ 6.3 × 105 years) may be produced by the energetic stellar wind of its central massive star. From the GLIMPSE I catalog, we selected some Class I sources with an age of ∼105 years. These Class I sources are clustered along the filamentary molecular cloud.


Summary Background: A rule-based system, the Braden Scale based Automated Risk Assessment Tool (BART), was developed to assess risk for pressure ulcer in a previous study. However, the BART illustrated two major areas in need of improvement, which were: 1) the enhancement of decision rules and 2) validation of generalizability to increase performance of BART. Objectives: To enhance decision rules and validate generalizability of the enhanced BART. Method: Two layers of decision rule enhancement were performed: 1) finding additional data items with the experts and 2) validating logics of decision rules utilizing a guideline modeling language. To refine the decision rules of the BART further, a survey study was conducted to ascertain the operational level of patient status description of the Braden Scale. The enhanced BART (BART2) was designed to assess levels of pressure ulcer risk of patients (N = 99) whose data were collected by the nurses. The patients' level of pressure ulcer risk was assessed by the nurses using a Braden Scale, by an expert using a Braden Scale, and by the automatic BART2 electronic risk assessment. SPSS statistical software version 20 (IBM, 2011) was used to test the agreement between the three different risk assessments performed on each patient. Results: The level of agreement between the BART2 and the expert pressure ulcer assessments was "very good (0.83)". The sensitivity and the specificity of the BART2 were 86.8% and 90.3% respectively. Conclusion: This study illustrated successful enhancement of decision rules and increased general-izability and performance of the BART2. Although the BART2 showed a "very good" level of agreement (kappa = 0.83) with an expert, the data reveal a need to improve the moisture parameter of the Braden Scale. Once the moisture parameter has been improved, BART2 will improve the quality of care, while accurately identifying the patients at risk for pressure ulcers. Citation: Choi J, Kim H. Enhancement of Decision Rules to Increase Generalizability and Performance of the Rule-Based System Assessing Risk for Pressure Ulcer. Appl Clin Inf 2013; 4: 251–266 http://dx.doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2012-12-RA-0056


This study examined the association between employee perceptions of two foci of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and work attitudes in different countries. Using data collected as part of a multinational research project with a core team in the United States, we found that perceptions of externally focused CSR enactment were positively associated with employee engagement and affective commitment. Perceptions of internally focused CSR enactment were positively associated with affective commitment but not with employee engagement. Analyses across countries revealed more cultural than economic differences. For example, perceptions of internally focused CSR enactment were consistently associated with affective commitment across cultural contexts, indicating that they might serve as a general foundation for building commitment. Perceptions of externally focused CSR were more strongly associated with affective commitment in Anglo than in Confucian and Latin American countries, suggesting a need for country-specific tailoring. Based on these results, we provided recommendations for planning and implementation of CSR.


Traditionally, the accuracy requirements demanded by high quality integrated filters could only be satisfied by full-custom fabrication. Recent developments in analogue FPGA facilities present opportunities to a wider community of designers for commercial realisation of integrated circuit filters suited to a reasonable range of applications. Software to support filter design within the overall facility enables easy access to standard filtering functions. It is hoped to provide advanced features for more sophisticated design as the facility develops. (7 pages)


This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to investigate whether asthma exacerbations, oral corticosteroid use or asthma severity are associated with prematurity and intrauterine growth restriction. Cohort studies published between 1975 and March 11, 2012 were considered for inclusion. 138 publications were identified for possible inclusion, and nine papers met the inclusion criteria, by reporting perinatal outcomes of interest (low birth weight, <2500 g), pre-term birth (<37 weeks gestation unless otherwise stated) and small for gestational age (<10th percentile for gestational age and sex) in groups of asthmatic patients stratified by history of exacerbations, oral corticosteroid use or asthma severity. Maternal asthma exacerbations and oral corticosteroid use had a significant effect on outcomes, including low birth weight (RR 3.02, 95% CI 1.87–4.89 and RR 1.41, 95% CI 1.04–1.93, respectively) and pre-term delivery (RR 1.54, 95% CI 0.89–2.69 and RR 1.51, 95% CI 1.15–1.98, respectively). Moderate-to-severe asthma during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of small for gestational age (RR 1.24, 95% CI 1.15–1.35) and low birth weight (RR 1.15, 95% CI 1.05–1.26) infants. These data suggest that asthma exacerbations, oral corticosteroid use or asthma severity defined as moderate-to-severe may be associated with pre-term delivery, low birth weight, and small for gestational age infants. Further studies on the effect of maternal asthma control on perinatal outcomes are warranted.


The aim of this study is to determine the impact of the ratio of sown areas and own production of agricultural products on the food independence of the Jewish Autonomous Region in 2005-2020.
Material and methods. The authors, in carrying out a comparative analysis of the dynamic series on the indicators of the land area by type of land and indicators of agricultural production, used the economic-statistical method, the method of analysis and synthesis, as well as methods of vertical and horizontal analysis.
Results. The data obtained indicate a decrease in the indicators of agricultural production on the territory of the subject. It is determined that the indicators of agricultural areas remain unchanged. At the same time, in 2020 there is a significant increase in the sown areas from 87.2 thousand hectares to 136.1 thousand hectares. However, when considering the indicators of own production of agricultural products, there is clearly a steady trend, with a general decline in indicators in 2020 compared with 2005, which forms a low level of food independence


The use of pesticides for pest repellent can trigger the risk of cancer and degenerative diseases for certain groups. The interaction of genetic and environmental (GxE) to be crucial for the case of pesticide intoxication. Knowing the role of genetic factors could be a way of preventing the incidence of intoxication from harmful chemicals pesticides through meta-analysis studies explore the differences between the groups of workers who are at risk with resesive alleles and non-alleles resesive. Statistically significant difference was found in the value of the odds ratio (OR) of 1.6 (CI 0.99-1.02) Keywords: Pesticide; biotransformation; genetic; environment


The high temperature of the power battery will affect its performance. Therefore, based on CFD simulation analysis method, the influence of cooling medium flow rate, cooling medium temperature and cooling plate material on the cooling effect of liquid cooling system of lithium ion battery is studied, and a cooling medium flow channel structure that can significantly improve its cooling performance. The simulation results show that improving the cooling medium inlet flow velocity and decreasing the cooling medium inlet temperature can lower the maximum temperature of the battery module, but it is disadvantageous to sustained cooling and temperature difference control; The overall impact of the cooling medium material on the maximum temperature of the battery is all within 0.4°C; After optimizing the battery module, the maximum temperature is reduced by 1.2%, the maximum temperature difference is reduced by 2.1%, and the cooling performance is effectively improved.


The present report is a milestone of a project on the acoustic characteristics of Danish road surfaces in the DRI-DWW noise abatement program.The basis of the analyses is data from CPX-measurements made in 2004 and 2005 by a Dutch consultant on request from DWW and measurements of vehicle pass-by noise and of road sur-face texture carried out by DRI and others.The report contains a table of typical ranges of CPXL-values for vari-ous types of road surfaces. CPXL-levels at older surfaces were higher than the levels on new surfaces and for dense asphalt concrete an increase in CPXL-value of 1 dB after 6 - 9 years could be identified.There was a fairly straight 1:1 relation between CPXL and the pass-by level Lveh from passenger cars with CPXL being 20 dB higher than Lveh at 7.5 m distance and a height of 1.2 m.There was a trend for an overall increase in CPXL of 1 - 2 dB when the nominal maximum aggregate size increased from 8 mm to 11 mm.


The meat cattle and goats were fed by Guicao 1 to study the effects on their gaining ability, economic benefit and goat meat characters by using the feeding test and slaughter determination method. The results showed that the daily gain rate and net profit/(head·day) of cattle and goat fed by Guicao 1 increased by 69.80% and 73.49%, and 1.42 Yuan and 0.19 Yuan compared with CK fed by crop straws respectively,and goat meat weight, muscle weight, slaughter rate and lean meat percentage is higher than CK.


