The article examines the elements of the institutional environment. The analysis of the «institute» and «institution» terms is carried out. It was found out that the formation of the institutional provision of local social responsibility of individuals is influenced by the social and economic development of the country. The factors influencing the formation of the environment of local social responsibility of the agrarian enterprise are substantiated. The dynamics of gross domestic product in some countries and regions of the world is analyzed. It has been established that the level of inflation in Ukraine, which has been observed in recent years, is too high. It leads to a decrease in the standard of living and welfare of the population. It is proposed to consider the environment of local social responsibility formation in the agrarian enterprise in the context of local social responsibility perceptions: individual, organizational, institutional, economic, personnel, social, ecological, infrastructure, environmental and climatic, technical and technological. It is proved that the factors of both external (socially responsible business) and internal (corporate social responsibility) environment are influenced by each of the components of the local social responsibility environment. It is revealed that as a result of the formation of local social responsibility environment has a positive result which is created in the context of each specified elements. The directions of institutional provision of social responsibility and local social responsibility of the agrarian sector in terms of levels of functioning are analyzed. Some efficient juridical legal documents are proposed, which will significantly improve the development of social responsibility at all levels of the hierarchy. It is substantiated that institutes of influence on social responsibility depend on formal and informal institutions. The institutional provision of local social responsibility of the subjects of the agrarian sector of the economy is given, taking into account the following components: economic, ecological, personnel and social components.


A novel method was proposed to produce thermoplastic elastomers containing ground tyre rubber (GTR). The new proprietary technology is based on the fact that bitumen and related materials may contribute to the devulcanisation of GTR and act at the same time as plasticiser and compatibiliser in the blends. Blends containing polyolefins, olefinic type rubbers and GTR treated with bitumen showed outstanding mechanical properties and met the requirements with thermoplastic rubbers. It was established that the conditions of the GTR treatment by bitumen strongly affect the performance of the compounds. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results revealed a good adhesion between the GTR particles and the surrounding matrix. The apparent particle size of GTR was reduced owing to the treatise with bitumen, which is an indirect hint for GTR devulcanisation.


Given an undirected graph G= (V, E), the graph coloring problem consist in assigning a color to each vertex in such a manner that two adjacent vertex have assigned different colors. The processes of assigning the colors in the graph will done in a manner such that that the total number of different colors used is minimum. Most of the existing algorithms generally deal this problem by taking consideration above constraint during assigning the color to vertices in the graph, but some time above color assignment constraints creates some other implicit constraints which increases the complexity of the algorithms. In this paper we propose an algorithm for graph coloring problem which assign the colors to vertices of the graph with minimum number of colors and without creating any other additional constraints during color assignment that required to be handled explicitly.


Background: The surrogacy of progression-free survival (PFS) for overall survival (OS) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unelucidated. This study aimed to determine the validity of PFS as a surrogate endpoint for OS in ESCC patients treated with definitive radiotherapy or definitive chemoradiotherapy (dRT/dCRT), as well as characterize the prognostic factors and survival of such patients. Methods: A total of 3662 patients from 10 cancer centers were enrolled. One-, 2-, and 3-year PFS (PFS12, PFS24, and PSF36, respectively) were used as time points for analysis. At each time point, ESCC-specific mortality and OS were characterized using competing risk and conditional survival models, while correlation between PFS and OS was evaluated by linear regression. Results: At PFS12, PFS24, and PFS36, a progressive decrease in 5-year ESCC-specific mortality (35.2%–13.4%) and increase in 5-year OS (46.6%–62.9%) were observed. Regardless, the OS of patients remained markedly lower than those of the age- and sex-matched Chinese general population. TNM stage remained a significant prognostic factor at PFS36. Strong correlation was found between 3-year PFS and 5-year OS, which was further externally validated. Conclusions: Three-year PFS may act as a potential surrogate endpoint for 5-year OS. TNM stage was considered a significant prognostic factor for OS, and may represent the optimal prognostic tool to guide clinical decision-making and post-treatment follow-up.


BACKGROUND
The characteristic features of QRST integral mapping in the Brugada-type resting ECG of patients at a high risk for life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias were examined.

METHODS AND RESULTS
QRST integral mapping was performed in 11 Brugada-type ECG patients with histories of aborted sudden death, spontaneous ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation (VT/VF) or programmed electric stimulation-inducible VT/VF (high risk group); 13 Brugada-type ECG patients without a history of such events (low risk group); and 21 age-matched healthy controls. Individual QRST isointegral maps revealed the minimum integral in the mid-to-right upper chest in 100% and 85% of the control and low risk groups, respectively, whereas this integral was 64% in the upper right back of the high risk group (p<0.05). On the QRST integral departure maps, the abnormal positive departure area (integral value>or=+2 standard deviation) was located in the mid-to-right upper chest in 82% and 8% of the high and low risk groups, respectively (p<0.05). During the follow-up period, sudden death or VF occurred in 4 of 6 high risk patients with both the abnormal findings.

CONCLUSION
The abnormal positive departure area in the mid-to-right upper chest and the minimum QRST integral in the right upper back were distinct hallmarks for screening patients with the high risk Brugada-type ECG.


8514 Background: MLN9708 is an investigational, orally bioavailable, potent, reversible, specific inhibitor of the 20S proteasome that has demonstrated antitumor activity in in vivo models of MM. We report safety, activity and pharmacokinetics (PK) of weekly oral MLN9708 in a phase 1 trial in patients (pts) with relapsed and/or refractory MM after full enrollment (NCT00963820). Methods: Pts received MLN9708 (days 1, 8, 15; 28-day cycles) at 0.24–3.95 mg/m2 (dose-escalation phase) and at the MTD, 2.97 mg/m2, in relapsed and refractory (RR), bortezomib (btz)-relapsed, PI-naive, and prior carfilzomib (CZ) expansion cohorts. Adverse events (AEs) were graded by NCI-CTCAE v3.0. Response was assessed by IMWG uniform criteria. Results: 60 pts (33 male, median age 64 yrs [40–79]) were enrolled, 32 in the dose-escalation phase and 31 to the expansion cohorts (11 RR, 10 btz-relapsed, 6 PI-naive, 4 CZ; 2 RR and 1 btz-relapsed pts included from MTD dose-escalation cohort). Median time from MM diagnosis was 4.9 yrs (1....


