Voice activity sensors commonly measure voiced-speech-induced skin vibrations using contact microphones or related techniques. We show that micro-power EM wave sensors have advantages over acoustic techniques by directly measuring vocal-fold motions, especially during closure. This provide 0.1 ms timing accuracy (i.e., ~10 kHz bandwidth) relative to the corresponding acoustic signal, with data arriving ~0.5 ms in advanced of the acoustic speech leaving the speaker's mouth. Preceding or following unvoiced and silent speech segments can then be well defined. These characteristics enable anti-speech waves to be generated or prior recorded waves recalled, synchronized, and broadcast with high accuracy to mask the user's real-time speech signal. A particularly useful masking process uses an acoustic voiced signal from the prior voiced speech period which is inverted, carefully timed, and rebroadcast in phase with the presently being spoken acoustic signal. This leads to real-time cancellation of a substantial ...


The assessment of the impact of solar radiation on building envelopes has typically been achieved by using simulation software, which is time consuming and requires advanced computational knowledge. Given the increased complexity of large scale-projects and the demand for performative buildings, new innovative methods are required to assess the design efficiently. In this paper, we present an alternative and innovative approach to assessing solar radiation intensity on an office building envelope using two machine-learning (ML) models: Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Decision Tree (DT). The experimental workflow of this paper consists of two stages. In the first stage, a generative parametric office tower and its urban context were designed and simulated using Grasshopper software to create a large synthetic dataset of the solar radiation that strikes the office room envelope with several types of analyses. In the second stage, the generated datasets were imported into two ML algorithms (ANN and DT) to create a model for training and testing. The comparison of these two ML models proved that input data types have a significant impact on the accuracy of the prediction and model selection. DT was found to be more accurate than ANN because the data is mostly categorical, which is the most suitable learning background for DT algorithms. Author


THE DATA ON FORECASTING OF PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF SPELEOCLIMATOTHERAPY ON THE ORGANISM OF THE FOREIGN STUDENTS TRAINING IN A MIDLAND OF RUSSIA. THEY ARE PRESENTED IN THE PAPER AND ESTIMATED ON CHANGE OF THE VSR PARAMETERS AND INDICATORS OF QUALITY OF LIFE. THESE DATA ALLOW TO REVEAL THE ADAPTATION OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FOREIGN AND THE RUSSIAN STUDENTS IN THE TRAINING PROCESS AT MEDICAL SCHOOL AND TO DETERMINE THE CORRECTIVE EFFECTS OF THE SPELEOCLIMATOTHERAPY. THE COURSE OF THE SPELEOTHERAPY CONTRIBUTES TO IMPROVE THE INDICATORS OF VEGETATIVE REGULATION OF FUNCTIONS OF ORGANISM AND QUALITY OF LIFE AND TO RECOMMEND AS THE METHOD OF NON-DRUG CORRECTION OF THE FUNCTIONAL CHANGES CONNECTED WITH DIFFICULTIES OF ADAPTATION TO NEW CLIMATIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS.


In this study the environmental toxicity of procured silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) and its equivalent Ag ion concentrations were determined using seed germination tests with Lycopersicum esculentum and Zea mays. Our results showed that AgNP exhibited more toxicity than its equivalent ion concentration by inhibiting root length and germination in a concentration-dependent manner. Interestingly, AgNP supplemented with bovine serum albumin was able to reduce the adverse effects induced by the particles. Lycopersicum esculentum was found to be more sensitive to the treatments than Z. mays. Thus, understanding of the transformations that NP undergo after interaction with environmental biomolecules is necessary to predict adverse consequences within ecosystems.


Coordination degree of resources, environment, economy and society in China during the years of 1995–2008 as an example is made by quantitative study. Conclusions that physical capital investment is still important input factor in the development of China, the growth mode of China is based on physical capital driving, the utilization of number of employed persons is low, and inputs of resources and the environment made inadequate contribution to the development performance are made.


Particle suspension in liquids is a unit operation commonly encountered in the process industry. Although it is usually carried out in baffled stirred tanks, there are some specific applications where the presence of baffles may be undesirable. In the present work solid–liquid suspensions are investigated in a radially stirred unbaffled tank provided with a top cover. The minimum impeller speed at which all solid particles get suspended (Njs) and the relevant power requirements (Pjs) are assessed. The dependence of these two parameters on physical properties (liquid viscosity, particle concentration, and size) and system geometrical configurations (impeller diameter and clearance) is investigated, and a correlation for the Njs estimation is proposed. Results mark some notable differences with respect to baffled tanks: Njs appears to be almost independent of particle diameter, a feature that may suggest the adoption of unbaffled tanks when large heavy particles are to be dealt with. Also, Njs was found to ...


An assistance method and device for lateral control of an aircraft upon an approach phase is disclosed. The device (1) comprises means (25) to predict in flight a risk of runway lateral excursion and means (20) to advise the pilot of the aircraft about the existence of such a risk.


During the past three years only a small amount of research has been directed toward the study of the extent of maladjustment among teachers, of the nature of the adjustment problems they face, and of the pre-service and in-service means by which their adjustment can be facilitated. This area is one of primary importance to education and society and should attract much more attention from research workers in the future. Studies to be reported here must be regarded chiefly as exploratory, but they do suggest some leads that are well worth following.


This article is the second part of the research on the institutional evaluation of the open universities. The title of the first one was 'Evaluation Standards for Institutional Evaluation of Open Universities,' which was presented at the 22nd AAOU Annual Conference, Tianjin, China. In the previous study we discussed the definition of university evaluation and some of the controversial points in the existing evaluation. The focal point was that the existing standards and indexes are not appropriate for Korea National Open University (KNOU) as an open university, and that it is necessary to establish a new evaluating system for the university. We believe it is true of the other open universities throughout Asia and the world. In short, the present research provides the practical and effective data on the evaluation standard. It also includes some new qualitative, quantitative and modified evaluation indexes reflecting the distinctive features of the open universities. The main part of this article elaborates on 5 evaluation domains, 23 evaluation sections, 81 evaluation items and 229 evaluation indexes. These evaluation domains, sections, items and indexes result from the practical surveys and AHP and Swing analyses. The result of this research will prove a good and essential element for ranking indicators in ODE universities. At the end of the paper we add some new standards and indexes for evaluating regional campuses of the open universities, which is another important agenda for upgrading the learner support throughout the country.


Slamet volcano is the biggest volcano in Central Java, Indonesia which has stratovolcano type. Starting in 1772 until recent, Slamet volcano was erupted with short cycling so that geochemicals on rock are important to know how the history and erupted type. Method of research was conducted by geological survey (surface) and geochemical analysis of sample rocks. Geological condition is consist of lava flow, pyroclastic fall, and laharic deposits that was proven by petrography approached, meanwhile geochemical composition shows calc-alkaline and high K calc-alkaline series, genesis of magma was from continental plate with island arc tholeiitic setting. Depth of magma 155-174 km belom the earth's surface.


In the present paper, we investigate the propagation of an harmonic plane wave propagating with assigned frequency by implementing the thermoelasticity theory based on a fractional order heat conduction law where the fractional order parameter α satisfies 0 < α < 1 . After formulating the problem, the exact dispersion relation solutions for the plane wave are determined analytically and asymptotic expressions of different characterization of the wave are analyzed in two special cases, namely for a high-frequency field and low-frequency field. We consider the case of longitudinal wave which is coupled with the thermal field and we ignore the transverse wave as it is observed to be independent to the thermal field. Two different modes: predominantly thermal and predominantly elastic mode longitudinal waves are found. Finally we compute wave characterizations for the intermediate values of frequency and verify our analytical results for the limiting cases of wave frequency. A detailed analysis is presented to highlight the effects of the fractional order parameter, α , on the wave fields. Several important points are highlighted and the most important point which we have found is that α plays a very important role in the behavior of the wave. As α ≤ 0 . 5 , the thermal mode wave behaves similarly as in the case of a classical thermoelastic model and the nature of the wave changes significantly as α gets nearer to the value 1, behaving more similarly to the case of a generalized thermoelastic model (Lord–Shulman model).


When the singular values of the evolution operator are all smaller or all greater than one, stable integration algorithms are obtained either by explicit or implicit methods. When the singular spectrum mixes greater and smaller than one values, neither explicit nor implicit methods insure stabilty. The problem is solved by using a splitting of the evolution operator and a semi-implicit scheme. The method is illustrated in the study of a two-field model of the tokamak scrape-off layer.


Review(s) of: Shared Landscapes: Archaeologies of Attachment and the Pastoral Industry in New South Wales, by Rodney Harrison, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 2004, xiv+240pp, ISBN 0 86840 559 0. Includes references.


This paperdescribesa method for the computation of thetransientand subtransient reactances of synchronousmachinesby finite elements. It employs the concept that boundary conditionsmay be used to isolate differentregionsof the problemdomain. By using this approach, the regions of the problemdomainwhichcontaininducedcurrents in the transientand subtransientregimes, are isolated.Great simplification of the problem is gained as a result of this practice. The method is implementedon a large water-wheelgeneratorwithfirstorder nonlineartriangularelements. Extreme load levels as well as armaturefluxangles have been examined.The computational resultsin all the casesstudiedshow a good accordance withthemanufacturer'sshop-floortests.


This paper analyses the interpretation into a B language using the study of PACTE's translation competence model (2003) and Gile's Effort Model (1995), in order to answer the question: are competences in translation and in interpreting from the same nature? The main objective here is to verify if translation and interpreting use the same sub-competences and, additionally, if these sub-competences act in the same way in both processes.


OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of nutritional factors on the growth of Dendrobium candidum seedlings.METHODS Dendrobium candidum seedlings were used as explants,the single factor design was applied to estimate the effects of various factors including culture medium,carbon source,nitrogen source and active carbon on the growth of Dendrobium candidum seedlings,with its biomass,tiller number or average root number as index.The data of biomass were analyzed with One-way ANOVA and q test.RESULTS As for seedling growth,20% potato juice significantly promoted the tiller formation of the in vitro plantlets,the suitable culture medium for seedling to tiller and growth was 1/2MS(half of macro-elements)supplemented with 20% potato juice.Carbon source test indicated no significant difference in the biomass and growth of seedlings between sucrose and glucose except lactose.Nitrogen source results showed that the suitable nitrogen concentration for the growth was 30 mmol·L-1.the best ratio of ammonium to nitrate were 0∶3 or 1∶2,while excessive concentration of nitrogen source inhibited seedling growth.The concentration of active carbon added in the medium was 3 g·L-1,which not only increased significantly the dry weight of this plant(P0.05)but also made the average number of roots per plantlet increase to 3.26 times comparing with the control,furthermore the plantlets grew healthy and strong.CONCLUSION Tiller propagation,rooting and growth-promoting of Dendrobium candidum seedlings could be carried out in the same medium under suitable nutritional conditions.


Neuronal cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein (CPEB) plays a critical role in maintaining the functional and morphological long-lasting synaptic changes that underlie learning and memory. It can undergo a prion switch, but it remains unclear if this self-templating change in protein conformation is alone sufficient to create a stable change in CPEB activity: a robust "protein-only" biochemical memory. To investigate, we take advantage of yeast cells wherein the neuronal CPEB of Aplysia is expressed in the absence of any neuronal factors and can stably adopt either an active or an inactive state. Reminiscent of well-characterized yeast prions, we find that CPEB can adopt several distinct activity states or "strains." These states are acquired at a much higher spontaneous rate than is typical of yeast prions, but they are extremely stable—perpetuating for years—and have all of the non-Mendelian genetic characteristics of bona fide yeast prions. CPEB levels are too low to allow direct physical characterization, but CPEB strains convert a fusion protein, which shares only the prion-like domain of CPEB, into amyloid in a strain-specific manner. Lysates of CPEB strains seed the purified prion domain to adopt the amyloid conformation with strain-specific efficiencies. Amyloid conformers generated by spontaneous assembly of the purified prion domain (and a more biochemically tractable derivative) transformed cells with inactive CPEB into the full range of distinct CPEB strains. Thus, CPEB employs a prion mechanism to create stable, finely tuned self-perpetuating biochemical memories. These biochemical memories might be used in the local homeostatic maintenance of long-term learning-related changes in synaptic morphology and function.


The first wildlife regulation recorded in North America was a one-cent bounty placed on wolves in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the year 1630. Historically , bounties have been instrumental in the reduction and in some cases , eradication of local populations. While bounties have sometimes been effective in meeting management objecti ves, programs were often plagued with unfavorable cost/benefit ratios and fraud. As a result , payment for the harvesting of wildlife has been perceived as a poor wildlife management tool and a drain on public coffers. Starting in the fall of 2002 , the state of Louisiana is implementing an incentive payment program to revive the moribund trapping industry and reduce over-abundant populations of an invasive rodent, the nutria (Myocastor coypus). The unique combination of natural and cultural history in Louisiana suggest s that incentive payments may have a place as a modern wildlife management tool. 414 Proceedings of the 10 Wildlife Damage Management Conference . (K .A. Fagerstone , G.W. Witmer , Eds). 2003 .


Bangladesh, through its complex network of river systems, drains an area of about 1.76 million km 2 of the catchments of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, of which only 7.5% lies in Bangladesh. The Sundarbans is situated in the Ganges catchment area, which is known as the single largest mangrove forest and unique ecosystem in the world. It has an area 6017 km 2 and a natural shield that protects the coastal area from storm surges and cyclones. It also plays a potential role in the regional economy and ecosystems. Since the diversion of Ganges water at Farakka Barrage in India from early 1975, as a result the water and soil salinity has penetrated. Consequently, both siltation and increased salinity have degraded water quality in the Sundarbans rivers, and threats for mangrove ecosystems. At present, ground water use in the study area is less because of high salinity intrusion. For salinity investigation, time series data for four years (13 rivers) were used for water salinity modelling. The objectives of this paper are to investigate the water salinity approximation in the Sundarbans rivers, which will be considered as a tool for decision making. It will make a contribution to develop an interdisciplinary management plan and to ensure that fresh water is supplied to the Sundarbans by the Ganges for the protection of mangrove ecosystems.


This paper presents the formal aspects of testing criteria for Safety Critical Systems. A brief review of testing strategies i.e. white box and black box is given along with their various criteria's. Z Notation; a formal specification language is used to sever the purpose of formalization. Initially, the schemas are formed for Statement Coverage (SC), Decision coverage (DC), Path Coverage (PC), Equivalence Partition Class (EPC), Boundary Value Analysis (BV) and Cause & Effect (CF a Theorem Prover tool for Z specification.


Involving children in their own treatment decision-making improves their abilities. Factors such as the ability to reason, previous children's experiences in relation to the subject as well as information, and their general understanding of the subject affect the child's ability to make decisions. The current laws of informed consent in children allow alternate decision makers to decide on their own. Our goal in this study was to examine the current conditions for the informed consent of children in to provide appropriate guidelines in this regard. In this qualitative study, participants were selected through targeted sampling. The data were collected by semi-structured interview with open questions. Coding and classification was carried out using continuous comparative analysis. Participants included 6 admitted children, 15 parents of children, and 4 pediatricians. Three general categories of "satisfaction culture", "environmental conditions", and "child world" were extracted. Parents and children were not clear about the purpose of obtaining consent. The gender of children was not significantly affected by the process of obtaining formal consent in medical settings. The existing conditions have created a non-appropriate balance in the expectations of parents regarding the treatment decisions and giving vital information and treating the child by doctors disregarding child's competency. This defective balance can, in the meantime, cause instability and harm to human dignity and autonomy of parents and children, waste of resources, challenging the sense of trust in the community towards doctors and the lack of growth in child's decision-making power.


Field emission device of graphene oxide (GO) with parallel plate-type structure was successfully produced with highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) by electrochemical exfoliation. The material, chemical characteristics and material surface structure were analyzed with Raman spectroscopy, XRD, SEM and XPS as well. The best field emission enhancement factor β is 1878.5, and the turn-on field defined current equals to 1μA, max emission current are 3.73V/μm and 12μA, respectively. GO is a good candidate for field emission device.


The mechanical resonance of structures is often blamed for their collapse. In the attempt to prevent such usually catastrophic events, the identification of the natural frequencies has usually become a constituent part of the design activity of mechanical structures. Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) are small size unmanned aircraft. This study aims to give a place to the numerical finite element method (FEM) simulations of the natural frequency during the design stage of the MAVs. In particular, the effect of selected materials and geometrical parameters on the simulated first natural frequency has been analyzed in this study. Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) appeared to confer the MAV a significant higher first natural frequency than the aluminum alloy investigated (AA2024). Also, given any of the material investigated (CFRP, aramidic fibre reinforced polymer, AA2024), it was found that MAVs simultaneously having a large radius and thickness of the outer shell and a small height have first natural frequency far larger than in any other geometrical configuration.


In the Movement Repairmen (MR) problem, we are given a metric space (V, d) along with a set R of k repairmen r1, r2, …, rk with their start depots s1, s2, …, sk ∈ V and speeds v1, v2, …, vk ⩾ 0, respectively, and a set C of m clients c1, c2, …, cm having start locations s′1, s′2, …, s′m ∈ V and speeds v′1, v′2, …, v′m ⩾ 0, respectively. If t is the earliest time a client cj is collocated with any repairman (say, ri) at a node u, we say that the client is served by ri at u and that its latency is t. The objective in the (Sum-MR) problem is to plan the movements for all repairmen and clients to minimize the sum (average) of the clients' latencies. The motivation for this problem comes, for example, from Amazon Locker Delivery [Amazon 2010] and USPS gopost [Service 2010]. We give the first O(logn)-approximation algorithm for the Sum-MR problem. In order to approximate Sum-MR, we formulate an LP for the problem and bound its integrality gap. Our LP has exponentially many variables; therefore, we need a separation oracle for the dual LP. This separation oracle is an instance of the Neighborhood Prize Collecting Steiner Tree (NPCST) problem in which we want to find a tree with weight at most L collecting the maximum profit from the clients by visiting at least one node from their neighborhoods. The NPCST problem, even with the possibility to violate both the tree weight and neighborhood radii, is still very hard to approximate. We deal with this difficulty by using LP with geometrically increasing segments of the timeline, and by giving a tricriteria approximation for the problem. The rounding needs a relatively involved analysis. We give a constant approximation algorithm for Sum-MR in Euclidean Space where the speed of the clients differs by a constant factor. We also give a constant approximation for the makespan variant.