Objectives: To assess the quality of reporting of clinical trials published in five leading Sri Lankan medical journals. Methods: Six medical journals were hand searched for clinical trials published from 1982 to 2011. Eligible criteria were all randomized and non-randomized clinicaltrialsconductedinhumans.AchecklistwasdevelopedbasedonCONSORT and TREND recommendations. Each study was independently evaluated by two reviewers.Outcomemeasureswerepresenceofchecklistitemsinpublishedreports. Results: Fifteen randomized and 24 non-randomized parallel group trials from 724 studies in five journals met the inclusion criteria. Out of 39 trials, 39 (97%) clearly described the objectives, 16 (41%) defined the periods of recruitment, 7 (18%) reported how sample size was determined, 10 (25.6%) reported the methods to enhance the quality of measurements, 20 (51%) reported baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of each group, 4 (10%) showedflowdiagrams, 23 (69%) reportedstatisticalmethodsusedtocomparegroupsforprimaryoutcomes,21(54%) reported effect size, 4 (10%) reported its precision, and 20 (51%) interpreted the resultsinthecontextofcurrentevidence,and5(13%)describedthegeneralizability of the findings. Of the 15 randomized trials, only one (7%) reported sequence generation, 5 (33%) allocation concealment, 9 (60%) reported blinding status of participants or investigators, and 2 (13%) reported intention to treat analysis. Conclusions: Reporting of several essential recommendations remained suboptimal. Education and training of trial methods and awareness of the CONSORT and TREND statements and more attention to the quality of reporting may improve matters.


This paper investigates the variability of raindrop size distribution (DSD) and particularly, the role of specific drop sizes in rain integral parameters at a tropical location. Rain DSDs for the years 2006-2007 at Ahmedabad (23°04' N, 72°38' E) have been measured using a Disdrometer. Variability of DSD is evaluated and its effect on the integral rain parameters like radar reflectivity, rainfall intensity and attenuation are examined. It is observed that drops with diameter around 4 mm contribute maximum to the radar reflectivity while drops having diameter 3 mm contribute maximum to the rainfall intensity for the present location. Further, a strong effect due to variability of critical drop diameter is observed on rain rate and rain attenuation but the effect is found to be less pronounced on radar reflectivity.


voted to the philosophical problem of free will and the various types of limitation imposed upon free will as conceived by the most eminent thinkers in the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth, its interest and application lie in the theological controversies which were rooted in these divergent views. The radical extremes between which all other definitions of free will move are the absolute determinism of Luther


Introduction. Increased competition on the global capital market encourages companies to use marketing tools to stand out from competitors and thus have higher chances of investments attraction. The purpose of the article is to improve the theoretical and methodological foundations of regional logistics clusters formation, and to develop scientific and practical recommendations on the investment attractiveness of diversified enterprises in the aviation cluster of low-budget transportation.
Aim and tasks. The purpose of the article is to improve the theoretical and methodological foundations of regional transport and logistics clusters, and to develop scientific and practical recommendations on the investment attractiveness of diversified enterprises in the aviation cluster of low-budget transportation.
Results. Modern conditions of economic development are characterized by accelerating globalization and intensifying competition not only between companies and countries, but also between regions. The competitiveness of Ukraine consists of the competitiveness of the regions, which is formed by active development of economic entities in the respective regions. The competitiveness is characterized by support and development of clusters by consolidating the efforts of the state, business, science and education in priority areas of the regional economy. Besides private investment and commercial loans, the traditional sources of funding for the airport development programs are local budget support and loans, which are targeted at public financing of investment projects. In order to attract private (foreign) investments in airport development it is important to abide to several standards, including liberal administrative and tax policies of both local and public authorities, which encourage private investment initiative; effective antitrust policy of local authorities aimed at maintaining a healthy competitive environment.
Conclusions. In order to form the positive image of the low-budget transportation cluster as a reliable, competent and solvent borrower, it is necessary to properly position the cluster and its offer to investors. The target market segment is  the zonal aviation cluster can occupy a dominant position in the market segment of integrated transport services by customizing its strategy to stand out from the existing pool of competitors.


The legislation system of China's NGOs plays an important part in the development of China's NGOs.However,with the development and transformation of social reality,the limitations of China's NGOs reveal themselves,so it is necessary to promulgate Law for China's Non-governmental Organizations for the healthy development of China's NGOs.The paper studies the legislative situation and limitations of China's NGOs,and argues that Law for China's Non-governmental Organizations should be promulgated in due course,with a view to provide some reference to improve the legislative system of China's NGOs.


The purpose of this study was to analyse the demand and interest for the safety of citizens are increasing and it is necessary to find the fundamental solutions for the defense of crimes against environment of the village. For this purpose, residents' consciousness for the Prevention and the physical properties of the villages on the basis of a site survey research is to be carried out by investigate the architectural and physical status in the 2 village in Boksan-dong, Dongnae-gu, and Sinpyeong-dong, Saha-gu. As a result, pedestrian design study will be carried out by the type of space and alleys in the area in compliance with the nature for carrying out effective crime prevention for local residents.


A photon-counting intensified charge injection device (CID) detector is currently in development at the Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Analogous microchannel-plate-intensified CCD detectors have achieved impressive spatial resolution performance in photon-counting operation. Such detectors suffer, however, from a severe limitation on local dynamic range; local event rates must be kept low in order to minimize event overlap at the frame rates achievable for reading out a full CCD. By utilizing a random access CID for the readout stage, we plan to avoid this severe local count rate limitation by virtue of the addressable (rather than serial) readout capability of such a device. Different portions of the detector field can be framed at different rates, as appropriate to the brightness distribution of the scene, maximizing the local count rate limit for a given pixel read rate and event processing capability. A high spatial resolution, high count rate photon counting detector of this type is of interest in a number of applications in space and ground- based astronomy. In this report, we present: (1) the advantages and applications of this kind of detector, (2) remarks on the suitability of different CID architectures, (3) our system design concept, and (4) the status and plans for our fabrication and testing efforts.


The main agricultural production region,which plays an important role in the agricultural outputs,constitutes the key area of farmland-protection.The recognition of dynamic changes of the arable land in these areas turned to be important and essential.This paper aims to understand such spatial-temporal changes of cropland by comparing the land use map of 1980s and 2005 provided by Data Center for Resources and Environmental Sciences,China Academy of Sciences.With the help of 1∶1000 000 Land Resource Map,the changes on quality and production capacity of farmland brought by the farmland dynamic changes are evaluated.The main findings are:1) In 2005,the cultivated land in the whole study area is about 9 321.96×104 hm2,and increased about 175.53×104 hm2 in the recent 20 years.2) In space,the cropland dynamic pattern can be characterized by "north-increase and south-decrease".The northern four regions,including eastern part of Inner Mongolia region,Xinjiang region,Songnen Plain and Sanjiang Plain,are the net-increase area,the farmland area in these regions are increased by 10.29%,19.10%,10.91% and 14.14%,respectively;While the southern four regions,including Huang-Huai-Hai Plain,middle Yangtze River and Jianghuai region,Huanan region and Sichuan Basin,are net-decrease regions,the amount of the cropland are decreased by 2.17%,2.00%,3.15% and 5.61%,respectively.This dynamic pattern result to the shift of cropland weight from the eastern and middle part of China to the northeast and northwest part of China.3) According to the evaluation result,the farmland can be classified into four classes.Farmland in class I has the best quality with no limitation for cropping,which the one in Class II has relatively high quality with certain limitations when used for crop.The class III is relatively-low suitable for cropping,and land in class IV is not suitable for farming.The dynamic changes on farmland resources impact the land quality obviously.The farmland in class I decreases by 3.24%,while the class II,class III,and class IV farmland is expanded by 2.91%,7.81% and 14.10%,respectively.4) Owning to the remarkable spatial shift of cultivated land distribution from Eastern and Central China and traditional agricultural core areas with higher cropping index,to Northwestern and Northeastern China,ecological fragile regions with low cropping index,the overall land productivity of China is declined even though the overall amount of farmland is increased.The productivity is 9.24×108 t in 1980s,while it reaches to 9.17×108 t in 2005,decreasing by 0.84%.