This viewgraph presentation reviews the use of Carbon Nanotube electronics in the bioelectronics. Included is a brief review of the carbon nanotube manufacturing, the use of carbon nanotubes in Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and Computational Nanotechnology, that allows designers to understand nanotube characteristics and serves as a design tool.


The presence of the bacteria in air indoors is a problem from the view of health protection. to estimate the health hazard and to create standards for indoor air quality control, the determination of indoor microorganisms is necessary, and it is especially important in such populated areas like education places and hospitals. In this study we studied the level of microbial contamination in various areas in the buildings of applied medical science /girls departments in Al Majmaah University, KSA. The air samples were collected from five different locations during October-November 2014. Air samples were taken twice a day: in the morning and in the afternoon. Most frequently isolated bacteria were gram positive bacilli 36%, staphylococcus sp. 24%, Gram negative bacilli 21%, and gram positive cocci 18%.


Previous theoretical approach to the liquid adsorption on heterogeneous surfaces, based on the socalled Langmuir-Freundlich (LF) equation is reexamined and extended over various monolayer models of adsorption systems. On the basis of (LF) isotherm, equations for isosteric heats of adsorption are derived and criteria for the formation of S-shaped isotherms are established. Next, the problem of surface activity coefficients is discussed and suitable equations are proposed to separate an influence of heterogeneity effects and intermolecular interactions among admolecules on the imperfection of the adsorbed region.


This paper is aimed to debate some conceptual and methodological issues concerning the designing and analyzing of the public budget. In the context, the issue of the necessary distinction between the target-objectives and the operational variables in the process of designing the public budget is approached as well as the problem of ensuring the constancy (along the indifference curve) of the fiscal revenues. Some questions concerning the spillovers generated by the designing the public budget are also answered: the correlation between the absolute and relative dynamics of the GDP, the analytical condition to stimulate the entering of the official economy by the underground economy, the lag which is associated with the reaction of the tax base to the fiscal relaxation, the quantifying of the collecting degree of the public revenues, the analytical condition to reach a done weight of the budget over the GDP. All the mentioned issues are treated in a technical way in order to offer to analysts and to decision makers either useful suggestions or criticism base.


The silicate-enamel coating becomes the actual coating as a result of firing, which is a process of heating steel products coated with a "biscuit" dried slip layer, until completely melted, and a continuous coating is obtained on a metal substrate. With the constantly increasing requirements for the technical and operational properties of enameled products in the production of steel pipelines, it is advisable to use single-layer enameling, which saves raw materials and energy, due to the reduction in the number of layers and firing cycles of products. Its use for large-sized products, such as pipelines, eliminates their warping that occurs during repeated firing. In addition, the use of single-layer coatings makes it possible to obtain a better surface of products, since with a decrease in the resulting coating thickness it becomes more elastic and impact-resistant. All of the above is predetermined both by the structure of the glass coating itself and the generally formed steel - enamel composition. Therefore, knowledge of the structure, as well as of the physicochemical processes that occur during the firing of the enameled product, is necessary to solve technological issues successfully.


Selective arsenic extraction from enargite based complex concentrate from
 Copper Mine in Bor (Serbia), using sodium hypochlorite as a leaching agent,
 was investigated in this paper. The aim was to assess the optimal conditions
 for the most efficient arsenic removal from the investigated concentrate,
 based on factorial design applied to experimentally obtained data. Five
 important factors with three factor levels were used as the input variables
 and experimentally obtained arsenic extraction yield was taken as the output
 variable. The first and the second final order model equations were obtained.
 It was found that the leaching temperature had the strongest effect on the
 arsenic extraction. The strongest positive interaction was between the sodium
 hypochlorite molar concentration and the stirring speed during extraction.
 [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR 34023]


Safety analysis of a nuclear reactor containment is essential to evaluate the integrity of the containment during an anticipated accident in a nuclear power plant. In particular, Fukushima accident showed an importance of the containment safety even in a design extension condition (DEC). Major thermal hydraulic phenomena in the containment are dependent on the amount of the mass and energy (M/E) supply from a reactor coolant system (RCS), while the condition of the reactor containment such as a pressure and temperature (P/T) can also affect the transient behavior of the RCS during the accident. In this study, an experimental investigation on the interaction between the RCS and containment was performed with construction of an integral effect test facility, ATLAS-CUBE. ATLAS (Advanced Thermalhydraulic Test Loop for Accident Simulation) has simulated the thermal hydraulic transient of the RCS and a containment simulation vessel including compartment structure, connection pipe, and spray system was designed and constructed, which was named as CUBE (Containment Utility for Best-estimate Evaluation). Considering the importance of interaction between the RCS and the containment, a steam line break (SLB) scenario was simulated in the facility.


Acute psychosis can be a manifestation of many psychiatric and physical conditions, which is specified with delusion, hallucination, and bizarre behavior. Psychotic symptoms require immediate attention and treatment, and treatment in the acute phase focuses on reducing severe psychotic symptoms. Schizophrenia is a severe and debilitating psychiatric disease in which pharmacological interventions are carried out to reduce the symptoms, recurrence risk, and admission to hospital.1-3 Antipsychotic drugs are the first-line therapy of psychotic disorders. Using antipsychotic drugs begins in the first phase and may continue for years They are classified into two groups: typical (first generation of antipsychotic, FGA) and atypical (second generation of antipsychotic, SGA).Typical drugs are dopamine receptor antagonists such as perphenazine, haloperidol, and chlorpromazine, and atypical drugs (SGA) are dopamine-serotonin receptor antagonists such as risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, and aripiprazole.2-9 There is much evidence that SGA drugs compared to FGA ones lead to more improvement in negative symptoms, better performance, and lower reoccurrence and cause fewer side effects . Therefore, these drugs are nowadays used by many psychiatrists as the firstline therapy for psychosis.10-13 Few strong studies have focused on the comparison of the effectiveness of antipsychotics in treating acute phase of psychosis, particularly studies in which two or more atypical antipsychotics were compared with typical antipsychotics. Recently, the initial episode of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders have been studied in Europe. 14-17 In a study carried out in Peru, the effect of some atypical antipsychotic drugs in the first episode, and psychotic among teenagers was examined.18In short, most studies that have focused on this issue have shown that typical and atypical drugs have similar effectiveness in treating the initial acute phase of psychosis. However, the important issue here is the response speed of antipsychotic drugs.14-22 Clinically, it is observed that getting an appropriate response over the first two weeks after the therapy can predict the good effect of the drug over a long-term treatment period. Although the effect of the drug on the receptors is normally seen in the first hours after taking the drug, its effects of the disease symptoms during the first day are mostly due to the sedation caused by the drug, and improvement of other symptoms normally takes one to two weeks to appear.18-29 A few studies have focused on the comparison of the onset of action of different antipsychotics, and most of them focused on the initial episode of psychosis. In a controlled study on the comparison of olanzapine and risperidone, it was concluded that olanzapine group led to quicker remission.23,24 The results of a retrospective study that was carried out to examine the effects of typical and atypical ABSTRACT