Galois representations in Honda's formal groups. Arithmetic of the group of points by D. G. Benois and S. V. Vostokov A lower bound for the complexity of the SPLIT-FIND problem for a pointer machine by D. Yu. Burago The finiteness theorem for three-dimensional manifolds of nonpositive curvature by S. V. Buyalo On two conjectures of Linnik by E. P. Golubeva and O. M. Fomenko Local approximations of functions given on manifolds by Yu. K. Demyanovich Seminorms and higher-order moduli of continuity by V. V. Zhuk Hyperstonean preimage of Alexandrov spaces by V. K. Zakharov The variational principle and completely nonlinear second-order equations by N. M Ivochkina Regularity and weak regularity of solutions of quasilinear elliptic systems by A. I. Koshelev and S. I. Chelkak Regularity of statistical solutions of the transport equations by N. B. Maslova On the symmetric envelope of averaging of symmetric ideals by A. A. Mekler On the history of mathematics at Leningrad State University at the end of the 1920s by S. C. Mikhlin On the history of the St. Petersburg and Petrograd Mathematica Societies by N. S. Ermolaeva St. Petersburg Mathematical Society by A. M. Vershik.


The Axis database is the only national information resource on British artists and craftmakers. It contains visual-text data on over 2,500 contemporary British practitioners and is a rapidly growing source of data for researchers, students, curators, commissioning agents, architects, planners and patrons and purchasers of visual arts. Axis also has an important national role in promoting contemporary art and artists and widening access to visual culture.


This paper describes the development of a large area hybrid pixel detector designed for time‐resolved synchrotron x‐ray scattering experiments in which limited frames, with a high framing rate, are required. The final design parameters call for a 1024×1024 pixel array device with 150‐micron pixels that is 100% quantum efficient for x‐rays with energy up to 20 keV, with a framing rate in the microsecond range. The device will consist of a fully depleted diode array bump bonded to a CMOS electronic storage capacitor array with eight frames per pixel. The two devices may be separated by a x‐ray blocking layer that protects the radiation‐sensitive electronics layer from damage. The signal is integrated in the electronics layer and stored in one of eight CMOS capacitors. After eight frames are taken, the data are then read out, using clocking electronics external to the detector, and stored in a RAM disk. Results will be presented on the development of a prototype 4×4 pixel electronics layer that is capable of...


Theory predicts that individuals behave altruistically towards their relatives. Hence, some form of kin recognition is useful for individuals to optimize their behaviour. In species displaying bi-parental care and subject to extra-pair matings, kin recognition theoretically allows cuckolded fathers to reduce their parental investment, and thus optimize their fitness, but whether this is possible remains unclear in birds. This study investigates the ability of male sparrows to recognize their own chicks, using a large cross-foster experiment, parental care as an indicator and House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) as a model organism. We cross-fostered chicks after hatching, and then expected that fathers would show a decrease in their parental efforts when tending to a clutch of unrelated offspring. However, there was no significant effect of relatedness on provisioning rates. This suggests that sparrows may not be capable of kin recognition, or at least do not display kin discrimination despite its apparent evolutionary advantage.


In this paper the experimental results of an autocascade refrigeration system for achieving ultra low temperature are presented. The plant is used to preserve tissue and cells. When the air temperature is equal to −150°C in 0.25 m3 space, the required refrigeration power is about 250 W. The influence of the most meaningful variables is discussed with regard to the design of the plant. The experimental results show an acceptable time to reach the steady state in dependence of the finality of the plant. The working substance is a non‐azeotropic mixture consisting of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants in addition to argon and methane. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The incidence and prevalence of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) have been increasing worldwide. The risk of NTM-PD may be higher in undernourished populations. In this study, we tried to elucidate the impact of body mass index (BMI) and its change on development of NTM-PD. We performed a retrospective cohort study including South Koreans aged >40 years who underwent biennial National Health Insurance System (NHIS) health check-ups in both 2005 and 2009 or 2006 and 2010. We monitored eligible individuals from the study initiation date (NHIS health check-up date in 2009 or 2010) until the diagnosis of NTM-PD or until December 31, 2017. Enroled individuals were classified based on BMI at initiation date. By calculating hazard ratios, we compared NTM-PD incidence per 100 000 person-years by BMI group and by BMI change. A total of 5 670 229 individuals were included in the final analysis. Compared with the BMI <18.5 kg·m−2 group, the incidence of NTM-PD gradually decreased with increased BMI (adjusted hazard ratio 0.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.35–0.42 for BMI 18.5–22.9; 0.17, 95% CI 0.15–0.19 for BMI 23–24.9; 0.1, 95% CI 0.09–0.11 for BMI 25–29.9; and 0.1, 95% CI 0.07–0.13 for BMI ≥30). A BMI decrease of ≥1 kg·m−2 over 4 years increased the incidence of NTM-PD (adjusted hazard ratio 1.08, 95% CI 1.01–1.16) whereas a BMI increase of ≥1 kg·m−2 decreased the incidence of NTM-PD (adjusted hazard ratio 0.77, 95% CI 0.71–0.83). In conclusion, BMI was inversely related to development of NTM-PD and weight loss increased the risk of NTM-PD. Higher body mass index was protective against development of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) among Korean people. Weight loss increased the risk of NTM-PD. https://bit.ly/2PDawxn


The objective of this study was to select suitable experimental conditions for extraction of coumarin by Ultrasonic Assisted Extraction (UAE). Type of extraction solvent, extraction time and temperature were optimized to increase the extraction yield of coumarin from samples of cinnamon and foods containing cinnamon. Optimal UAE conditions include extraction time of 10 min, temperature of 50 °C and extraction solvent based on choline chloride and ʟ-lactic acid. The extraction yields were comparable to traditional solvents – water and methanol.


ABSTRACT More and more earthquake cases demonstrate that sandy deposits may be more prone to becoming liquefied again in aftershock events. This phenomenon has also been authenticated by some laboratory element tests and shaking table tests. However, most of the existing studies on reliquefaction only put particular emphasis on the completely reconsolidated soil. Due to the possible short time interval between the main shock and its aftershock events, the generated pore pressure in soil deposits may not have completely dissipated when the aftershock occurred; the reliquefaction is more likely to occur under incomplete consolidation conditions. To investigate the reliquefaction behaviors and the related microscopic mechanisms for the incompletely and completely reconsolidated soil, a series of numerical cyclic triaxial tests are performed in this study via the 3D Discrete Element Method (DEM). Results demonstrated that the reliquefaction resistance of soil is significantly affected by the residual strain and the reconsolidation degree. From the microscopic point of view, the fabric anisotropy and the tightness of inter-particle contacts are the main factors affecting the reliquefaction resistance.


Abstract This research is aimed at finding out: (1) whether or not the use of English speech activity effects the students' motivation for the second semester students of English Department at Universitas Sulawesi Barat and (2) whether or not the second semester students of English Department at Universitas Sulawesi Barat are interested in speaking English through English speech activity. This research applied quasi-experimental research method. The population of the research was all second semester students of English Department at Universitas Sulawesi Barat. The researcher chose class II.A as experimental group (16 students) and class II.B as control group (16 students) as sample of the research. The data of the research were collected by using two kinds of instruments, namely speaking test and questionnaire. Speaking test (interview) was used to obtain data of the students' speaking ability and questionnaire was used to know the students interest in speaking through English speech activity. The result of data analysis showed that there was significant difference between the students' score who were taught by using English speech activity and re-telling. It was proved by the mean score of the experimental class which was higher than control group in posttest (79.06>73.37). Based on data analysis, the researcher concluded that: the use of English speech activity can improve students' speaking ability and make the students interested in speaking English. Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menemukan apakah: (1) penggunaan teknik pidato bahasa Inggris secara signifikan dapat mempengaruhi motivasi mahasiswa semester dua jurusan bahasa Inggris di Universitas Sulawesi Barat dan (2) mahasiswa semester dua jurusan bahasa Inggris di Universitas Sulawesi Barat tertarik belajar bahasa Inggris dengan teknik pidato bahasa Inggris.Penelitian ini menerapkan metode kuasi-eksperimental. Populasi penelitian ini adalah mahasiswa semester dua jurusan bahasa Inggris di Universitas Sulawesi Barat. Peneliti memilih kelas II.A sebagai grup eksperimen (16 siswa) dan II.B sebagai grup control (16 siswa) sebagai sampel penelitian. Data yang diolah dengan menggunakan dua instrumen penelitian yaitu test berbicara dan kuesioner. Test berbicara (wawancara) digunakan untuk memperoleh data kemampuan berbicara sementara kuesioner atau angket digunakan untuk menggunakan ketertarikan siswa dalam menggunakan teknik pidato bahasa Inggris.Hasil analisis data menunjukkan bahwa prestasi belajar mahasiswa berbeda secara signifikan antara mahasiswa yang diajar dengan menggunakan teknik pidato bahasa Inggris dan re-telling. Ini ditunjukkan dengan peroleh nilai rata-rata mahasiswa kelas eksperimen lebih tinggi dari kelas control pada tes akhir (79.06>73.37). Berdasarkan analisis data diatas maka peneliti menyimpulkan bahwa: penggunaan teknik pidato bahasa Inggris dapat meningkatkan kemampuan berbicara siswa dan juga dapat membuat siswa tertarik belajar bahasa Inggris


The fame of the Italian economist Maffeo Pantaleoni (1857-1924) is due in large part to the fact he was one of the greatest scholars of «marginalism» and the first to apply it to the problems of public finance in Italy in the last decades of the Nineteenth Century. Moreover, Pantaleoni with other Italian scholars such as Antonio de Viti de Marco and Ugo Mazzola can be considered the founding father of the modern public choice theory. At the beginning of the twentieth century, however, Pantaleoni focused his attention on the issue of the competitive society, which is the subject of this paper. Pantaleoni, a supporter of the Ricardian theory of comparative advantage at the end of the nineteenth century, was persuaded to side with the Socialists in criticizing the protectionist policy on corn adopted by the Italian government, a policy that clearly represented an attack on the competitive society. For the same reasons, before and even more after the First World War, Pantaleoni railed against the Socialist world. In fact, in his opinion, Socialism, by imposing political prices, denied the autonomy of the
economic sphere from the political, thus preventing, once again, competition. This was the case of the cooperative societies, supported by the Socialist Party. In the light of this position, it is plausible to claim a notable degree of coherence in the evolution of Pantaleoni's political attitudes; evolving from pro-socialist at the end of the nineteenth century to pro-nationalist and convinced Fascist in subsequent years, a coherence not recognized by many of his scholars.