Single point incremental forming (SPIF) has potential to be employed commercially and can replace conventional sheet stamping process if its defects, such as poor geometrical accuracy, can be overcome. In the present article, three forming defects, namely, squeezed out wall formation, corner fold corner, and bulge height, are introduced. It is demonstrated that the formation of these defects has adverse effect on the formability in SPIF. In order to eliminate, if possible, the formation of these defects, the potential effect of operating (i.e., tool radius and step size), geometrical (i.e., wall angle), and material (i.e., sheet thickness and material property) parameters and their interaction on the defect formation and growth has been quantitatively investigated by employing response surface design method. With the help of proposed empirical models, the investigated defects can be overcome through parametric optimization.


The collagen proline hyd.roxylase system (also referred to as protocollagen hydroxylase), which converts selected proline residues to hydroxyproline in polypeptide precursors of collagen, has now been purified from a variety of animal tissues.1-4 M\/Iost purified preparations have an absolute requiremenlt for Fe++ and for a reducing agent, which can be ascorbic acid, other enediols, or tetrahydropteridines. An additional requirement discovered by Hutton et al.1' is a-ketoglutarate. This keto acid cannot be replaced by pyruvate, oxaloacetate, or related compounds and is an absolute requirement for proline hydroxylation. Removal of the keto acid by incubation with crystalline glutamic dehydrogenase, NH4+, and reduced nicotinamide-adeniine dinucleotide (NADH) leads to total inactivation of crude homogenates; activity is restored by the addition of aketoglutarate. Earlier attempts in this laboratory to determine whether a-ketoglutarate was consumed during the course of the hydroxylation reaction were inconclusive because the chick-embryo enzyme preparations used contained other enzymes that metabolized a-ketogluftarate.1 More recently, we have been able to obtain preparations from fetal, rat; skin that are far more active with respect to proline hydroxylation and that do not contain competing enzymes. With these preparations, it has now been possible to show a substrate-dependent and stoichiometric decarboxylation of a--ketoglutarate coupled to the hydroxylation of peptidyl proline residues. Ml/aterials and M11ethods.-Both H(3,4-Hl3-Pro-Gly-Pro),OH (mol wt 4100; spee. act. 0.9 mec/nmg) and poly-L-proline 11 (mol wt 9000) were gifts from Drs. J. Kurtz and A. 13erger, Weizmanari I nstitute of S ciences, Rehovoth, Israel. We obtaiiied a-ketoglutarate5-C14, (9.33 me/mnmole) from Nuelear-Chicago Corp., and a-ketoglutarate-U-C14 (3.2 me/mmole) an-d a-ketoglutarate-1-C14 (11 me/mmole) from Calbiochem, Inc. These were diluted with nonradioactive a-ketogluitarate before use. Crystalline bovine liver L-glutamic acid dehydrogenase) crystalline bovine liver catalase, and NADH were all products of Sigma Chemical Company. NCS reagent (for trapping C02) was obtained from Nuclear-Chicago Corp., and crystalline bovine serum albumin from Pentex Corp. Collagen proline hydroxylase was prepared from skins of newborn rats. Approximately 300 gm of tissue were homnogenized in 2 vol of 0.25 M. sucrose containing 0.01 mM ethylenediaini,1etet-aacetate (E})TA) aid O.l OJmM dithiothreitol, and the homogenate was centrifuged at 27,000 X g. All solutions used in subsequent purificatioin contained the same coneentrations of ditliothieitol. TFwo vol of saturated ammonium sulfate at pH 7.0 were added to the supelrnatant fraetion, and after centrifugation, the precipitate was dissolved in sodium cacodylate buffer, pH 7.0, and treated with 0.64 mg streptomycin sulfate per mg protein to remove nucleic acids. After centrifugation for 1 hr at 68,000 X g, the supernatanit fluid was treated with nieutral ammonium sulfate, and the fraction that precipitated between 17%( and 39% saturation (12 and 27 gm/100 ml) was dissolved in 0.05 M cacodylate, pH 7.0, containing 0.2 11f NaCl. After dialysis against 4 liters of the same solution, the en-zyme (800 mg of protein) was charged onto an O-(diethyl-


The administration of standard activities for the hyperthyroidism radioiodine treatment is still a common clinical practice. Otherwise, customized treatments, based on in vivo uptake preliminary studies, represent a promising alternative to the former approach, allowing the optimization of the administrated activity. The aim of this study is the evaluation of the effectiveness of this practice by the analysis of its clinical outcomes (i.e. disease remission and thyroid mass reduction). As required by the customized procedure, during the pre-treatment phase (treatment planning) the following parameters were evaluated: the radioiodine uptake maximum value, the radiopharmaceutical effective half-life and the functional thyroid volume. A retrospective analysis was carried out by exploiting these data and the clinical information collected during the patient follow-up at the Sant'Anna Hospital in Como, Italy. At last, they were correlated to the customized radioiodine activities. The statistical analysis of the connection between these activities and the clinical outcomes has supported the evidence of the capability of this approach to provide good therapeutic results and, at the same time, to assure a higher level of patient healthcare.


In the present paper we generalize the concept of groups with triality and apply it to the theory of the Moufang, Bol and Bruck loops. Such generalizations allow us to reduce certain problems from the loop theory to problems in the theory of groups.


Motivated by the approach of random linear codes, a new distance in the vector space over a finite field is defined as the logarithm of the "surface area" of a Hamming ball with radius being the corresponding Hamming distance. It is named entropy distance because of its close relation with entropy function. It is shown that entropy distance is a metric for a non-binary field and a pseudometric for the binary field. The entropy distance of a linear code is defined to be the smallest entropy distance between distinct codewords of the code. Analogues of the Gilbert bound, the Hamming bound, and the Singleton bound are derived for the largest size of a linear code given the length and entropy distance of the code. Furthermore, as an important property related to lossless joint source-channel coding, the entropy distance of a linear encoder is defined. Very tight upper and lower bounds are obtained for the largest entropy distance of a linear encoder with given dimensions of input and output vector spaces.


The placental membranes of the viviparous brown snake Storeria dekayi were examined following mid‐gestation by means of light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy to reveal their structural organization and cytological composition. By Zehr stage 32, the chorioallantoic placenta (allantoplacenta) is established around much of the egg, and a well‐developed omphalallantoic placenta occurs in the abembryonic hemisphere. The allantoplacenta exhibits multiple features that enhance interhemal exchange: the uterus and allantois are well vascularized, the chorionic and uterine epithelia are attenuated, and the shell membrane is vestigial and has begun to degenerate. In the omphalallantoic placenta, the uterine epithelium is enlarged and appears to be secretory. The omphalopleure contains two distinct populations of cells, and shows cytological evidence for absorption. In intermediate areas, regions of omphalallantoic placenta are being transformed into allantoplacenta, through depletion of the isolated yolk mass and reduction in epithelial height of both uterus and omphalopleure. Morphological evidence suggests that the allantoplacenta is specialized for gas exchange, and the omphalallantoic placenta, for maternal secretion and fetal absorption. On the basis of the available evidence, we postulate that this pattern is characteristic of the thamnophine radiation of snakes. J. Morphol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The metallic commissurotome (MC) technique is a cheaper alternative to the Inoue balloon (IB) technique for percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty (PMV). There are no randomized trials comparing these techniques with longer follow‐up of the patients. The objective of this study was to compare the immediate results and short‐ and medium‐term follow‐up of PMV using either the IB or the MC technique. Fifty patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis were randomly assigned to PMV using the IB (n = 27) or the MC (n = 23) technique. There were no significant differences between the groups regarding baseline clinical, echocardiographic, and hemodynamic data. Clinical and echocardiographic follow‐up were done 6 months and 3 years after the procedure. The success rate was 100% in the IB group and 91.3% in the MC group (P = 0.15); two patients in the latter group developed mitral regurgitation grade 3/4, requiring elective surgery. The mean final mitral valve area was bigger in the MC group (2.17 ± 0.13 vs. 2.00 ± 0.36 cm2; P = 0.04), but after 6‐month and 3‐year follow‐up, this difference was no longer significant (2.06 ± 0.27 vs. 1.98 ± 0.38 cm2, P = 0.22, and 1.86 ± 0.32 vs. 1.87 ± 0.34 cm2, P = 0.89, respectively). This finding suggests valve stretching as an important mechanism of valve dilation with the MC. Three patients in the MC group and two patients in the IB group (P = 0.65) developed mitral valve restenosis; one of them underwent repeat PMV and the other four, all asymptomatic, were clinically followed. PMV performed either with the IB or the MC technique is effective and provides excellent short‐ and medium‐term outcomes regardless of the technique employed. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2005;64:301–311. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Background

The effect of QGE031, a high-affinity humanized anti-IgE antibody, was evaluated versus omalizumab (OMA) and placebo in a bronchial allergen challenge model.