Problem statement: Accurate and reliable forecasts of trends in the housing market canbe useful information for market participants as well as policy makers. This information may be useful to minim ...


This work presents planar monopole antennas for UWB systems operating in the range 3.1-10.6 GHz. Initially an antenna with a width of 12 mm and a height of 20 mm was analyzed. The return loss characteristic and radiation pattern of this antenna was calculated by the FDTD method. Then, some techniques are presented with the purpose of to increase the antenna's bandwidth, such as using square parasite elements around the main radiator.


Abstract Specimens of Antithamnionella elegans (Berthold) Cormaci et Furnari (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta) with an undescribed arrangement of whorl-branchlets (opposite and decussate) are recorded from the Mediterranean Sea. Comparisons of Antithamnionella elegans with Antithamnion sublittorale Setchell et Gardner and Antithamnionella breviramosa (Dawson) Wollaston ex Womersley et Bailey showed that these taxa are conspecific. The only significant difference among these taxa involves the arrangement of the whorl-branchlets; this is not considered sufficient to separate them as species, but only as varieties. The following varieties are proposed: Antithamnionella elegans v. elegans (syn. A. breviramosa), with usually three whorl-branchlets per whorl; A. elegans v. sublittoralis (Setchell et Gardner) comb. et stat. nov., with two distichous whorl-branchlets; A. elegans v. decussata var. nov., with two whorl-branchlets decussately arranged; A. elegans v. boergesenii var. nov., with four to five whorl-branchlets ...


The data compiled for27 catchments spread overa large parts ofNWFP have beenanalyzed. Relationships have been derived for the estimation of mean annual flood and a dimensionless regional frequency curve is found by defining the statistical homogeneous region. Gumbel distribution extreme value Type-1 is fitted to the flood series for frequency distribution curve of floods and computation of confidence limits. Based on this analysis, the probable magnitude and frequency of floods of any recurrence interval can be obtained for ungauged streams ofNWFP.


Cloud computing environments provide powerful storage and processing capabilities, as well as other computational resources. Due to the business potential of the pay-peruse model, as well as the advantages of easy scalability, up-to-date Video on Demand (VoD) streaming services rely on cloud infrastructures to offer a wide variety of multimedia content. This paper proposes the application of availability models to a cloud environment designed for a video streaming service. Sensitivity analysis is proposed to identify the availability bottlenecks.


Many African states are relying on or have identified tourism to accelerate their growth and the continent has become the world's second fastest growing tourist industry. However, African states have also not been spared by increasing terrorism attacks during the past decades, probably hindering the growth of this sector to certain extent. This study examines the relationship between terrorism and tourism for a sample of selected African countries over the period 1995 to 2017. Given the dynamic nature of tourism demand and the possibility of endogenous relationships in the terrorism-tourism nexus, dynamic panel data analysis, namely a Panel vector error correction model (PVECM) is employed. The results confirm that terrorism negatively affects tourism demand in Africa and this can be explained by the reactive psychology of tourists to the various aggravated terrorist attacks in the countries. Moreover, the findings show that an increase in tourism may have resulted in an increase in terrorist attacks, hence confirming a bi directional causality between tourism and terrorism.


It is a great difficult problem of a financial accountant's how the derivative measures. This text plansto make an introduction and analyse about U.S.A.'s FASB and IASC content about the fact that the derivativeaccountant measure criterion, combining the current situation of our country, as to this has done thepreliminary discussion.


The effect of six planting dates i.e., 15/1, 15/3, 15/5, 15/7, 15/9 and 15/11 on growth, yield and fruit quality of five newly developed local cantaloupe hybrids, Yathreb 7, 8, 22, 4 and 100 (Cucumis melo var. cantaloupensis) was studied under Sadat city, Menofia Governorate, Egypt conditions for two years, using split-plot design and the combined analysis was conducted for the two years. This experiment was carried out in the open field using a drip-irrigation system to determine the best planting date for each hybrid. Data were recorded on leaf area index (LAI), flowering, yield components, fruit quality and chemical determinations. Results showed that there were significant differences among planting dates in all studied traits. Also, cantaloupe hybrids had significant differences in all studied traits. Hybrid Yathreb 22 was the earliest one but it ranked as the second in total and marketable yield. Additionally, hybrid Yathreb 7 had the highest total and marketable yield, meanwhile Yathreb 100 ranked as the second in total yield but first in marketable yield. These hybrids had high values of the most other traits. The interaction between planting date and hybrid indicated that the best planting date for Yathreb 7 and 8 was 15/1 and 15/3, Yathreb 22 was 15/1 and 15/11, Yathreb 100 was 15/3, 15/5 and 15/7 and Yathreb 4 was 15/3 only. Each of them gave the best performance in the most of studied traits in the previous planting dates. While the planting date 15/9 wasn't suitable for cantaloupe growing at lower Egypt and this due to the cantaloupe sudden wilt which may be occur as result to low night temperatures. The present study confirmed that the interaction between planting date and hybrid effects on the performance of the hybrid either positive or negative impacts according to the interaction between genotype and environmental conditions.