The connecting performance of a new high speed and precision double-contact toolholder (BTF toolholder) is studied in this paper. The mechanics of elasticity and Finite Element Method (FEM) are used to analyze the effect law between the clamping force and the connecting performance, respectively. The contact stress and deformation are obtained for the tapper and surface of flange interface. The optimal clamping force is derived for the BTF toolholder under the limited rotational speed. By comparing with those of the conventional BT toolholder, the BTF toolholder has higher stiffness and outstanding connecting properties. The research results will provide the basic theory and data support for the optimization and application of toolholder.


We present the effect of post-annealing on the p-type ZnO:Sb thin film. The ZnO:Sb thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. Undoped ZnO thin film was inserted between the ZnO:Sb thin films and GaN template/sapphire substrate to reduce lattice mismatch. The ZnO:Sb thin films grown in the temperature range of 400 °C and 800 °C were all n-type in the as-grown state. However, when post-annealing was performed the film grown at 600 °C and annealed at 700 °C for 60 min showed p-type conductivity with a hole concentration of 1.4 x 1017 cm-3 and a reasonable mobility of 6.7 cm2/Vs. The annealed ZnO:Sb thin film grown at a relatively low temperature of 400 °C was highly resistive with a resistivity of 1.95 x 105 Ωcm. This was perhaps due to the low incorporation of Sb in the film. ZnO:Sb thin film grown at a relatively high temperature of 800 °C showed n-type conductivity even after annealing, and the carrier concentration only dropped from 1.32 x 1017 cm-3 of the as-grown state to 3.08 x 1015 cm-3 after annealing. This may have been due to the formation of Sb compound in ZnO inhibiting the activation of Sb during post-annealing. Therefore, post-annealing of ZnO:Sb grown at adequate temperature is crucial to obtain p-type ZnO thin film.


The objective of the work is to analyze teaching and learning strategies of scientific writing, listed by professors and students of the State University of Feira de Santana - UEFS. The research is anchored in the principles of qualitative research. As a device for collecting information, narrative reports were used, apprehended through individual narrative interviews. The discussions woven here were carried out based on the contributions of authors such as Anastasiou and Alves (2009 and 2012);Castello (2009);Jovchelovitch (2002); and Burochovitch and Santos (2011); Silva (2020). The study allowed us to conclude that although the professors claim to develop strategies for teaching writing, these seem imperceptible to the students' eyes. The study also evidenced the fact that students use, even if unconsciously, learning strategies derived from some teaching practices of teachers.


Needle-shaped nanostructured tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum nanowires (Alq3) have been obtained by annealing Alq3 amorphous films at 150∘C which is lower than the glass transition temperature of Alq3 (172∘C). The growth of Alq3 nanowires is attributed to the migration and stacking of Alq3 molecules which acquire thermal energy from the annealing process. X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electronic microscopy spectra show that the Alq3 nanowires are composed of the well-known [Formula: see text]-phase Alq3. The intensity of the photoluminescence spectra firstly increases and then decreases as the annealing time increases, along with a spectral blue shift. The optical transmittance spectra of the annealed Alq3 films show a smaller average absorption in the visible range and a wider optical bandgap compared with that of the amorphous films, as a result of the decrease of [Formula: see text] overlapping in the Alq3 molecules.


Underwater sound propagation (USP) is a complicated problem since in almost cases we do not have enough knowledge (both in theory and experiments) on required parameters for long range channel estimations. In USP problem we must consider features of ocean surface, bottom as well as water column properties. Those quantities are varying in space whereas oceanographic quantities changing in time. This paper solve USP problem in Tonkin gulf in winter using wave propagation theory. From that it is defined the impulse response (IR) and the distribution of the underwater sound channel (USC) in Tonkin gulf. Some results using proposed USC combining space modulation(SM) are shown.


In the paper, dicalcium silicate (C2S) was modified to obtain higher performance, and the solutionizing pattern of BaSO4 in cement clinker was analyzed theoretically. According to experimental results, solutionizing of BaSO4in cement clinker improved crystal plane distance of C2S as well as the relations of coordination. The performance tests show that the strength of C2S modified by BaSO4 changes and the reactivity of C2S increases significantly.


Research has shown that air pollution in most of cities and towns in West Africa becoming critical. This research is an ongoing work in West African cities to determine the level of pollution. A fifteen years dataset was obtained from the Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR). Computational and statistical analysis was adopted. The percentage of increased of aerosols loading in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 was 12.2%, 9%, 11.9% and 9%. The cumulative increase of aerosol loading within 15 years was 1.8%. These results show that Binkolo is currently having excess deposition of anthropogenic particulates into the atmosphere.


The establishment of pregnancy depends on interactions between the epithelial and stromal cells of the endometrium that drive the decidual reaction that remodels the stroma and enables embryo implantation. Decidualization in mice also depends on ovarian hormones and the presence of a blastocyst. Hedgehog signaling is transduced by primary cilia in many tissues and is involved in epithelial-stromal cross-talk during decidualization. We found that primary cilia on mouse uterine stromal cells increased in number and length during early pregnancy and were required for decidualization. In vitro and in vivo, progesterone promoted stromal ciliogenesis and the production of Indian hedgehog (IHH) in the epithelium and Sonic hedgehog (SHH) in the stroma. Blastocyst-derived TNF-α also induced epithelial IHH, which stimulated the production of SHH in the stroma through a mechanism that may involve the release of arachidonic acid from epithelial cells. In the stroma, SHH activated canonical Hedgehog signaling through primary cilia and promoted decidualization through a mechanism that depended on interleukin-11 (IL-11) and primary cilia. Our findings identify a primary cilia–dependent network that controls endometrial decidualization and suggest primary cilia as a candidate therapeutic target for endometrial diseases. Description The Hedgehog signaling pathway mediates the intercellular interactions that establish pregnancy in mice. Hedgehogs remodel the uterus for pregnancy Interactions between uterine epithelial and stromal cells trigger decidualization, the remodeling of the stroma necessary for embryo implantation. Decidualization in mice also depends on the presence of a blastocyst and requires the Hedgehog family member IHH. Li et al. demonstrated that decidualization required primary cilia, which increased in the mouse uterine stroma prior to implantation. In mice and isolated mouse uterine cells, progesterone or blastocysts stimulated the epithelial cells to produce IHH, which in turn induced SHH in the stroma. Stromal SHH acted as an autocrine signal and stimulated decidualization in manner that depended on primary cilia and the decidualization factor IL-11. These findings identify distinct roles for different Hedgehog family members in decidualization and highlight the importance of primary cilia in the endometrial remodeling that is required for pregnancy and that is dysregulated in diseases such as endometriosis. —AMV


Maths is a rational thinking.It includes some material contents.The emanative thinking is one of the rational thinking.It is called searching difference thinking,too.It is an important creating thinking.This paper uses an example of solving integral to show how to train the students' emanative thinking,thereby,we can train and develop the students' creating thinking.


The intensity calculating method and proofreading formula of the main and assistant automobile frame of the concrete agitate lorry are obtained based on the qualitative and quantitative force analysis.With this method and formula the analysis and calculation are done to the concrete agitate lorry of SX5254GJBDM364.


We present multiwavelength data for 12 blazars observed from 2008 to 2010 as part of an ongoing optical–infrared photometric monitoring project. Sources were selected to be bright, southern (δ < 20°) blazars observed by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. Light curves are presented for the 12 blazars in BVRJK at near-daily cadence. We find that optical and infrared fluxes are well correlated in all sources. Gamma-ray bright flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) in our sample have optical/infrared emission correlated with gamma-rays consistent with inverse Compton-scattering models. In FSRQs, variability amplitude increases toward IR wavelengths, consistent with the presence of a thermal accretion disk varying on significantly longer timescales than the jet. In BL Lac objects, variability is mainly constant, or increases toward shorter wavelength. FSRQs have redder optical–infrared colors when they are brighter, while BL Lac objects show no such trend. Several objects show complicated color–magnitude behavior: AO 0235+164 appears in two different states depending on its gamma-ray intensity. OJ 287 and 3C 279 show some hysteresis tracks in their color–magnitude diagrams. Individual flares may be achromatic or otherwise depart from the trend, suggesting different jet components becoming important at different times. We present a time-dependent spectral energy distribution of the bright FSRQ 3C 454.3 during its 2009 December flare, which is well fit by an external Compton model in the bright state, although day-to-day changes pose challenges to a simple one-zone model. All data from the SMARTS monitoring program are publicly available on our Web site.