Methods

In this phase IIa, exploratory, parallel group, double-blind, placebo controlled study, 37 subjects with mild atopic asthma were randomized to three s.c. doses (240mg; N=8, 72mg; N=8 and 24mg; N=8) of QGE031 every two weeks, OMA (N=6; dosed as per dosing table) or placebo (N=7). The study was powered for a 0.05 significance level. Outcome measures were change from baseline in the concentration of inhaled allergen leading to a 15% decline in FEV1 (PC15FEV1) at 12 weeks, pharmacodynamics, safety and tolerability.

Results

At week 12, the change in PC15FEV1 was ∼ 3 fold higher with 72mg and 240mg QGE031 compared to OMA (Table). The change in PC15FEV1 was dose-dependent against both placebo and OMA, with 24mg QGE031 showing a smaller effect whilst 72mg and 240mg showed a similar effect size. QGE031 elicited dose and time-dependent suppression of free IgE, basophil Fc∈RI, surface IgE expression and skin prick test responses. QGE031 was well tolerated at all dose levels.

View this table:

Table: PC15FEV1 for QGE031 versus placebo and omalizumab at 12 weeks

Conclusion

QGE031 240 and 72mg demonstrated greater improvement in bronchial provocation testing compared to placebo, and both doses showed a trend for improvement compared with OMA.


Identity as a precise correspondence of something to something is used to characterize surrounding reality both in everyday speech and linguistic descriptions. Sentences of identity are of long-term study. The evidence of various means of expression makes the author continue the study of the phenomenon in order to systematize the means used and also to define the syntactic models of binary structure.


Objective To observe the effect of ultrasonic nebulization of 2% lidocaine on hemodynamics during general anesthesia in elderly patients.Methods Sixty elderly patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade Ⅰor Ⅱ) scheduled for epigastric surgery from September 2011 to February 2012 were randomly divided into control group,lidocaine intravenous injection group,and ultrasonic nebulization group.Systolic blood pressure (SBP),diastolic blood pressure (DBP),heart rate (HR) and saturation of blood oxygen (SpO2) were recorded before anesthesia induction (T0),before intubation (T1),and at 1 min (T2),3 mins (T3) and 5 mins (T4) after intubation.The with failed in whom inbubation at the first time were excluded from statistical analysis.Results There were no significant differences in age,gender,body weight or ASA grade among the three groups (all P0.05).Tracheal intubation was successfully taken in all the patients.Compared with those at T0,SBP and DBP in the three groups and HR in control group and ultrasonic nebulization group at T1 were significantly decreased (all P0.05).Compared with those at T1,SBP and DBP in control group and lidocaine intravenous injection group at T2,T3 and T4,SBP and DBP at T2 and T3 and DBP at T4 in ultrasonic nebulization group,and HR at T2 in three groups and at T3 and T4 in control group were significantly increased (all P0.05).SBP at T2 in lidocaine intravenous injection group,and DBP at T2 and SBP at T2,T3 and T4 in ultrasonic nebulization group were significantly lower that those in control group (all P0.05).DBP at T1 in lidocaine intravenous injection group was significantly higher than that in control group (P0.05).SBP at T2 in ultrasonic nebulization group was significantly lower than that in lidocaine intravenous injection group (P0.05).Conclusion Ultrasonic nebulization with 2%lidocaine can provide enough topical anesthesia,which can relieve hemodynamic reactions evoked by intubation.(Shanghai Med J,2012,35:998-1000)


A novel planarization technique, compressive molding planarization (CMP) is developed for implementation of a multi-layered micro coil device. Applying CMP and other micromachining techniques, a multi-layered micro coil device has been designed and fabricated, and its use in the magnetic micro actuators for hard disk drive applications has been demonstrated, showing that it can produce milli-Newton of magnetic force suitable for driving a micro actuator. The novel CMP technique can be equally applicable in other MEMS devices fabrication to ease the process integration for the complicated structure.


The 'Northfield Experiments' have an almost legendary status in the evolution of therapeutic communities. However their actual influence is nebulous and difficult to trace precisely, not least because which practices there were innovatory is unclear. This article begins to tease out those elements that were both novel and had subsequent impact on group therapy and in particular on therapeutic community practice. They included changes in staff functions from the traditional nursing role, the shift in the patient purpose from passive receiver of therapy to active participant in his own treatment and of others and the development of group work from individual treatment in the group setting to reviewing the here and now processes occurring in relationships. The history of one particular institution, the Ingrebourne Centre, offers some insights into this process. Whilst the names of Bion, Foulkes and Main have become well known one particular individual has been largely ignored in the UK: Harold Bridger. The latter, arguably the most inventive of all the Northfield participants, was subsequently better known in Europe and Australia for his analysis of the work of therapeutic communities and some of his most significant ideas are rehearsed here.


Arsenic given intravenously .. One injection of an organic arsenical given Two injections of arsenic given Three or more injections given Maximum arsenic given Over two grammes arsenic given Over 1'5 grammes arsenic given Mean period after first attack of pyrexia was first given was 3 weeks. A relanse occurred after arsenic was given in 41 cases. Although arsenic had, previously been given, pyrexia recurred and spirochretes were found in thick blood smears of 17 patients. Diagnosis.


Some successful students were asked to reflect on their experiences with the high school curriculum, commenting on their-sources of motivation, how they explained their school success, what they enjoyed learning, and what they wished they could have learned. School administrators defined the nature of the students' success, and five students were selected based on recommendations from teachers, counselors, and administrators. Over a semester, each student was observed and interviewed. The five student portraits that resulted examined in detail the daily classroom experiences of these students and the processes they used to make sense of their lives. These portraits show that being system savvy, or conspiring with others to work the system, does not ensure favorable results, but certainly can help. Most of the students knew how to "cheat" by using time-saving, grade-enhancing devices that meant that assignments were not done to the letter of the law. Because of the many messages about success sent by the school, the community, the colleges, parents, and even peers, these students felt trapped. They also struggled with routines that made them feel like robots. Students also often varied their behavior from class to class to suit the perceived requirements of a particular teacher. The evidence from these students suggests that schools teach the need to cut corners or cheat to demonstrate success, and that they must conform and act in ways that lead to high grades, high test scores, and the praise and recommendations of teachers and administrators. However, it was apparent that these students had access to supports that many students in the United States do not have. (Contains 41 references.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY


In this paper, we discuss an unsuccessful attempt to implement physician-patient e-mail contact in a Dutch eye hospital. This is the first known study that focuses on direct physician-provider e-mail communication for consultative needs in eyecare. We reflect on the failure of this implementation project in the discussion, where we look at how the underlying (mis-)assumptions about the technology and erred expectations regarding patient willingness to use e-mail, together with the chosen implementation methodology and the general research setting, contributed to this failure.


Since the publication of EN ISO 16122 part 1 to 4 series in 2015, the framework for the inspection of sprayers is getting harmonized among EU member states. The standard series specifies mandatory requirements in terms of pre inspection (EN ISO 16122-1) and all the inspected items and functionalities of the sprayers (EN ISO 16122-2, 16122-3, 16122-4). The aim of this SPISE manual is to explain the reason for the requirements, to highlight some practical situations and to identify major defaults that can sometimes be observed. The SPISE Advice does not substitute existing standards but completes the EN ISO 16122 series standards in a practical way.