In experiment,several immunal parameters including organ indexes,number of WBC,quantity of lymphocytes,number of ANAE + lymphocytes,histological change of spleen,PRV antibody level,challenge results of mice inoculated with different doses of BF′s extracts and PRV inactive vaccine were measured to indicate effects of BF′s extracts on mice immunity.In conclusion,moderate dosage (0 25 mg per mice)of BF′s extracts can promote the humoral and cell immunity in the mice and muscle injection is better way than oral inoculation way.Nevertheless,high dosage of BF′s extracts(1 mg per mice)positively affect humoral immunity,but negatively affect cell immunity.These effects are related to dosages,inoculative routes and time.


Dear Editor, Immune checkpoint inhibitors are used widely to treat several malignancies; however, immune-related adverse effects (irAE) often lead to cessation of use. Little is known about the autoimmune bullous disease induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors. Here, we report the case of ipilimumab-induced bullous pemphigoid (BP) after unsuccessful treatment of metastatic melanoma with nivolumab. A 35-year-old Japanese man, who had undergone resection of malignant melanoma on the right forearm 2 years and 6 months prior, presented with multiple metastases on the right lung. Seven cycles of i.v. nivolumab were administrated, however, metastasis to the liver and left cubital lymph node was detected 6 months later. Therefore, the patient received four courses of i.v. ipilimumab sequentially. After the second cycle of ipilimumab, the patient developed severe itching coupled with well-defined round erythema. Moreover, upon administration of the fourth cycle of ipilimumab, the skin lesions worsened and erythematous papules and plaques with tense bullae appeared on the extremities (Fig. 1a,b). Moderate


Introduction: Promoting early literacy is one of the most important ways for caregivers to set their children up for success later in life. Homeless youth are at a marked increase risk for decreased literacy compared to their peers. The goal of this project is to assess the feasibility of a medical-student based educational intervention to increase early literacy awareness among homeless mothers of young children. Methods: Two medical students were trained to give a brief, educational intervention to mothers in a homeless shelter at the same time as a student-run health clinic was conducted. Before and after the intervention, mothers were asked to complete a short survey on the importance of literacy to their child and their intention to read to their child. The children of these mothers were allowed to select a book to keep after the intervention. Results: Sixty-six mothers completed the pre and post surveys. Most of the mothers were unemployed and had been homeless less than 6 months. Mothers identified not having enough time, a quiet place, or enough money as the most common barriers to reading to their children. Before the intervention, 65% indicated reading to their child less than 1 hour per week. After the intervention, 85% indicated an intention to read more than one hour per week to their child. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that a brief, medical-student based educational intervention is feasible and can improve intention to read among certain homeless mothers. Much more research is needed to confirm the efficacy of this intervention in this population.


The utility model relates to a kind of piezoelectricity type touch control water tap, belongs to the field of automatic faucet.Described water tap comprises first end, connect water supply source, and the second end, comprise the water outlet spout of water tap, and passage, between first end and the second end, the water at first end place is guided to the second end, also comprise a mortor operated valve, be arranged in passage, the outer surface of described passage is provided with the Petting Area covering certain area, the outer pars intramuralis of Petting Area down channel is provided with piezoelectric transducer, one electronic control unit is connected with described piezoelectric transducer and receives the signal coming from piezoelectric transducer, control the opening and closing of mortor operated valve, described electronic control unit comprises an automatic time delay unit.Water tap of the present utility model improves touch switch control by reducing power consumption, defines Petting Area exactly, allows multiple point touching to control Petting Area, reduce the probability of accidental activation.


For some time now evolution has tended to be a dirty word in the social sciences.' The adjectival form, applied to a writer, tends to indicate old-fashioned, even 'biological' concerns. It is time to lay aside this negative attitude. Just as there is no sociology without comparison (implicit or explicit), so comparison almost inevitably raises the question of the change from one form to another. And the process of evolution, stripped of the implications of unilineality and irreversibility, is simply long-term change.2 Much of the best known sociology, that associated with the names of Comte, Marx, Spencer, Weber and Durkheim (not to mention the more obvious candidates, Maine, Morgan, Tylor, Robertson-Smith and Frazer) has displayed both comparative and evolutionary interests. The work of Spencer and Durkheim shows an extensive knowledge of the writings about non-European societies; that of Weber has a similar command of Asia. Much of this interest derived from a somewhat egocentric but none the less important concern having to do with the rise of modern industrial society; it centred upon a question which Parsons has recently reiterated. 'Why, then, did the breakthrough to modernization not occur in any of the "Oriental" advanced intermediate civilizations?' (1966: 4). This question immediately implies an opposition between 'our' type of society and 'theirs'; and its answer requires that we search the world for positive and negative cases to confirm our ideas about the relevant factors. There is nothing wrong with the search as such, but we need to recognize the ethnocentric nature of its starting point and the fact that the dichotomizing of 'we' and 'they' in this manner narrows the field of both the topic and of its explanation. If we are interested in even longer-term development (as certain of the hypotheses of Spencer, Durkheim, Marx and Weber force us to be), then a further set of considerations come into play. If I put these in an over-obvious way, it is because much contemporary social theory leads us to neglect certain obvious lines of enquiry. When we think of long-term evolutionary change, it is inevitable


We propose a new non-contact acoustic imaging method for nondestructive inspection using a Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometer (SLDV) and a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). In this method, vibration velocities on concrete surface, which is generated by air borne sound, is measured by using SLDV. In our past study, we had already confirmed that cavity defects in concrete can be clearly imaged from a distance of approximately 5 m. This time, two kinds of experiments were performed. The purpose of first experiment was examination of angular dependence, and the purpose of second experiment was test to confirm whether cracks in concrete can be detected or not. As a result of the first experiment, the limits of radiation angle of a sound wave and a laser beam were understood respectively. Meanwhile a result of second experiment yielded that cracks in concrete can be detected as well as cavity defects.