To increase nationwide access and tighten state controls have been two key priorities of educational policies in Cuba since the early days of the revolution. These goals were largely achieved within a decade thanks to the implementation of some bold initiatives, which in effect transformed education, ensuring swift state monopoly. However, the implementation of educational reforms also brought about several contentious debates. One of the most controversial asked why the revolution devoted so much of its political capital and resources to shakeup schooling when the national literacy rate had shown signs of considerable improvement by 1958 with scores that surpassed the world average and all Caribbean neighbors, ranking Cuba the fifth-highest in literacy in all of Latin America. Even today, the ongoing discussions about the appropriate revolutionary aptitudes among university professors signal that many questions persist about the role of education and the extent to which educational institutions are expected to align with the political and economic climate of the island.


Through perspectives on political ecology, this article aims to explain the paradoxical outcomes that global policies on state re-territorialization and promotion of green economies have had in the reconfiguration of the municipality of Puerto Rico (Ariari region, Colombian Amazonian Piedmont). On one hand, historically contested areas have experienced both relatively successful programs of peasant parceling, especially during the early 2000s, and more recently, active processes of deforestation and coca resurgence inside La Macarena National Natural Park. On the other, where the State has been able to secure a more militaristic presence, alliances between the State and agribusiness sectors have promoted land valuation and productive reconversion from coca to "clean, alternative and socio-environmentally responsible" oil palm plantations. Thus, a global agenda to accelerate the transition to a post-conflict scenario in the municipality of Puerto Rico has produced fracturing trajectories of peasant titling and green grabbing (and a sort of productive ghettoization) since the mid-2000s, radically transforming the socio-spatial landscape of this municipality.


Ray Ison's Systems Practice: How to Act: In Situations of Uncertainty and Complexity in a Climate-Change World makes quite a splash. The rippling effects of the systemic practices described just mi...


Relations between Turkey and Pakistan always remained decent and friendly. The mutual sympathies between both countries cannot be described in any other way except the cultural heritage. Both countries have helped each other whenever they needed it in the field of foreign policy. It has cooperated between Ankara and Islamabad that they may raise a hand of cooperation in different affairs like foreign policy and security. They have supported each other as well as defended each others interests, most specifically in the international arena. Since the time of the cold war, both countries, Pakistan and Turkey, have shared their approach, especially on Cypress and Kashmir issues. In this document, an attempt was made to discuss the political and economic relations between Turkey and Pakistan and the nature of relations from 1947 to 2013. Suggestions for improving relations between the two Islamic republics were also made.


Over the past 100 years, most European countries have experienced a considerable influx of immigrants from a wide range of countries. As a result, persons with a migration background have become an increasingly important part of society, both culturally and economically. Research on the social integration of young migrants in Europe is already fairly widespread, particularly on such topics as educational attainment and labour market placement. Little is known, on the other hand, about older migrants. Based upon the data from SHARE Wave 5, we know that about 21 per cent of the respondents aged 50 and older either migrated themselves or had at least one parent who migrated. Given the growing representation of people with a migration background within the ageing populations of Europe, studying this particular segment of the population is more and more relevant. In previous waves of SHARE, respondents were asked where they were born and when they migrated. This facilitated the identification of first-generation migrants, i.e. those who relocated themselves. In order to identify second-generation migrants, that is, persons who were born in the receiving country but whose parents were born elsewhere, SHARE Wave 5 introduced new questions on the country of birth of the respondent's mother and father. The SHARE Wave 5 questionnaire also asked whether the respondent had the survey country's citizenship since birth or, if not, in what year citizenship was obtained. Using these new questions, we report in the first part of this chapter on the state of migration and naturalisation among the members of the SHARE sample.


In this work, cognitive behaviour and electroencephalography (EEG) of 16 subjects applied colour matching and contrast colour matching to silk fabrics had been measured. The results showed that, the exogenous components P1 (100 ms) and P2 (200 ms) were mainly produced in the frontal, temporal, apical, and occipital regions, while the endogenous component P3 (300 ms) was mainly produced in the front-top area, the front-central area, the central-top area, and the top-pillow area. Regarding P1, the information transmission speed was faster than contrasting colours with matching process. Regarding P2, external and internal factors and their interactions significantly affected amplitude, whereas only interactions affected latency, and the interaction was stronger with colour matching. Regarding P3, colour matching type, involved brain area, and interactions had no significant effect on amplitude and latency. The information processing of same colour system in brain has shorter information processing time and faster information transmission. That indicated the EEG technology could provide objective visual cognitive aesthetic rules for silk fabric colour matching, and provide reference value for fabric manufacturers to timely understand consumers' preference for fabric colour categories.


( i i i ) to inv i t e the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to submit, af ter appropriate informal consultations with member governments, proposals for the consideration of t h i s matter by the Board at the eleventh session with the aim of reaching a mutually acceptable solution and to reoAuest the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to present a progress report on h i s consultations to the resumed tenth session;


It is demonstrated for the case of classical ..cap alpha..-particle motion during ternary fission that the geometrical factors (the ..cap alpha..-particle size, the sizes and deformations of the fragments) have a strong effect on the angular distribution of the ..cap alpha.. particles. For reasonable values of the fragment radii and deformations the observed angular distribution of the ..cap alpha.. particles requires that the configuration of the fissioning system be sufficiently prolate at the moment of formation of the ..cap alpha.. particle. This gives rise to a high (30--40 MeV) total initial kinetic energy for the fragments.


Objective To investigate concentration of ciprofloxacin in blood after using inhalation of ciprofloxacin in rats model. Methods Rats model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm infection has been established.A 7 days of intervention with the follow 4 groups:control group(group1),erythromycin alone(group2),ciprofloxacin alone(group3) and combination of both(group4) had been done.Concentration of ciprofloxacin in rats model's blood plasma was measured by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Results The standard curve regression equation was y=311.01x-11.333R=0.9999.The linear range was 0.1~10μg/ml.The low limit of ciprofloxacin's quantitation was 0.1μg/ml.All of the with-day's and the between-day's degree of precision (RSD) of ciprofloxacin by HPLC were less than10%.The recovery rates (RSD) in vivo were less than 5%. The foreign substance in blood plasma could been separated at the baseline (R1.5). Concentration of ciprofloxacin in samples' blood plasma was less than 0.1ug/ml which was the standard curve' minimum value. Conclusions It was sensitive and good in reproducibility that using HPLC measured ciprofloxacin's concentration. Ciprofloxacin by inhalation almost didn't enter the blood circulation by across part tissues.


Receptive ecumenism is one of the most important contemporary methodologies of inter-Christian dialogue. The theological vision behind the concept of receptive ecumenism is a valuable source of inspiration for the revitalization of the culture of dialogue within and between our churches and societies. Receptive ecumenism has the potential to transform closed and exclusivist identities into open and mutually constitutive realities, which value highly the theological and spiritual riches of the Christian other and learn from them. This article argues that, even though the notion of receptive ecumenism has been elaborated by a Western Catholic theologian (Paul Murray), its implementation by Eastern Christianity should not be seen as the adoption of a methodology foreign to the ethos and spirituality of Orthodox faith. The article shows that the vision and practice of receptive ecumenism resonate with the main doctrinal formulations of Orthodox Christianity (Trinitarian theology, Christology, and eschatology).


Three years ago Faculty of Economics started the internal faculty project named "Preparation and realization of the distance learning bachelor study in the field of Finance, Banking and Investment". Last year we reached the most important milestone – we got the first Bachelor graduates in August 2008. Based on the students' feedback we extended the project objectives by preparation, implementation and realization of distance learning in engineer study program. One aim of the paper is to present current state of the mentioned project, to show the improved timetable of the particular phases of the mentioned project.


A case of umbilical hernia in a 4 months old Soviet Chinchilla rabbit was presented in the Department of Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex, R.K.Nagar, Tripura, with a complaint of non-painful, reducible swelling observed since 5 days around the umbilical region. Appetite of animal was normal and all the clinical parameters were within the normal physiological limits. Palpation revealed presence of hernial ring and its contents which confirmed umbilical hernia. Surgical reduction was done under xylazine-ketamine anaesthesia and the animal made an uneventful recovery.


Adapting and refining the approach used in earlier work on Senate elections, we simulate the impact of universal turnout on each presidential election from 1992 to 2004 and find little evidence that increased turnout would systematically transform partisan competition or policy outcomes. A state-level analysis of exit polls and the Current Population Survey reveals considerable variability in the gap separating voters and nonvoters. In most cases, nonvoters are just slightly more Democratic than voters. However, a handful of states, such as Texas, consistently feature a large "partisan differential," in which nonvoters come disproportionately from demographic groups that are more Democratic than voters. We find that universal turnout may well have tipped an extremely close election—such as that of 2000 or even 2004—into the Democratic column. But the partisan differential is generally small enough that universal turnout would only change the outcome of an already close contest rather than leading to a wholesale transformation of competitive dynamics.