Tumors or chronic inflammatory lesions of the occipital condyle may cause occipital pain associated with an ipsilateral hypoglossal nerve injury (occipital condyle syndrome). We describe a young woman with recurrent otitis media and occipital condyle syndrome associated with a limited form of Wegener's disease.


This article studies information flows between an automobile and its electronic components. It presents a vehicle architecture which contains rules involving partitioning to minimize interfaces and data transfers over specific channels at predefined times.


........................................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION .........................................................................1 1.1 Background information .................................................................................................1 1.2 Objectives ..........................................................................................................................2 1.2.1 Overall objective .........................................................................................................2 1.2.2 Specific objectives .......................................................................................................2 1.3 Hypothesis .........................................................................................................................3 1.4 Justification of study ..........................................................................................................3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................4 2.1 Antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance .......................................................................4 2.2 Global approaches/concerns to antimicrobial resistance .....................................................5 2.3 Status of antimicrobial resistance in Kenya ........................................................................8 2.4 Scope of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria ............................................................... 10


The article deals with the defining of the problematics of studying a crisis as a psychological phenomenon. It was emphasized general characteristics of various types of crisis. We explored ways of overcoming personal crises, which include normative and non-normative crises. Results of the theoretical analysis of concepts about ways of overcoming personality crises, published in foreign and domestic sources, are generalized. It were presented the theoretical model of personality resources and ways of overcoming personality crises.


That people offer presents by following others is a popular phenomenon in China,which often occurs in China,especially in weddings and funerals.In China,weddings can reflect the inter-personal.relationship network between the two families.In the network,offering presents by following others can be regarded as another symbol illustrating whether the relationship between the host and theguest is close or not.No matter how the relationship is,people of the same type will always seek the balance of their relationships.While the closer the relationship is,the more complicated people's behaviors will be.Maintaining balance of relationships is an important basis for people to make stable their interpersonal-relationship.


The invention relates to a high-precision germanium tetrachloride (GeCl4) supplying method and high-precision germanium tetrachloride supplying equipment for manufacturing a core rod of an optical fiber preform rod. The equipment comprises a programmable logic controller (PLC) of evaporating equipment, a touch screen of the evaporating equipment, a PLC of VAD equipment, a heating tape I, a heating tape II, a heating tape III, a heating tape IV, a temperature sensor I, a temperature sensor II, a temperature sensor III, a temperature sensor IV, a pressure sensor, a liquid level sensor, a control valve I, a control valve II, a control valve III, a mass flow rate controller I, a mass flow rate controller II, an evaporating pot and a power supply, wherein the evaporating pot is provided with a liquid level sensor, the pressure sensor, the temperature sensor I and an electronic scale for monitoring the situation of the evaporating pot, the electronic scale is arranged at the bottom of the evaporating pot for monitoring weight in real time, the heating tape I is arranged outside the evaporating pot, a GeCl4 fluid delivery pipe is arranged on the evaporating pot, the control valve I is arranged on the GeCl4 fluid delivery pipe, an evaporating pot outlet pipeline is arranged on the evaporating pot, and the power supply supplies power to the evaporating equipment.


According to feeble axis stability demand of section steel pillar as axle center pressure,function relation charts of calculation parameter each other are drawn.As line in chart is utilized to choose section steel model preliminarily,the satisfaction consequence is obtained without repeated calculation.It is consulted by engineering design personnel and education research personnel and science research personnel.


An experimental prototype of an anemometer with PWM excitation is described. The instrument employs a thermistor as a flow detection sensor heated by a PWM voltage. An electronic negative feedback circuit substitutes the thermal power absorbed by the fluid from the heated sensor, and maintains it at a constant temperature. The pulse width contains the information about the fluid velocity and using a timer counter, the velocity information can be available in the digital form, without the use of a conventional A/D converter. Test results are also presented.


A method for protecting user-stored information in mobile terminal includes storing important information required to be protected into special storage region and setting cipher on said information by user, requiring surely to pass verification of legal status if said storage region is to be called, in addition enabling to delete off information stored in said information storage region of said mobile phone if special short message is sent to certain mobile phone for ensuring safety of important information stored in mobile phone by user.


Abstract The 1 mol/L, 3 mol/L and 5 mol/L HC1 solutions were employed to leachtwo palygorskites with different trioctahedral contents in their crystal structure for different period of time. The results of the dissolution experiments show that the dissolution process could be divided into three steps, and that this dissolution behavior can be attributed to its higher Mg 2+ content, and is restricted by the extraction behavior of Si4+ . The preferential extraction for Mg2+ promotes the extraction behavior of Si4+ from Si-O framework. Because the Si4+ in the form of amorphous SiO2 is adsorbed onto the surface of palygorskite fibre, the reaction between palygorskite and acid is obstructed. With the elapsing of time, or the increasing of the acid concentration, the amorphous SiO2 flocculates, and then the channels of chemical reaction are reopened. The ratio value of Mg2+/(Fe3+Al3+) in leaching solution tends to a fixed value, showing that the acid attacks not only the surface but also the structural channels...


Chemical cross-linking of a protein immobilized on multiple, site-specific, monoclonal, chemically modified antibody matrices combined with analysis of data on a distance matrix is likely to yield sufficient positive and 'negative' long-range distance information to help predict the three dimensional structure of any single-chain globular protein.


Ferric oxides, hydrothermally prepared from potassium ferricyanide (K3Fe(CN)6), were artificially immobilized onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to catalyze the electrooxidation of ascorbic acid (AA). Images of SEM (scanning electron microscopy) revealed that the obtained ferric oxide particles were leaf-shaped particles, as has never been reported so far. Results obtained from EDS (electron diffraction spectroscopy) and XRD( X-ray diffraction) demonstrated that iron element exists in the produced particles and the prepared ferric oxide particles are α-Fe2O3 rather than other types of ferric oxides. The catalysis of ferric oxides-coated MWCNTs for the electrooxidation of ascorbic acid (AA) was detected by cyclic voltammetry (CV), and enhanced oxidation peak current of AA was observed on a ferric oxides/MWCNTs (Fe2O3/MWCNTs)-modified graphite electrode when compared to the oxidation peak current of AA on a MWCNTs-modified graphite electrode, which strongly supported the proposition developed by Professor R.G. Compton. FT-IR spectra indicated that there are some interactions between ascorbic acid and ferric oxides, which probably is beneficial to the electrooxidation of ascorbic acid.


A nanocomposite of polyaniline-titanium dioxide (PANi-TiO2, 50 wt%) was doped with camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) by solid state reaction with increasing CSA content up to 50 wt% in a smooth agate mortar. CSA doped PANi-TiO2 was dissolved in m-cresol and films were cast using a spin-coating technique. The doping effect of CSA on PANi-TiO2 nanocomposite was characterized and evaluated by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and electrical conductivity measurement. The XRD spectra showed that the addition of CSA has no effect on crystallinity of PANi-TiO2. SEM studies revealed that CSA has a strong effect on morphology of PANi-TiO2. The FTIR spectra revealed the interaction between CSA and PANi-TiO2 nanocomposite. Electrical conductivity measurements indicated that with the increasing content of CSA, the conductivity shows an orderly increase.


In Bangladesh, the role of Distributed Generation (DG) is increasingly being recognized as a supplement and an alternative to large conventional central power supply. The government and many non-governmental organizations have tried to comprehend and strived to address the problem of energy through promoting Solar Home Systems (SHSs) in off-grid areas. Though centralized economic system that solely depends on cities is hampered due to energy deficiency, the use of solar energy in cities is never been tried widely due to technical inconvenience and high installment cost. To mitigate these problems, this paper proposes an optimized design of grid-tied PV system without storage which is suitable for Bangladesh as it requires less installment cost and supplies residential loads when the grid power is unavailable. This paper also analyzes the implementation outcome of integrating this grid-tied PV system in grid connected areas, especially in the capital of Bangladesh.


Childhood social support deficits of alcoholic women were studied by comparing 301 alcoholic women with 137 nonalcoholic women. Alcoholic women reported feeling less comfortable with and experienced less support from both the family and peer group than did the control group.