In recent years power generation from renewable energy sources has gained importance in view of supplementing the power obtained from conventional sources. Out of all the renewable energy sources, wind energy conversion system is the greatest contributor to the power generations. During the recent years use of variable speed of the wind turbine is gaining much more importance than the fixed speed wind turbine. Important factors regarding variable speed operation are that it is easy to control and is even more efficient. Therefore, it is important to study the machine modelling of the double fed induction generator (DFIG) for a wind energy conversion system (WECS). One of the major areas in renewable power control includes the grid connected DFIG based WECS. Typically a DFIG based WECS consists of a Wind turbine connected to a DFIG and then the turbine-coupled DFIG is connected to the grid through a power electronic AC-AC converter. In this Paper a grid connected wind energy conversion system using a simple PI controller is developed and then a fuzzy PI controller is designed to resolve the problem. Finally a comparison has been made to fuzzy controller from the simulation results, observing the efficiency of variation of DC link voltage variation. --------------------------------------------------------------------***------------------------------------------------------------------


Isolation of high yield and quality of genomic DNA is paramount for ensuring confidence in molecular a food. PCR-based methods are the most common and rel iable methods developed thus far. We developed geno mic DNA extraction methods and also assessed the effect of Microwave application on DNA degradation in pasteurization and drying of orange samples. The pu rity and concentration of DNA obtained from the sam ples were evaluated by spectrophotometric and gel electrophor esis analysis. It was found that the quantity and q uality of DNA by CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) method wer e higher than by Wizard kit method. The results con firm that the stability of DNA in orange products differ ed in terms of processing conditions. Microwave hea ting as compared with thermal heating resulted in lower DNA degradations and also drying process led to the mo st severe changes in contrast to pasteurization process in or ange samples.


The coordination of a three-level supply chain made up of manufacturer,distributor and retailer is studied under demand dependent effort.Firstly,the constraint of the optimal order quantity and the optimal effort is determined with the channel coordinating the supply chain;then the paper designs a combined contract(Revenue-sharing Markdown-money contract,RS-MM),namely,it takes revenue sharing contract and markdown money contract in the two transactions of the three-level supply chain to coordinate the supply chain.The paper also introduces quantity discount contract into markdown-money contract to encourage the retailer to promote his effort to equal to the optimal effort of the coordinated supply chain.The paper validates that RS-MM contracts can coordinate the three-level supply chain by choosing reasonable parameters.The reasonable choice of parameters can attain the win-win good among all business members,and the value of parameters in a reasonable range relate to the bargaining position of the business.Finally,the validity of the RS-MM contracts is illustrated by a numerical example.


Aim\ In order to investigate the function of hsp86 gene in Plasmodium falciparum,two fragments of heat shock protein 86 gene of Plasmodium falciparum were amplified and the targeting vectors were constructed.Methods\ Culturing the Plasmodium falciparum in vitro,extracting the genome DNA,amplifing the targeted gene with PCR,contructing the target vector and identifing with restricted enzymes and sequencing.Results\ The relative fragments were amplified successfully.The insertion and replcement vector with hsp86 gene were constructed.Conclusion\ Constructing successfully the replacement and insertion vector which is used to the gene knockout in Plasmodium falciparum. \ \


Powerful cultural -behavioral and linguistic tendency political correctnesswas originated and developed in the world. It is expressed in endeavor to find new methods of linguistic expression, which do not affect feelings and beauties of a private person, do not infringe upon his rights in a society of linguistic tactlessness.


Carbon disulfide reacts with azide ion to form the 1,2,3,4-thiatriazolinethionate ion and not the acyclic azido dithiocarbonate ion as previously reported. A series of salts of thiatriazoline have been prepared and none shows evidence for the presence of the azido group. Esters of thiatriazolinethione prepared by the reaction of the sodium salt with alkyl or acyl halides have been found to be either 5-(substituted) mercapto-1,2,3,4-thiatriazoles or 4-substituted 1,2,3,4-thiatriazoline-5-thiones. These structures have been assigned on the basis of degradative and spectroscopic evidence. The chemistry of the so-called azidodithiocarbonates has been reinterpreted in terms of the thiatriazole structure.


This study explores reading habits in English and in first language (L1) of the learners at the University of Sindh, Pakistan. It also compares reading habits of Urdu and Sindhi learner. A representative sample of 220 First year undergraduate learners from Sindhi (n=133) and Urdu speaking (n=87) groups completed questionnaire adapted from Bensoussan (2009).The data were analyzed quantitatively which suggested that although the majority of students read textbooks daily, they do not read for pleasure and rarely engage in reading academic articles. Comparing Urdu and Sindhi groups, it was determined that both the groups did not have any significant differences in terms of their reading habits in English and in L1. The results have implications for the understanding and development of reading habits of undergraduate students in Pakistan in particular and in second language (L2) contexts in general.


The characteristics of aerodynamics and noise for a centrifugal fan with inducer were investigated by comparison with the fan without inducer. The noise generated by these two kinds of fan consists of the discrete frequency noise and the turbulent noise. The discrete frequency noise can be controlled by some method. Therefore, the noise radiated from the centrifugal fan without scroll casing is mostly the turbulent noise. The noise level radiated from the fan with inducer is similar to that of without inducer. In relation to the aerodynamic characteristics, such as the pressure and the fan efficiency, the former is higher than the latter. Then the specific noise level of the former is lower than that of the latter over the wide flow rate. Therefore, the centrifugal fan with inducer is superior to that without inducer. We predicted the sound pressure level of the turbulent noise with the help of predicted width of wake and inlet relative velocity. The agreement between the predicted values and measured values of the sound pressure level agreed well in the range about ± 3 dB within the limits of this experiment.