This work focuses on the dynamical behavior of carbon nanotubes, including vibration, wave propagation and fluid-structure interaction. In the present research, transverse vibration of nano fluid conveying carbon nanotubes is investigated. To this end, based on the nonlocal and strain-inertia gradient continuum elasticity theories and by using rod and Euler-Bernoulli beam models, the system's dynamical behavior is modeled and then, the governing equation of motion is solved and discretized by applying the weighted-residual Galerkin approximate method. Moreover, effect of considering nano-scale fluid flowing through the nanotube, the boundary conditions, the different elastic mediums and the van der Walls interaction between the layers of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the natural frequencies, critical velocities and stability of the system are considered. The results show that the passing fluid flow and the axially moving of nanotube decrease the system's natural frequencies especially for nanotubes with large internal radius and in high fluid flow and axially moving speeds of nanotube. In addition, it is observed that the natural frequencies and stability of the system strongly depend on the small-scale parameter (nano-scale), mainly in the longitudinal vibration


Measuring the lifetime of Cosmic Ray Muons using an FPGA based Time to Digital Converter The lifetime of a cosmic ray muon is conventionally measured using a time to amplitude converter (TAC). But modern FPGAs can easily measure sub-nano second time intervals. We use a time to digital converter (TDC) based on the 4× oversampling technique to measure the lifetime. The TDC is implemented on a Virtex-5 FPGA. We first present an overview of the techniques for high resolution time measurements available in the FPGA and then present, in the second chapter, a detailed description of the 4× oversampling TDC. The last chapter explains the lifetime experiment in detail the lifetime experiment implemented and the use of TDC in it. The lifetime estimated is 2.167± 0.15μs.


This paper reconsiders claims that the Swahili of the Congo Copperbelt area has a limited noun class system and an inconsistent system of agreement. It shows that there are, operating side-by-side with the simple system generally presented by scholars, a noun class and concord system of the original Bantu type, and that the prefixes of the latter are in free variation with those of their simplified versions. This free variation is discussed from grammatical, sociolinguistic, and stylistic perspectives. The conclusion reached is that by spreading change in its lexicon and morphosyntax, Congo Copperbelt Swahili has developed a system of singular/plural prefixes that will eventually replace the traditional class system.


A problem of possible existence of the "islands of stability" in the region of very heavy (superheavy) elements has long been the subject of intensive discussions. The interest in this problem is linked with determining the limit of nuclear mass existence, predicted by calculation on the basis of various theoretical models. One important consequence of these calculations [1-8] was the disclosure of a significant gap in the spectrum of low lying levels in the region of deformed nuclei around N = 162 (deformed shell) and hypothetical superheavy nuclei, viz. a new (following N = 126) closed spherical neutron shell N = 184. It was also shown that the considerable variations of the binding energy of spherical nuclei were due to the nuclear shells, and that shell effects might be present also in deformed "magic nuclei" (deformed shells). And finally, at further and quite significant increase of the deformation


I. INTRODUCTION THE accurate analysis, design and optimization of guided-wave structures are essential for the development of integrated photonic devices. Of all the methods used to simulate guided-wave propagation in these devices, the beam propagation method (BPM) has been one of the most popular approaches used in the modeling and simulation of electromagnetic wave


In this paper we have made an attempt to develop a Java and MATLAB based simulation software to determine brightness index using image analysis. The statistical models are also developed using regression techniques. The models are simulated through STATGRAPHICS software and the comparison with experimental results suggests that the results are in good agreement with the experimental matrix.


The present invention relates to the cosmetic use of an essential oil of Achillea, as an active agent for preventing and/or treating the signs of skin ageing, characterized in that this essential oil of Achillea comprises the following compounds, each present at more than 5% by weight relative to the total weight of the essential oil: artemisia ketone, chrysanthenone (two combined isomers), and ascaridole. It also relates to the associated cosmetic process.


Biodegradable ("resorbable") oesophageal stents to treat benign refractory and/or recurrent oesophageal strictures were recently developed as alternatives to self-expanding metal stents (SEMS) and self-expanding plastic stent (SEPS). Prior to the insertion of the stent, oesophageal dilation -i.e. the dilation with a balloon– is the first-line therapy for the treatment of stenoses caused by dysphagia (impaired deglutition. For the indication "benign refractory and/or recurrent esophageal stenosis" only one product -the SX-ELLA stent Esophageal Degradable™ BD- holds CE marking (since 2007) on the European market. To answer the question of efficacy three comparative studies with a total of 83 patients were available: A total of 37 patients were treated with biodegradable stents. To answer the question of safety, five studies with a total of 86 patients treated with biodegradable stents were available. Based on the available results from the few studies of very low quality, efficacy and safety of biodegradable oesophageal stents cannot be conclusively assessed. Currently, it is an experimental procedure in an early stage of use.


Fe547B alloy powder spray melted coating was Sprayed on High Temperature and High Process Valve Sealant made from 12Cr1MoV steel with oxyacetylene flame put in fluxing compound one-step method spraying process,Testing and study for spraying process and hardness,age-hardening characteristic,thermal durability and scratching resistant were carried out.The results have proved that healing up of cracking on High Temperature and High Process Valve Sealant by spraying Fe547B alloy powder is certainly feasible.


AIIS'I'RACT Over tlIc floati]lg scctio]l of a lidewatcr glacier, si]iglc radar intmfcrogra]ns arc difficult to usc kcausc tlIcI lollg-terln steady ]notio]) of tile ice is i]ltcnnixcd with the tidal vertical motion of the glacier. With I[iulti])le illtcrferogralns, it is howmwr ]~ossiblc to isolate the tidal signal and subsequmlt]y rmnove it frolli tlIc sillglc iTitcrfcrogralns to cstilliatc tllc im velocities. 7'IIc technique is a])])licd to ll;l{S-l sylitlletic.-a] )clturc radar (SAli) i]tlagcs o f l'ctcrlnalll] Glctschm, IIortll GrcclilaTld. '1'lIc ])rccisioll of tile tidal TncasurcTlleTits is 1] 'J']lc t,ida] lllcasur[!TIjcllts agree well with 2 ~nJn cl-]. ICC vc]ocitics arc kllow]l within 1 ]n a . ]llodc] ])rc.c]ictiolls froln a. fixd C]aSLiC bc!~J1l W'ith all C]aSti C dal[l])illg fdCtOI' Of ().47 k m , IIy localizing the maximum of the lxnldil~g strms alcjllg cacll image line, tltc hil[g~:-]iTlc is ]na])}m] with a ]Jrcxisioll of 20 ]11. '1'11(! i]ltmfero]ndric hinge-line ]nay trc used as a rc'fmc]lcc for dc+xti~lg future mctm-sc.alc cllallgcs iTl icc thick jless of tltc glacier to~lguc. At the glacier cc']ltm-]iT}e, t}le ]liTlge-]inc S]lift,s 2 kln alollg-fiow over a 500-JI1" trallsvclsc distal lc.e, i]litiati?lg a lollgitudina] rupture of the ic.c to]i.guc. 'Ilansvcrse ru])tures ap])car at regular il~tcrvals 20-40 km down-stream as fast-movill.g ice slab override slower-lnovi])g ])ortiolls of the ic.c tongue. ]cm c]ischar'gy of the ice tollguc! is calcu]atcd using the ice vc]ocitics and ic.c t]lickncss cstilnatms obtaillocl from a digital elevatioTl ]nodcd of tllc glacier. '1'l)c rcsu]ts S}1OWI a clecrmsc fro]]) 10.8 kTn3 a ] at the ]Iiligc-li]lc to ~.6 kTn3 a–l about 30 kJII downstrealn froln thcI llillgeli]lc, which is cquivalcmt to a .gIacicr tllirlllillg rate of 13.6-JII a-l. (loser to the ice-front, tllc glacier tllinni]lg rate is 2.3 m a-1. Surface ablation c)f about 1-3 la a-' Inay cx])lai]l glacic:r thinning near the ice-front but caTlllot cxplai]l the el~llanced thiTilliTlg rate IIear tile llingc-]ine., which must h due to basal ablation. IIasal ablation is the dolnillant ]) IOCCSS of IIIaSS mleasc~ from l'ctcrmann Glctschcr. Ilasal and surface ablation together melt 95% of tllc lnass discharged across the }Iingc-line bcforv it rcac.hcs tlic glacier front.


This research paper proposes the Secure Web Application Development and SELinux based distributed Trusted Operating System for maintaining the security aspect in web applications. Unlike the conventional methods of adding more and more security layers at the kernel level, in this proposed design, we are suggesting two subsystems like object manager and security server. This model allows system administrators to skip or disable some unnecessary security checks in SELinux trusted operating systems through which they can effectively balance their performance needs without compromising the security of the system. This paper suggests UML 2.0 based class-based software development and the integration of security engineering into a model-driven software development.


Abstract Objectives This systematic review and meta-analysis assesses the effect of various vegetarian diets on cardiometabolic risk factors (systolic blood pressure (SBP), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)) in people with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) or people with at least two risk factors of CVDs. Methods We performed systematic searches in EMBASE, MEDLINE, CINAHL and CENTRAL, from inception until 31st July 2021 for randomised controlled trials of vegetarian diet interventions in people with CVDs or people with at least two risk factors (e.g. being overweight, high blood pressure, high total cholesterol/LDL-C, high blood glucose) of CVDs. Trials had to use a non-vegetarian diet as the comparison diet and measure at least one of these outcomes: LDL-C, HbA1c and SBP. We extracted demographics, study design, sample size, and diet description of intervention and control group from included studies. We assessed the risk of bias of studies using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool 2.0. A random-effects model was used to assess mean changes in LDL-C, HbA1c, SBP and body weight. We evaluated the overall certainty of evidence using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) tool. Results Of the 7871 records screened, 29 (20 studies) met our inclusion criteria. Four studies targeted people with CVD, seven focused on people with type 2 diabetes mellitus and the remaining included people with at least two risk factors of CVDs. Meta-analyses showed that consuming vegetarian diets for at least 12 weeks significantly decreased LDL-C, HbA1c, and weight, by 6.8mg/dL (95%CI: −10.7, −3.0), 0.25% (95%CI: −0.43, −0.06), 3.4kg (95%CI: −4.6, −2.2), respectively, but the effect on SBP was not significant (−0.1 mmHg, 95%CI: −2.8, 2.6). The GRADE assessment showed a moderate level of evidence for LDL-C and HbA1c reduction. Conclusions Consuming vegetarian diets causes a moderate improvement of LDL-C, HbA1c and body weight in people at high risk of CVD, highlighting the protective effects of vegetarian diets in the primary prevention of CVD. Additional high-quality clinical trials are warranted to further explore the effect of this diet in people with CVD. Funding Sources Authors are supported by the Australian NHMRC Investigator Grant, Australian Youth and Health Foundation and Philip Bushell Foundation.


Fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs) are a group of non-metallic biomaterials characterized by good mechanical properties, such as high fatigue resistance and fracture toughness growing in popularity in several dental applications. FRCs are a combination of two materials: the reinforcing phase in the form of fibers, which are embedded into the other material, called the matrix phase. Factors influencing the properties of FRCs include fibre properties versus polymer matrix properties, impregnation of fibres in the resin, adhesion of fibres to the polymer matrix, quantity and direction of fibres, and location of the fibre-rich phase in construction. The most commonly used applications of FRCs are in removable dentures, minimally invasive fixed dental prostheses, periodontal splints, root canal posts, and orthodontic retainers. This article discusses in detail the applications of FRCs in endodontics, including root canal posts, reinforcement of restorative composites in restorations and core build-ups and splinting of teeth in dental trauma.


Let $\mathcal X_g$ be a genus $g\geq 2$ superelliptic curve, $F$ its field of moduli, and $K$ the minimal field of definition. In this short note we construct an equation of the curve $\mathcal X_g$ over its minimal field of definition $K$ when $\mathcal X_g$ has extra automorphisms. We make use of the dihedral invariants of superelliptic curves as defined by Shaska in [6] and results on the automorphism groups of superelliptic curves as in [10].


We previously reported that chronic social stress (SS) in adolescence, but not in adulthood, increased the locomotor-activating effects of nicotine in females, and not males, when tested in adulthood. However, SS rats had decreased locomotor response to nicotine when tested in adolescence. Here, we investigated age-related changes in the effects of SS on both conditioned place preference (CPP) and locomotor sensitization to amphetamine. In the CPP experiment, SS females tested in adolescence had increased preference for the 1.0 mg/kg dose of amphetamine, whereas SS rats of both sexes showed a decrease in CPP for the 0.5 mg/kg dose when tested as adults. Irrespective of time of testing, SS males and females had enhanced locomotor sensitization compared to controls. Thus, adolescent SS produced both immediate and enduring effects on behavioral responses to amphetamine, likely by altering the development of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, which holds implications for vulnerability to addiction.


This paper presents a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) strategy, which consists on two main stages. On the first part, a variable-step MPPT control is used to obtain the optimal current slope to extract the maximum power of a photovoltaic array. The reference calculated by the MPPT stage will be used for the second stage, which improve the MPPT control by using a predictive current control for the dc/dc boost converter. MPPT with variable step-size is used in order to overcome the problems presented on different MPPT algorithms. After that, to get an optimal duty cycle, a predictive current control based on predicted mean value strategy is used, which consists on calculate the optimal "on" time of the power transistor to the next scheme control cycle. The proposed algorithm is verified using MATLAB SIMULINK.


Immunity in insects is the series of events by discretion of signal proteins as a part of memory cells. The most important role of defensive proteins and peptides in insects are against function, assigning immune responses distinctly to priming and basal. But insects are also a source of high quality protein, containing many essential amino acids required for human nutrition. One their host enters into the cells of targeting area, immediate onset of proteolytic cascades that causes the cleavage of protein molecules of the attacking organisms. Immune system of the insects enhances exhibit properties the of production of antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear microbes and damaged cells from an organism. The most different types of immunological responses arise as pathogens enter into the cells of insects and activate the machinery of metabolic pools. The main reason for genetic and biochemical evaluation lie behinds the diversity of natural ecosystem of insects. Sterile insect technique has been controlled for direct killing. It is used primarily to control or eradicate insect pests, usually crop pests or human and animal. Integrated pest management, the broad-based approach that integrates practices for economic control of pests that significantly improved the yields of agricultural crops.


The fused deposition principal of additive manufacturing (AM) involves the deposition of a material one layer at a time allowing the creation of an object from 3D digital design. The associated reduction in the amount of material wastage offers benefits to the construction industry and over the last decade, investigations have been carried out using cementitious materials for AM in construction. Central to the profile of the technology increasing in the industry is the development of a suitable cementitious material which may be deposited without formwork. Research currently consists of ground based gantry or robotic arm methods reliant upon suitable terrain and environmental conditions. This paper presents development of fibrous cementitious mortars and pastes suitable for a miniaturised deposition system designed for use in a multiple agent AM approach. Synthetic PVA, aramid and kevlar fibres along with natural fibres from the banana plant were investigated to evaluate contributions to the workability, buildability, mechanical strength and mechanism of failure of cementitious composite material. The addition of fibres to a cementitious matrix augmented by synthetic hydrocolloids results in compressive and flexural strength increases and transforms the method of failure from brittle to ductile. Results suggest PVA and kevlar fibres are suitable for a composite cementitious material with optimised rheology specifically designed for a multiple-agent, miniaturised deposition approach for AM.


In this paper,the methods of col- lecting fees of supporting measures in dif- ferent cities are compared,from the view- point of government, merchants of the city and local residents,different and scatter methods are suggested to be lump together, instead of economic examination and scien- tific organization to satisfy common interests;detail ideas of operating cities,and deepen the gathering capitals and operating of basic construction in cities in order to push on city constructions develop well.


BACKGROUND
The idea of launching an internet-based self-management program for patients with diabetes led us to do a cross-sectional study to find out about the willingness, interest, equipment, and level of usage of computer and internet in a medium- to low-social class area and to find the feasibility of using e-telemonitoring systems for these patients.

METHODS
A total of 180 patients with type 2 diabetes participated in this study and fulfilled the self-administered questionnaire in Diabetes Clinic of Primary Medical Center of University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre; the response rate was 84%. We used the universal sampling method and assessed three groups of factors including sociodemographic, information and communication technology (ICT), willingness and interest, and disease factors.

RESULTS
Our results showed that 56% of the patients with diabetes were interested to use such programs; majority of the patients were Malay, and patients in the age group of 51-60 years formed the largest group. Majority of these patients studied up to secondary level of education. Age, education, income, and money spent for checkup were significantly associated with the interest of patients with diabetes to the internet-based programs. ICT-related factors such as computer ownership, computer knowledge, access to the internet, frequency of using the internet and reasons of internet usage had a positive effect on patients' interest.

CONCLUSION
Our results show that among low to intermediate social class of Malaysian patients with type 2 diabetes, more than 50% of them can and wanted to use the internet-based self-management programs. Furthermore, we also show that patients equipped with more ICT-related factors had more interest toward these programs. Therefore, we propose making ICT more affordable and integrating it into the health care system at primary care level and then extending it nationwide.


Measurement of vibration characteristics with SAW-sensors is attractive in applications for power generation, transport and aviation. The possibility of wireless data acquisition is especially useful for interrogation of sensors fixed on rotating vibrating objects, such as turbine blades for example. This paper reports on details of experimental wireless acquisition of vibration related information from rotating tuning forks which simulate the behavior of the vibrating objects at room temperature. SAW-resonators are used as sensors for fast-varying deformations measurements. Tuning forks with known frequencies of mechanical resonances equal to 512 Hz were fixed on a rotating shaft of an electrical motor. Commercial 224 MHz quartz SAW resonators were glue-bonded to tuning forks shoulders in the area of maximal strain. The resonators were wire-bonded to intermediate PC-boards. They could be connected either as feedback circuits to a miniature oscillator circuit with the output connected to rotating electromagnetic couplers (near-field antennas), or directly to the couplers for interrogation by external signals without the battery and the oscillator electronics. The oscillator had a miniature battery fixed on the same shaft and its output signal was frequency modulated by the tuning fork vibration, inducing fast varying deformations in the SAW resonator. The 512 Hz vibration of rotating at 900- 2700 rpm tuning forks was excited by compressed air flow or by hammer shocks. After demodulation of the oscillator signal about 15 s long exponentially decaying bursts were digitized by a computer sound card and recorded. This approach to data acquisition, although applicable only to low temperature experiments, has shown a better frequency resolution (0.005% in initial experiments) than the interrogation with external signals, and a much larger working distance: above 10 m with vibratortype antennas and oscillator power of only 10 μW. The spectrum of the output signal contained the rotation related contribution.


An analysis of innovations in the eighteenth-century British textile industry is the basis for an evaluation of aggregate studies of invention during the Industrial Revolution, derived from patent evidence alone. Disaggregation of the data challenges recent generalizations concerning the pace and pattern of technical change over the period. Discontinuities in the nature of invention, promoting an acceleration in total factor productivity growth, are traced to the 1790s. Prior to that date, industrial development conformed to a pattern of Smithian growth, as manufacturers diversified their output in response to an expanding domestic market for consumer goods.