The effect of Zn 2 þ substitution on the structure and microwave dielectric properties of Li3Mg2NbO6 ceramic was investigated. The compositions of Li3(Mg1� xZnx)2NbO6 (0rxr0.1) ceramics were prepared by the solid-state reaction method. The phase structure, microstructure and microwave dielectric properties of Li3(Mg1� xZnx)2NbO6 ceramics were analyzed via an X-ray diffraction, a scanning electron microscope as well as a network analyzer. All samples sintered at 1080–1240 1C for 4 h remained a single orthorhombic structure, which could be indexed according to the Li3Mg2NbO6 phase (JCPDS-PDF #86-0346). The microwave dielectric properties of Li3(Mg1 � xZnx)2NbO6 ceramics exhibited significant dependence on the sintering condition, microstructure and composition. Excellent microwave dielectric properties


This paper indicates that we can use conventional method to solve simple problems of hyperbola function rational formula, but not the complex ones. Therefore, it applies combinational integral method to solve complex hyperbola function rational formula problems and proves that the result is reliable.


ENERGY from the Safe Harbor development was first received in Baltimore during December 1931, and at once took an important place in the energy supply of this city. Baltimore has both 25-cycle and 60-cycle loads, the maximum 25-cycle load recorded being 125,400 kw, the maximum 60-cycle load being 104,800 kw, and maximum simultaneous load on both frequencies being 188,200 kw. The 25-cycle frequency was originally chosen for industrial purposes and for the operation of rotary converters, although in recent years growth on this frequency has been held back. Shortly after completion of the Safe Harbor-Westport transmission line the frequency at Baltimore was changed from the former value of 621 / 2 cycles to 60 cycles, and the older frequency changers were shut down. One 30,000-kw frequency changer at Westport now takes care of all energy interchanged between these 2 systems. The characteristics and control of this frequency changer are described in the paper


*Correspondence to: Dr. Sharmista Bhattacharje Assistant Professor Department of Anatomy Marine City Medical College Chattogram, Bangladesh. Mobile: +88 01715 50 18 60 Email: email@example.com Abstract Background : Foot morphology differs among ethnic groups. Proper knowledge of population specific variations are necessary for industrial design and forensic investigations. The study was aimed to measure the foot and determine the foot shape of adult Bangalee and Chakma females to find out and compare any ethnic variation.


Evapotranspiration (ET) is a crucial quantity through which land surface conditions can impact near‐surface weather and vice versa. ET can be limited by energy or water availability. The transition between water‐ and energy‐limited regimes is marked by the critical soil moisture (CSM), which is traditionally derived from small‐sample laboratory analyses. Here, we aim to determine the CSM at a larger spatial scale relevant for climate modeling, using state‐of‐the‐art gridded data sets. For this purpose, we introduce a new correlation‐difference metric with which the CSM can be accurately inferred using multiple data streams. We perform such an analysis at the continental scale and determine a large‐scale CSM as an emergent property. In addition, we determine small‐scale CSMs at the grid cell scale and find substantial spatial variability. Consistently from both analyses we find that soil texture, climate conditions, and vegetation characteristics are influencing the CSM, with similar respective importance. In contrast, comparable CSMs are found when applying alternative large‐scale energy and vegetation data sets, highlighting the robustness of our results. Based on our findings, the state of the vegetation and corresponding land‐atmosphere coupling can be inferred, to first order, from easily accessible satellite observations of surface soil moisture.


We examine how CERN LEP experimental limits on {ital Z}{r arrow}{ital hf{bar f}} and {ital Z}{r arrow}{ital hA} decays constrain E{sub 6} multi-Higgs-boson models. We show that the limits on standard and supersymmetric Higgs bosons are easily applied to a multi-Higgs-boson model if it acts like an effective two-doublet model at the {ital W}-{ital Z} mass scale. In the large-{ital M}{sub {ital Z}2} limit of the alternative left-right E{sub 6} model the lightest Higgs-scalar mass {ital m}{sub {ital h}} must be above 20 GeV (assuming {ital m}{sub {ital h}}{gt}2{ital m}{sub {mu}}); also tan{beta}={ital v}{sub 2}/{ital v}{sub 1} less than 0.58 is excluded. In the minimal rank-5 E{sub 6} model there are no absolute limits on individual parameters, although substantial regions of {ital m}{sub {ital h}}, {ital m}{sub {ital A}}, and {ital m}{sub {ital H}}{sup {plus minus}} versus tan{beta} are excluded. We indicate the improvements in the Higgs-boson mass bounds that may be achieved with increased statistics.


One of the difficulties reported for the suspension polymerization is control the size and granulometry of beads. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the use of cellulose nanowhiskers and mesoporous silica as stabilizers to reduce the size and the particle distribution. To monitor polymerization process was used FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. The morphology was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The particle size distribution was characterised using a CILAS granulometer. Thermal stability was studied by thermogravimetric analysis. The results indicated that cellulose nanowhiskers may provide stabilization and increase the thermal stability of the beads in contrast to mesoporous silica.


create healing stories per se in their work, he understood the influence and power of symbolism for the unconscious mind. Jung's perspective was broad: he saw symbolism as a (mostly unconscious) language shared by humankind, whereas Erickson developed the skill of speaking to the unconscious symbolically through metaphor. Burns fails to acknowledge what I believe to be one of the quintessential values of integrating metaphor into one's therapeutic approach: that is, the potential teaching tales have for bypassing the client's resistance. In psychotherapy, clients can embrace metaphors or healing tales because they are subjectively experienced as related to someone or something else, and thus not personally threatening. The conscious mind becomes entertained by the clinician's story (thus diffusing its influence) while the story's theme concurrently provides the client's unconscious an opportunity to develop its own meaning from the story. Another element, although given little emphasis in Burns' approach, is the wellspring of resources that the clinician possesses internally. Often in my clinical experience, the appropriate metaphor for a client springs up spontaneously within the clinical hour. The dynamic interplay between the client and me lays the groundwork for this, not a systematic dissection of themes and desired outcomes. Both avenues to the development of metaphor are valuable, thus, the text would benefit from including information on assisting the clinician in mining their own unconscious resources. Burns emphasizes that his text is a practical guide, not a research-based elaboration. He nonetheless provides the reader with a comprehensive list of resources that address research on the effectiveness of metaphor as a therapeutic approach, as well as including a list of authors and titles in which the reader can find further information on the creation of therapeutic metaphors. Priced at $45.00, one would expect this book to be hardcover. Although expensive, it is a good investment for any clinician interested in either learning or enhancing their skills as a therapeutic storyteller.


INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus, known as severe
acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 genome is similar to that of SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome.
Infection by COVID-19 can result in a range of clinical outcomes, from asymptomatic to severe life-threatening course or death. Most of the
1
affected patients present with high temperature and dry cough
Chest radiograph (CXR) played a role in determining the course and the severity of disease during the 2002 severe acute respiratory syndrome
2
(SARS) and the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreaks
The diagnostic armamentarium of COVID-19 is inclusive of travel history, history of exposure, clinical features, and reverse
transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay from specimens obtained by oropharyngeal or nasopharyngeal swab, assisted with
3
digital Chest radiograph (CXR)
AIMS & OBJECTIVES:
1.To Study clinical correlation to chest x ray in covid 19 patients.
2.To Study clinical correlation to outcome in covid 19 patients.
METHODS & MATERIALS: This is a prospective study which included 507 patients with laboratory-conrmed COVID-19 admitted in
tertiary care hospital from May 2020 to Nov 2020. The patients were examined clinically , were assessed for signs& symptoms and severity of
pneumonia. All patients underwent a digital CXR examination.
RESULTS: Out of 507 patients studied, 58.6% were males, 41.4%were females.Most of the affected patients are between 41-60 yrs of age group
.Death percentage is more in critical group compared to noncritical group.Our observational study shows signicant correlation between clinical
features , CXR and outcome in covid 19 patients.