RATIONALE: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) results from injury to the alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) barrier leading to pulmonary edema;recovery requires epithelial regeneration. However, the specific defect resulting in ongoing barrier permeability in fatal early ARDS is unknown. In mouse models of ARDS, we found that AEC2s assume a transitional state characterized by transient cell cycle arrest during differentiation towards AEC1s. Transitional cells persist and are senescent in human idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), leading some to speculate that persistence of transitional cells is pathognomonic of fibrosis in humans. We hypothesized that transitional cells also arise early in human ARDS and that incomplete AEC1 differentiation from the transitional state underlies barrier permeability and death from respiratory failure in early ARDS. We speculated that in contrast to IPF, transitional cells in early ARDS are in transient cell cycle arrest but not senescent and maintain capacity for an AEC1 fate. METHODS AND RESULTS: Lung tissue was obtained from patients who died within two weeks of hospitalization of ARDS due to COVID-19 or other etiologies, and from patients with IPF. Histology revealed diffuse alveolar damage without fibrosis in patients with ARDS. Immunostaining demonstrated AEC damage and abundant transitional cells in both ARDS and IPF. In ARDS, transitional cells existed in a monolayer on alveolar septa, filling gaps denuded of AEC1s and displaying spread morphologies without AEC1 marker expression, suggesting ongoing but incomplete differentiation. In fibrosis, transitional cells existed on a background of architectural distortion and fibrosis. Meta-analysis of single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) datasets demonstrated that transitional cells were transcriptionally highly similar. However, the senescence marker p16 was expressed in transitional cells in human IPF but not in mouse models. Immunostaining confirmed that transitional cells in IPF but not human ARDS expressed p16. CONCLUSION: We conclude that transitional cells arise in early human ARDS without fibrosis. We propose that incomplete AEC1 differentiation from the transitional state is the specific defect in epithelial regeneration underlying barrier permeability and respiratory failure. We speculate that in early human ARDS, as in mouse models, transitional cells retain the capacity to differentiate into AEC1s, restoring alveolar architecture without fibrosis. However, in IPF and fibroproliferative ARDS, transitional cells become senescent, lose capacity for AEC1 differentiation, and fibrosis ensues. Evolution of transitional cells from a transient cell cycle arrest to a permanent cell cycle arrest (senescence) may be the key defect driving the pathogenesis of fibrosis after injury.


Objective To study the clinical application and efficacy of betamethasone-calcium hydroxide paste in one-time root canal treatment.Methods 160 teeth were randomly divided into the experimental group (betamethasone-calcium hydroxide) and the control group (cortisomol) with 80 cases in each group.Two kinds of cataplasm were sent into the root canals by using screw conveyor in each group after root canal preparation and drying.Then we filled the canals tightly with gutta-percha by lateral condensation.Permanent filling were operated after X-ray determination of canal filling.3 days later,pain of the tooth was recorded.6 and 12 months later,the cure rate of each group was observed.Results The pain rates and the cure rates were no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05).Conclusion Betamethasone-calcium hydroxide cataplasm and cortisomol have the basical same clinical effect in one-time root canal treatment.

Key words:
Betamethasone;  Calcium hydroxide;  Cortisomol;  One-time root canal treatment


The abolition of the imperial examination is the historical development and the inevitable result of the conflict between the eastern and western civilization.It promotes the western education system and modern science and technology to be transported and developed in our country,promotes the transformation of our traditional academic,and forms the new intellectuals.However,the imperial examination system played important function in selecting talents,breaking power monopoly,promoting social fairness and promoting the inheritance of Confucianism and so on.Rational summary of the imperial examination system gives us the enlightenment and reference for today′s education development


Photo by: Photographic Section, CIAT. The Centre de cooperation internationale en recherche agronomique pour le developpement (CIRAD) is a French research organization that specializes in agriculture in the tropics and subtropics. It is a state-owned body and it was established in 1984 following the consolidation of French agricultural, veterinary, forestry, and food technology research organizations for the tropics and subtropics.


In the bleaching of pulp, the term Selectivity is widely used but poorly defined.This work is an attempt to quantify the selectivity of bleaching with Oxygen-containing species by generating hydroxil radicals and measuring their reaction rates with some lignin and carbohydrate models. Results of this investigation show that the selectivity factor defined as the ratio of the rate constants for a given pair of lignin and carbohydrate models, lies between 5 and 6.


Flotation technology without fluorite was studied to separate low-grade K-feldspar with quartz. It is shown in the results that qualified K-feldspar concentrate can be gained by grinding, desliming, flotation and high intensity Magnetic Separation process. Feldspar concentrate obtained in closed-circuit had a content of K2O and Na2O 12.12%, quartz concentrate with a yield of 19.94% containing 97.12% SiO2 was obtained in the same time.


In recent years, advances in computer architecture and lipid force field parameters have made Molecular Dynamics (MD) a powerful tool for gaining atomistic resolution of biological membranes on timescales that other tools simply cannot explore. With many key biological processes involving membranes occurring on the nanosecond timescale, MD allows us to probe the dynamics and energetics of these interactions in molecular detail. Specifically, we can observe the interactions taking place as a peptide or protein comes into contact with a lipid bilayer, and how this may shape or alter the bilayer either locally (changes in headgroup orientation, lipid fluidity) or in bulk (lipid demixing, membrane curvature). The resolution achieved through atomistic MD can be directly compared with other tools such as NMR and EPR to gain a full perspective of how these biological systems behave over different timescales. As my background is in computational physics, this thesis not only looks into broadening our understanding of various interactions with biological membranes, but also into the development of construction and analytical software to assist in my research and benefit others in the field. One aspect of biological membranes that could vastly benefit from MD simulations is that of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). These peptides primarily target and destroy microbes by permeabilising the cell membrane through a variety of proposed mechanisms, where each mechanism relies on the AMP to adopt specific conformations upon contact with bacterial membranes. In this thesis, I present an investigation into the interactions between a synthetic AMP and an inhibitor peptide designed to regulate antimicrobial activity through the formation of a coiled coil structure, which restricts the AMP from adopting new conformations. Simulations captured the spontaneous formation of coiled coils between these peptides, and specific residues in their sequences were identified that promote unfolding. This knowledge may lead to better design of coiled coil forming


This study has the objective of examining and analyzing disputes over the ownership of the Bensu brand and legal protection efforts in the Geprek Bensu case against I Am Geprek Bensu, which in this study discusses cases of intellectual property rights in the trademark field. This research uses a normative juridical approach with secondary, primary and tertiary data. The results of this study are that: the Geprek Bensu dispute originated from business similarities between Geprek Bensu owned by Ruben Onsu and I Am Geprek Bensu owned by PT Ayam Geprek Benny Sujono where Ruben claimed Bensu was his business; the Bensu case is that there was trademark protection out of good faith and the registration system at that time adhered to first to file, which meant that the first recipient was the one who was protected; there are many similarities between the two types of brands Bensu and Ruben were judged to have plagiarized I Am Geprek Bensu, and the Supreme Court considered the case and decided that Ruben Onsu's appeal was rejected