Conventional layout method of lateral pipe may result in high pipe line density and investment cost for set sprinkler sys-tems,in which sprinklers are distributed on lateral pipes equidistantly and directly.In order to reduce the lateral pipe line density and investment cost,a layout method for lateral pipe of set sprinkler system,in which half lateral pipes were alternatively removed and additional short pipes were installed on reserved half lateral pipes perpendicularly to deliver water to original sprinklers on removed lateral pipe lines,was put forward in this paper.The new and conventional layout methods were analyzed and compared from the as-pects of lateral pipe line density and quantity of lateral pipe materials.The results showed that the new method could reduce the dis-tribution density of lateral pipe lines by 7% with equiangular triangle spacing of sprinklers or 25% when sprinklers were spaced in i-sosceles triangle and the sprinkler space was twice as the lateral space.The results also showed that the new method improved the quantity of lateral pipe by more than 141.4%.This problem could be resolved by using design method with variational lateral pipe diameter.The results of this paper provided a new design method for lateral pipe line layout and a new way to reduce lateral pipe line density and investment cost of set sprinkler systems.


Real-time measurements are of the outmost importance for developing industrial "on line" effective monitoring techniques for the elaboration of new soft materials. In this paper, we will show a new radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic ultrasonic (EMUS) transducer design and technique for remotely sensing the micro-rheological properties of complex fluids in hidden places. The new sensor consists in a single electrode loop deposited on the surfaces of an AT-cut quartz substrate magnetically coupled with a high quality RF antenna. This sensor is inductively excited by a loosely coupling with a transmitter/receiver (T/R) circular probe. A suitable electrical model of the probe/loaded EMUS transducer is proposed in order to extract the mechanical and electrical properties of a complex fluid in contact. Various tabulated Newtonian liquids (made from water-glycerol mixtures) are then studied to validate the capability of this technique to monitor their viscosity. These results show that this technique allows the online monitoring of hidden complex fluids.


Traveling wavefront identification accuracy and wave speed selection precision are crucial to traveling wave location. Aiming at the two issues, the method based on the dominant frequency component of full waveform is proposed. At first, the time-frequency characteristic is studied by full waveforms of the traveling wave, especially the frequency-dependent characteristic of wave speed and wavefront attenuation. Second, according to the criterion of the maximum energy, the dominant frequency component can be extracted from all frequency components and the corresponding wave speed is calculated. Finally, Teager Energy Operation (TEO) is introduced to enhance the transient feature of the dominant frequency component in order to precisely determine traveling wavefront the arrival time. The simulation results show that the traveling wavefront identification performance based on the proposed method is pretty to meet the fault location requirement. Also, the proposed method is adaptive under different fault conditions.


Background: Beginning farmers, i.e., agricultural workers with 10 years or less experience operating a farm, face unique challenges in starting and sustaining their businesses. Given that agriculture is one of the most hazardous industries, it is important to know whether this group is at particular risk for adverse health outcomes compared to established farmers. To address the lack of available knowledge on beginning farmers, the purpose of this study was to estimate the association between musculoskeletal symptoms of the low back, neck/shoulder, and elbow/wrist/hand regions and occupational physical demands and occupational psychosocial stress among beginning farmers in the US. Methods: An online survey was conducted among self-identified beginning farmers across the US. Participants answered questions about their demographics, personal health and farm characteristics, occupational physical demands, occupational psychosocial stress, and musculoskeletal symptoms of the low back, neck/shoulder, and elbow/wrist/hand. Associations between musculoskeletal symptoms and (i) occupational physical demands and (ii) occupational psychosocial stress were estimated using logistic regression. Results: Among the 95 participants, the 12-month prevalence of low back pain was 69.5%, neck/shoulder pain was 62.1%, and elbow/wrist/hand pain was 45.3%.


Introduction Microtremor array methods refer to techniques for estimating subsurface velocity structures from the dispersion of Rayleighwave phase velocities obtained through array analysis of microtremors. Methods for analyzing Rayleigh-wave phase velocities include two major constituents: the spatial autocorrelation (SPAC) method [Aki, 1957] and the frequency-wave number spectral (FK) method [Capon, 1969]. SPAC method excels the FK method in the overall analysis efficiency, when account is taken of the requisite number of seismic sensors and the breadth of the wavelength ranges eligible for analysis [Okada, 2003]. The SPAC method, in addition, is intrinsically usable with a two-sensor seismic array [Aki, 1957], a potential that has received reappraisal during the past decade. Given this context, the SPAC method in recent years has not only come to be used more often, but has also seen progress in theoretical studies of its applicability.


This paper presents a mobile robot developed in the laboratory LAFMIA UMI. The proposed mobile robot satisfies a differential structure kinematic model which has undergone through extensive studies by several authors. The proposed scheme is a reactive control which aims to solve the task of tracking walls using a strategy, based on laser sensor measurements and inertial sensors. This reactive control algorithm uses the perception of the environment and takes actions that depend on the sensory information. All the actions performed by this robot happens in a controlled manner, which is achieved through proper planning of the system by introducing a built-in saturation into the PD controller for specific parts of each maneuver, which has given good results for a proposed task.


The objective of this article is to Identify whether the tax measures of the Lisbon Treaty (substitute of the European Constitution), the German Basic Law, the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (European Fiscal Pact) and legislative Act 3 of 2011 (amendment of Article 334 of the Constitution of Colombia) are a method of restricting the achievement of the rights of Individuals. The methodology of Hermeneutics was analyzed on three levels: firstly, the information from different sources will be set out; next the information found will be analyzed; next the problem will be restated to show the behavior in tax conditions in Colombia and Germany. Finally, some concluding remarks will be made


Until recently, throughout the European Union's integration process, public order and internal security matters have been marked by a concern and respect for the national sovereignty of the EU Member States. Member States enjoyed their respective regulatory autonomy, as public order and internal security matters were dealt with at the EU level merely on the basis of the internal market logic. This is particularly evident in Articles 45(3) and 52 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). These Articles establish the exceptions of public policy and public security as grounds that may be invoked by the Member States to limit the fundamental right to free movement. These grounds have been primarily viewed as deriving from impediments to the creation of the common market.


The subject of this study is the pedagogical thought of the Tatar educator of the late XIX – early XX century Gabdulla Tukai (April 26, 1886 – April 15, 1913). A lot has been written about the great Tatar poet-educator. His biography and poetry are investigated. His works have been translated into many languages of the world, and we can say with confidence that he is read all over the world. Nevertheless, the educator is not fully disclosed as teachers, despite the fact that he is a methodologist, the author of textbooks and teaching aids. His artistic works have not been investigated for the identification of didactic content. The purpose of the study is to identify the directions of education reflected in the poetry of the educator. The research used methods of analysis and synthesis, comparison and comparison, induction and deduction. The methodology of the study consisted of consistency, complexity, integrity, personal, activity, and essential approaches. As a result of the study, the following areas of education were identified: patriotic, labor, moral, aesthetic. The results of the research can be applied in the process of teaching the history of pedagogy and pedagogical thought in secondary and higher pedagogical educational institutions. Conclusions: the work of the educator G. Tukai contains thoughts about various areas of education that should be used in the modern educational process.


The propagation mechanism of explosion stress waves in frozen rock mass is the main factor affecting the blasting efficiency and safety construction of strip mines in alpine cold regions. In order to study explosion stress wave propagation and crack extension in the blasting process of frozen rock mass with ice-filled cracks, RFPA2D is adopted to simulate the influence of the geometric parameters of ice-filled cracks (ice-filled crack thickness d, normal distance R from blasting hole to the ice-filled crack, and ice-filled crack angle α), loading intensity and loading rate on the explosion stress wave propagation effect and the damage range. The results show: The attenuation trend of explosion stress waves decreases gradually with an increase of thickness (e.g., In the case of R is 0.2 m, when d is 0.02 m, 0.04 m, and 0.08 m, the calculated attenuation factor of the minimum principal stress peak value is 7.128%, 18.056%, and 30.035%, respectively), and it decreases slightly with an increase of normal distance and ice-filled crack angle. The damage elements range of the ice-filled crack decreases when the ice-filled crack thickness and normal distance increases. The loading intensity and the loading rate have a significant influence on blasting hole fracture patterns. The ice-filled crack has a guiding effect on the growth of blasting cracks at the blasting hole. Nevertheless, the existence of ice-filled cracks inhibits the propagation of explosion stress waves in frozen rock mass.


CW stable output of 520 mW at 532 nm has been obtained by intracavity frequency doubling with KTP in a single axis crystal Nd∶YVO 4 laser pumped by 9 5 W diode laser array. The optical optical conversion efficiency is 5 5%. Polarization of LD is matched with polarizing absorption of Nd∶YVO 4. The beam of the diode array laser is well shaped with cylindrical lens array. Good mode matching is realized by using of cavity′s astigmatism.


THE PUBLISHED OBSERVATIONS of gastric atony occurring in diabetic patients leave one confused as to the significance and clinical course of this condition. The standard reference books 1 on diabetes mellitus refer to gastric atony only in connection with diabetic coma or precoma states. Kassander 2 in a recent article used the term "gastroparesis diabetacorum" to describe cases of asymptomatic gastric dilatation and retention occurring in patients with peripheral diabetic neuropathy. Kassander, and Gould and McAfee 3 have theorized that this condition is due to visceral diabetic neuropathy involving the vagus nerve, since the clinical and radiographic findings are similar to those seen in patients who have undergone vagotomy. More recently, Wooten and Meriweather 4 have described gastric atony which, in some instances, was abrupt in onset and associated with considerable difficulty of diabetic control. However, some of their cases were patients in diabetic acidosis. The gastric atony which they