"Fish" phylogeny has been studied using partial 28 S ribosomal RNA sequences of 14 species among which 12 are "fish" ranging from lamprey to perciforms. Our results are in good agreement with generally accepted cladograms based on anatomical and paleontological data. Two interesting conclusions emerged: a) Polypterus is the sister-group of all other actinopterygians; b) the divergences of the Clasdistia, Tetrapoda and Chondrichthyes seem to have occurred during a relatively short period of time.


An insulated beverage container comprising: a container wall (1) having an upper side (7), a lower side portion (8) and a bottom part (9) engaging said lower side portion (8) define a space (11) containing the drink inside the container wall (1), wherein said container wall (1) comprises: a layer of pulp (2) arranged along an outer surface of said container wall (1), a layer of extruded or laminated foam (3) disposed within said layer of paper pulp and a thin polyethylene film (4) also arranged inside said layer of paper pulp, and wherein either: (a) the foam layer forms the innermost layer of the container wall and the thin polyethylene film (4) is sandwiched between the foam layer (3) and the paper layer paste (2) or (B) the thin polyethylene film layer (4) is applied it on the surface of the layer is puma (3), detal so that the foam layer (3) is sandwiched between the layer of paper pulp (2) and the thin polyethylene film (4), whereby the thin polyethylene film ( 4) forms the innermost layer of the container wall.


The invention discloses water-based environment-protective resin. The water-based environment-protective resin comprises, by weight, 30-60 parts of fluorocarbon resin, 40-70 parts of thermoplastic acrylic resin, 60-100 parts of modified calcium carbonate, 10-20 parts of white carbon black, 0.3-1 part of coupling agents, 0.5-3 parts of thickening agents, 0.1-2 parts of toughening agents and 40-70 parts of deionized water. The invention further provides a preparation method of the water-based environment-protective resin and wallpaper comprising the water-based environment-protective resin. Compared with the prior art, the water-based environment-protective resin, the preparation method of the water-based environment-protective resin and application of the water-based environment-protective resin have the advantages that the problem that existing common water-based resin is poor in physical processing performance can be solved, and meanwhile the functions of environment protection and the like are achieved.


We consider a single-atom laser (microlaser) operating on three-level atoms interacting with a two-mode cavity. The quantum statistical properties of the cavity field at steady state are investigated by the quantum trajectory method which is a Monte Carlo simulation applied to open quantum systems. It is found that a steady-state solution exists even when the detailed balance condition may not be guaranteed. The differences between a single-mode microlaser and a two-mode microlaser are highlighted. The second-order correlation function ${g}^{(2)}(\ensuremath{\tau})$ of a single mode is studied and special attention is paid to the one-photon trapping state, for which a simple formula is derived for its correlation function. We show the effects of the velocity spread of the atoms used to pump the microlaser cavity on the second-order correlation function, trapping states, and phase transitions of the cavity field.


259 Nefrologia 2010;30(2):258-69 3. Phrommintikul A, Haas SJ, Elsik M, Krum H. Mortality and target haemoglobin concentrations in anaemic patients with chronic kidney disease treated with erythropoietin: a meta-analysis. Lancet 2007;369(9559):381-8. 4. Clement FM, Klarenbach S, Tonelli M, Johnson JA, Manns BJ. The impact of selecting a high hemoglobin target level on health-related quality of life for patients with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med 2009;169(12):110412.


This research aims to analyze the English Education students' of Universitas Pekalongan problems  in  writing  final  project  in  English.  The  causes  are  viewed  from  students'  and  the lecturers  perspective  as  the  advisor  and  also  what  are  supposed  to  do  to  help  the  student minimize the problems in writing final project. This study used descriptive qualitative method that fully describe the problems as well as solutions in writing final projects. The deep analysis has been done  from the student's and the lecturer's perspectives. After conducting a survey by doing some interviews and distributing questionnaires, we found that there are so many factors that affects the studnts' difficulties in finishing their final projects.


The paper reviews and evaluates systems used by the armi s for destroying armoured and aerial targets. A conceptual structural design of a hybrid missile weapon for destroying armoured and erial targets is presented. AMUR is an autonomous module for integrating with wheeled or tracked combat plat forms.


Objective To study the relationship between hyperhomocysteinemia( HHcy) and risk factors of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases and intervention therapy. Methods Two hundred and sixty-five patients with acute ischemic cerebrovascular diseases(85 patients with lacunar infarction,53 patients with transient ischemic attack,127 patients with acute cerebral infarction) and 140 control cases were chosen. Plasm homocysteine(Hcy) levels with empty stomach were examined in all subjects and compared with other risk factors of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases. The effect of HHcy accompanied by conventional risk factors on ischemic cerebrovascular diseases was analyzed. Intervention therapy and prognosis were introduced. Results HHcy accompanied by hypertensive disease or diabetes increased the occurrence of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases(P 0. 01). Single vitamin therapy for 6 weeks was inefficient(P 0. 05). Allied two vitamin therapy for 4 to 6 weeks was effective(P 0. 05),but wasn't up to standard. Allied three vitamin therapy for 2 weeks was effective(P 0. 05),and was up to standard after 4 to 6 weeks. The patients of allied three vitamin therapy decreased the recurrence of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases after a follow-up of 1. 5 years. Conclusions HHcy can interact with risk factors of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases such as hypertensive disease or diabetes and promote the development of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases. The effect of intervention therapy with three vitamins is prominent compared with no vitamin therapy,single vitamin therapy and two vitamin therapy.


Non-invasive removal of thrombosis is a difficult problem in clinical vascular disease. Herein, we reported magnetic hyperthermia combined photothermal therapy for celiac vein thrombosis using Fe3S4 nanoparticles as thrombolytic agents under the stimulation of a near infrared (NIR) laser and an external alternating magnetic field (AMF). Fe3S4 nanoparticles showed excellent magnetothermal conversion performance under the continuous stimulation of an AMF and very good photothermal conversion performance under the irradiation of a NIR laser. Moreover, Fe3S4 nanoparticles exhibited a synergistic thermal conversion effect under the co-stimulation of NIR and AMF. In addition, the Fe3S4 nanoparticles possess the ability for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with the transverse relaxivity (r2) is up to 53.1 mM−1 s−1. Finally, we, for the first time, proved the Fe3S4 nanoparticles as a promising thrombolytic agent for both photothermal thrombolytic capacity and magnetothermal thrombolytic ability. Our work provides the insight of hyperthermia for removal of the thrombosis.


Abstract The addition of small amounts of sodium dichromate to sodium trichloroacetate inhibits the corrosiveness of subsequent solutions on various metals. The presence of an oil layer at the air-liquid interphase prevents much of the liquid-level corrosion.


There exists a life style with unique characteristics in historical street blocks in Suzhou —courtyard and street life style. The said life style can comply with the behavior mode and personal needin the modern society which helps promote the agreement of regional traditional culture and moderncivilization in their steady development based on their tradition. Preservation work with a view to its futureshould be done on the basis of preservation of the life style and its connotational culture. The presentpreservation work should be strengthened in both concept and method.[


eventually to achieve a position of strategic economic dominance over the Middle East" and a "level of political authority as predominant power" in the region. This, in turn, would enable the Kremlin "to exert pressures upon capitalist states by threatening their strategic interests, which include the unhampered flow of petroleum from the Middle East." Ideologically speaking, "the U.S.S.R. would be working toward a world energy delivery system within a world socialist planned economy" (p. 121). Thus the major intrinsic inadequacy of Landis's book, given his own framework, is the failure to appraise the chances for Moscow's likely success or failure in the light of the objective obstacles to Soviet expansion. As a result, his work is based on a number of questionable assumptions concerning Russia's ultimate intentions in the Middle East which have not been tested against the realities of regional politics and economics or against Washington's obvious determination not to abandon the area to the mercy of the USSR.


IRST, I want to lay before you the limitations of my competence. For almost 20 years I labored, and I am biased enough to believe productively, in the vineyard of teaching and research in Agricultural Marketing. However, for almost 10 years now I have been in academic administration-six of which have been as Dean of Agriculture at Purdue. Contrary to some faculty opinion I have found the job of being Dean to be one which requires my full energies. Therefore, I admit freely to being only observationally acquainted with much of the research and extension developments in Agricultural Economics in recent years. Rather than go through a superficial literature research effort to look highly informed, I will present my opinions and observations as they are. You will have to assess their value and validity. I would mention, however, that my recent employment gives me some perspective of research and extension problems, and I believe these are to some degree shared by other Deans of Agriculture, and Directors of Experiment Stations and Extension Services.