This paper surveys and summarises theory and evidence from recent studies into the contributions to economic growth of expenditure on education and on research and development. Investment in human capital – in the form of skills and ideas-has fundamentally different economic attributes to physical investment: exhibiting complementarity, positive feedback and non-rivalry. These attributes imply that raising investment in human capital has the potential to enhance economic growth over a long time period. In the case of education, there are debates over whether changes in educational attainment ultimately affect the long-run growth rate of the economy, or only the long-run level of output. The macroeconomic evidence on level effects is consistent with microeconomic estimates of private rates of return to schooling. It appears, however, that there are also significant long-term growth effects – the more educated is the workforce, the better is it able to implement technological advances. There is consistent evidence of high social rates of return on research and development in both commercial areas of research and in more fundamental research, implying that R&D is under-resourced. A number of studies have emphasised the importance of international technology spillovers, particularly for smaller economies such as Australia. Feasible increases in Australian investment in both education and R&D could be expected to boost annual growth rates by around one half of a percentage point. Furthermore, concerns about the economic implications of the ageing of the population are misplaced to the extent that the underlying decline in fertility is driven by parents choosing to invest more in the human capital of fewer children.


Abstract We present some results related to Zilber's Exponential-Algebraic Closedness Conjecture, showing that various systems of equations involving algebraic operations and certain analytic functions admit solutions in the complex numbers. These results are inspired by Zilber's theorems on raising to powers. We show that algebraic varieties which split as a product of a linear subspace of an additive group and an algebraic subvariety of a multiplicative group intersect the graph of the exponential function, provided that they satisfy Zilber's freeness and rotundity conditions, using techniques from tropical geometry. We then move on to prove a similar theorem, establishing that varieties which split as a product of a linear subspace and a subvariety of an abelian variety A intersect the graph of the exponential map of A (again under the analogues of the freeness and rotundity conditions). The proof uses homology and cohomology of manifolds. Finally, we show that the graph of the modular j-function intersects varieties which satisfy freeness and broadness and split as a product of a Möbius subvariety of a power of the upper-half plane and a complex algebraic variety, using Ratner's orbit closure theorem to study the images under j of Möbius varieties. Abstract prepared by Francesco Paolo Gallinaro E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com URL: https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/31077/


Anilic acid or 2,5-dianilinoterephthalic acid, C20H16N2O4, is an intermediate in the industrial synthesis of quinacridone pigments. The title calcium aniloate compound, namely di-μ-aqua-κ4O1:O1′-bis(μ-2,5-dianilinoterephthalo-κ2O:O′)bis[triaquacalcium(II)] tetrahydrate, [Ca2(C20H14N2O4)2(H2O)8]·4H2O, is a dimeric complex of two aniloate anions, two Ca2+ cations and eight water molecules, with a further four uncoordinated water molecules. The complex is situated on a crystallographic twofold axis, with two water O atoms lying on the rotation axis.


Dense subgraph detection is a fundamental building block for a variety of applications. Most of the existing methods aim to discover dense subgraphs within either a single network or a multi-view network while ignoring the informative node dependencies across multiple layers of networks in a complex system. To date, it largely remains a daunting task to detect dense subgraphs on multi-layered networks. In this paper, we formulate the problem of dense subgraph detection on multi-layered networks based on cross-layer consistency principle. We further propose a novel algorithm DESTINE based on projected gradient descent with the following advantages. First, armed with the cross-layer dependencies, DESTINE is able to detect significantly more accurate and meaningful dense subgraphs at each layer. Second, it scales linearly w.r.t. the number of links in the multi-layered network. Extensive experiments demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed DESTINE algorithm in various cases.


This study is focused on the techniques used in teaching vocabulary to young learners at SDN Sumbersari 2 Malang. This study employed a descriptive design. The source of the data was the English teacher and the subjects were the students of grade 1 up to grade 6 at SDN Sumbersari 2 Malang. The findings revealed that the teacher applied various techniques in teaching vocabulary. In teaching grade 1, 2, and 3 the teacher used listen and do, listen and repeat, question and answer, in pair or group discussion, modeling and demonstration, brainstorming, outdoor activity, singing song, and using picture. While, in teaching grade 4, 5, and 6 the teacher used listen and do, listen and repeat, in-pair or group discussion, question and answer, modeling and demonstration, concept mapping, game and using picture.


Figure 1: Multistage RDD Survey To raise telephone survey response rates, often the level of effort devoted to data collection is increased, either through the use of incentives or through an increase in the number of callback attempts. In a multistage random-digit-dial (RDD) telephone survey, this increase in effort may be implemented at different stages of the interview e.g. before resolution, after resolution but before screening, or after screening. In this paper, we discuss how a non-response bias analysis can be used to identify the stage of the interview at which the increased effort might have the greatest effect on bias reduction. We also discuss the assumptions necessary for this approach and their plausibility. An example is given using data from round two of the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN), a multistage RDD survey conducted as part of the State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS) mechanism. This survey is conducted by the National Opinion Research Center on behalf of the National Center for Health Statistics. First Call