The aim of this paper is to study the approximation properties of generalized sampling operators in terms of an averaged modulus of smoothness.


This study explored how psychosocial and cultural factors influenced expectations of menarche among 476 Chinese premenarcheal teenage girls. Results showed that participants' expectations of menarche were largely negative and heavily influenced by cultural beliefs about menstruation. Findings of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that positive emotional expectations of menarche were best predicted by perceptions of menstruation as a natural event, possession of positive self-concept, and rejection of indigenous negative menstrual attitudes. Negative emotional expectations of menarche were best predicted by perceptions of menstruation as a negative event, by inadequate preparation for menarche, by endorsement of indigenous negative menstrual attitudes, and by older age.


The present study was aimed at investigating elderly air passengers' perceptions and behaviours in case of an emergency in the cabin. It is grounded on the idea that if the seniors have the knowledge of what is happening and how to respond, they might effectively protect themselves during a flight should an emergency situation arise. In the study, 296 elderly passengers filled out a questionnaire measuring their awareness of cabin safety knowledge, safety attitudes and behaviour in the event of an emergency. The results indicate that elderly passengers are not familiar with cabin safety information and tend to have incorrect perceptions of some safety regulations. They are also not confident in preparing for an emergency landing and evacuation. It is thus important for airlines and governments to educate elderly passengers before a flight.


The syntax of complement (finite) clauses has been explained by positing a nominal projection (of some kind) on top of the (verbal) CP (Bresnan 1997; Malouf 2000; Borsley & Kornfilt 2000; Han 2005; Panagiotidis & Grohmann 2009; Takahashi 2010; Kornfilt & Whitman 2011). These studies account for the apparent hybrid nominal/verbal nature of these clauses, as exemplified by languages such as Swedish (Andersson 1975), Korean (Han 2005), Greek (Roussou 1991, 2009), and Spanish (Plann 1981, 1986; Picallo 2001, 2002). However, in this paper we present evidence which questions that approach. Spanish factive finite clauses may optionally be introduced by the article D el 'the' (hereafter, D-CP). Distributional tests have led researchers to conclude that this D-CPs are nominal since they can be subjects (1a) or objects (1b). However, we show that the nominal character of D-CPs must be qualified, as revealed in (2a,b), which highlight that D-CPs cannot be argued to be categorially DPs. Data drawn from other languages such as other Romance languages and Modern Greek back our analysis. This paper offers additional support to Haegeman & Urogdi (2010), who reject the assimilation of (referential) CPs to DPs.


Jason Kerr, a Partner in White & Case's Energy, Infrastructure, Project and Asset Finance Group in London, looks at the key role that Africa's LNG sector will play in slaking the world's increasing thirst for energy.


Language discrimination has previously been found in human infants, cotton-top tamarin monkeys, rats, and Java sparrows. This ability might also be relevant for the crow, a social passerine with extensive auditory perceptual skills living in close contact with humans. In this experiment we tested whether crows autonomously pay attention to spoken language, and whether they can discriminate a familiar, locally spoken language (Japanese) from an unfamiliar language (Dutch) without training. When presented with sentences spoken by multiple speakers, the crows showed significantly more responses to the Dutch than to the Japanese, which suggests that they discriminate two languages with distinctive linguistic features, and that they might also be more attentive to an unfamiliar language, Dutch, compared to a familiar one, Japanese. These results further extend the hypothesis that language discrimination is based on a general perceptual mechanism that predates the evolution of language and show that crows can voluntarily apply this mechanism to language outside of experimental set-ups.


A new series of interpenetrating polymer network based on castor oil, toluene diisocyanate and hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) (Network I) and castor oil, TDI and polypropylene glycol (PPG) (Network II) was prepared. Their structure and properties were studied by solid NMR and dynamic mechanical analysis. Mechanical and dynamic mechanical measurements show that the tensile properties increase and tan 6 peaks broaden. Solid NMR results indicate that the interface ratio increase but it does not vary with relative amount of network I and network II whtch reveals that the samples might exhibit a core-shell structure.


Maternal folate supplementation is critical for fetal development. Women with MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) gene polymorphisms may not be getting the proper folate form to support fetal development. The objectives of this review were to: (1) undertake a comprehensive review on the association of MTHFR polymorphisms with the risk for various congenital diseases and other adverse pregnancy outcomes, (2) assess the efficacy and safety of current folic acid and other supplementations in women with the MTHFR polymorphism, and (3) provide guidance on the appropriate supplementation for women of childbearing potential with the MTHFR gene polymorphism in order to decrease these adverse pregnancy outcomes. Our assessments show that women with MTHFR gene polymorphism cannot efficiently convert folic acid to L-5-methyl-tetrahydofolate, the predominant active form of folic acid, due to reduced MTHFR enzymatic activity. L-5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate is currently commercially available under several brand names. Based on our comprehensive review and knowledge of the biochemistry of the folates, we recommend that L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate be given in combination with folic acid to women with MTHFR polymorphism that are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. Further study is needed to determine the optimal dose.


PoP (Package on Package) structures have been used widely in digital consumer electronics products such as digital still cameras and mobile phones. However, the final stack height from the top to the bottom package for these structures is higher than that of the current stacked die packages. To reduce the height of the package, a flip chip technology is used. Since the logic chips of mobile applications use a pad pitch of less than 80 μm or less, an ultra-fine-pitch flip chip interconnection technique is required. The C4 (Controlled Collapse Chip Connection) flip chip technology is widely used in area array flip chip packages. The C4 was named after the four initial characters which are "C" of Controlled Collapse Chip Connection. The collapse of the molten solder is controlled by the individual opening of solder resist on each pad on the substrate so that the chip can be connected onto the substrate. However, C4 is not suitable in the ultra-fine-pitch flip chips because the such a individual opening which is suitable for the ultra-fine-pitch cannot be made on the substraete. Instead of the C4 flip chip technology, the new interconnection technique was developed using the solder capped Cu pillar bumps. It is very easy to control the space between the die and the substrate by adjusting the Cu pillar height even when a large slit window opening exists on a group of pads on the substrate. Since the collapse control of the solder bumps is not necessary, we call the process C2 (Chip Connection). The C2 was named after the two initial characters which are "C" of Chip Connection. The solder capped Cu pillar bumps are connected to Cu substrate pads, which are a surface treated with OSP (Organic Solder Preservative), by reflow with no-clean processes. This technology creates the SMT (Surface Mount Technology)/flip chip hybrid assembly for SoP (System on Package) use. We have produced 50 μm pitch interconnections and observed the micro structure and tested their reliability. Some voids in the solder joint were observed after the reflow process. The results of warpage measurements and FEM (Finite Element Method) analyses suggest that these voids are the shrinkage voids caused by the wide temperature range of the solder liquid phase and the substrate warpage. Since they are not the stress induced voids, they didn't affect the reliability test. The increase in interconnection resistance during the reliability test was compared between the C2 interconnection and Au stud-solder interconnection. Since the resistance increase of the C2 interconnection is much smaller than that for the Au stud-solder interconnection, it is clear that the C2 flip chip technology provides robust solder connections at low cost. Also the C2 structure with a low-k device was evaluated and no failures were observed at 1,500 cycles in the TC (Thermal Cycle) test. In addition to the fine-pitch interconnections, a die thickness of 70 μm is required to reduce the final stack height. The reliability performance of the C2 flip chip with the die thicknesses 20 μm, 70 μm and 150 μm was also discussed using a PEG (Post-Encapsulation Grinding) method in which the die is ground to less than 70 μm after joining and underfilling. Finally the electromigration tests were performed on the 80 μm pitch C2 interconnection. The tests showed that the solder capped Cu pillar structure has high endurance against electromigration and no failure data was recorded up to 1,000 hrs with several electromigration conditions regardless the direction of electron flow.