The bovine exocrine pancreatic cell produces a variety of enzymes and proenzymes for export. Biochemical studies by Greene L. J., C. H. Hirs, and G. E. Palade (J. Biol. Chem. 1963. 238:2054) have shown that the mass proportions of several of these proteins in resting pancreatic juice and zymogen granule fractions are identical. In this study we have used immunocytochemical techniques at the electron microscope level to determine whether regional differences exist in the bovine gland with regard to production of individual secretory proteins and whether specialization of product handling occurs at the subcellular level. The technique used is a modification of one previously reported (McLean, J. D., and S. J. Singer. 1970. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 65:122; Kraehenbuhl, J. P., and J. D. Jamieson. 1972. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 69:1771) in which immunocytochemical reagents are applied to thin sections of bovine serum albumin-imbedded tissue and zymogen granule fractions. A double antibody technique was used in which the first step consisted of rabbit F(ab')2 antibovine secretory protein and the detection step consisted of sheep F(ab')~ antirabbit F(ab')2 conjugated to ferritin. The results showed that all exocrine cells in the gland, and all zymogen granules and Golgi cisternae in each cell, were qualitatively alike with regard to their content of secretory proteins examined (trypsinogen, chymotrypsinogen A, carboxypeptidase A, RNase, and DNase). The data suggest that these secretory proteins are transported through the cisternae of the Golgi complex where they are intermixed before copackaging in zymogen granules; passage through the Golgi complex is apparently obligatory for these (and likely all) secretory proteins, and is independent of extent of glycosylation, e.g., trypsinogen, a nonglycoprotein vs. DNase, a glycoprotein. Over the past three decades the enzymatic and biochemical properties of secretory proteins from the mammalian exocrine pancreas have been studied extensively (e.g., see references 5, 9, 15, 23, 31). As a consequence, we now have a reasonably detailed catalogue of the secretory products of this gland. Perhaps the most detailed accounting has been carded out on the guinea pig gland which produces at least 19 different polypeptide chains, 13 of which have been characterized with regard to enzymatic activity (31). At the same time, numerous studies on the intracellular processing and mechanism of discharge of exportable proteins from the guinea pig exocrine pancreas have been carried out (summarized in references 14, 27). These investigations 406 THE JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY 9 VOLUME 72, 1977 9 pages 406-423 on April 29, 2019 jcb.rupress.org Downloaded from http://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.72.2.406 Published Online: 1 February, 1977 | Supp Info:


Smart Territory Analytics is a very young domain that by a great number of people is expected to support benchmarking of cities' and territories' smartness. Analytics, however, is first of all, a route toward awareness but the question is: about what? In other words what does smartness mean? Here, as an example of "wisdom of the crowd" extraction, we report about word frequency analytics applied to open answers given to a questionnaire on Smart Cities. It comes out that the achievement of awareness is a process implying a deeper understanding of the territory and individual perception and, as well, a greater attention to the well being of citizens and the environment they populate, being citizens at the same time the main source and the end-target of the territorial state of flow.


Objective:To observe the change of blood pressure and the possible mechanism of vascular remolding of the aorta when the enzyme 11β-steroid dehydrogenases 2(11β-HSD2)was inhibited in rat.Methods:Regular diet or glycyrrhizin acid(GA)were supplemented to rats in normal control group(group C,n=12),or model group(group M,n=12)respectively.After 6 weeks,the rat's blood pressure was measured.Serum was collected for measuring the activity of 11β-HSD2 and the level of NO and ET-1.Histological study of the aorta was examined using light microscope and the location of 11β-HSD2 in aorta was detected by immunohistochemical method.Results:Compared with control group,the activity of 11β-HSD2 decreased[(0.5±0.1)∶(0.3±0.1)](P0.05),blood pressure increased[(143.4±9.5)mmHg ∶(172.9±6.1)mmHg](P0.05),whereas aortic and serum ET-1 were enhanced(P0.05),but NO decreased(P0.05).Under light microscope,the vascular smooth muscle fiber lined up in order and intima was smooth and glossy in group C,but in group M,the vascular smooth muscle fiber was thicker than group C,but there were not obviously difference in aortic lumina between group C and group M.Conclusion:11β-HSD2 inhibition can increase blood pressure through changing the vasomotion function and vascular remolding.


Combining the deep foundation pit of Shanghai Xinglida Plaza project,authors introduce something about the construction of deep foundation pit in soft soil,such as the selection of construction scheme,and the construction process control.At last,the monitoring programme and monitoring results of the foundation pit construction process are stated.


This paper proposes a Chinese to Tibetan machine translation system with multiple translating strategies. The key corpora and technologies are explained in detail. Experiments show the sub systems output the translation of each phrase in the same order as they are in the Chinese sentence rather than in a Tibetan sentence, which leads to worse translation quality. So an order adjusting model is essential to Chinese to Tibetan translation system. The recall of translation phrase makes an improvement of 9.71% over the popular off-the-shelf language neutral statistical machine translation programme Moses. Our translation system achieves a speed ofabout 0.175s per sentence, which meets the requirement of the computer aided translation system.


The document, consisting of two small booklets, is preserved in the provincial archives of British Columbia at Victoria. It is well written in a clear hand, the first part in pencil, the rest in ink. Mr. John Hosie, provincial archivist, acquired it recently from the government agent's office at Fort George, where it had been lying unknown for some time. The archivist, to whose alertness we owe the recovery of the diary, has very graciously given his permission for this editing of the document. $. G. Hathaway was a printer unaccustomed to either vigorous physical exertion or a severe climate. Yet he possessed an anxiety for adventure and a courage and determination to overcome obstacles in the way of his purpose. With no experience in mining, Hathaway made his way in the spring of '02 with hundreds of others toward the newest gold-field, Cariboo. it promised to be richer than Australia or California, but Hathaway, like many other miners, found it merely rougher. Cariboo yielded him no golden fortune; instead, it claimed his life. In addition to the interest of its vivid descriptions, the journal has two points of significance. In the first place, it describes the life of a miner on a scantily populated creek and thus provides a contrast to the many pictures we have of life in the mining towns. Williams, the most famous of all Cariboo creeks, and its adjacent creeks including Nelson, had been discovered only one year before Hathaway's expedition and much of the ground was still unworked. Nelson is west and slightly north of Williams. In the second place, Hathaway's trip was made during the first year of the "rush" before the Cariboo road had been built three hundred and fifty miles from Yale on the lower Fraser River to Barkerville on Williams Creek. The diarist was, therefore, able to describe the difficulties of travel into the mines by rude trails where no proper roads yet existed. ISABEL M. L. BESCOBY


The article presents two contradictive narratives of the Viking Age and the process of conversion from heathendom to Christendom in western Norway. The narratives are based on different applications of — and attitudes towards — the written records from the above mentioned periods and theories of cultural conflicts and change. One narrative interprets the material record in close accordance with the written records which describe the Viking Age and the early Middle Ages. This is called the established narrative. The other narrative focuses more on the material record per se, and general theories on ethnicity, religion and cultural processes. This narrative is called the disturbing narrative. The theoretical considerations are exemplified with a case study from the western coast of Norway.


CA has already found its place in the deployment of 4G wireless networks. It successfully shows its value as an efficient way to increase the signal bandwidth within the available spectrum. This article is focused on demonstrating and analyzing the possible transmitter architecture solutions for CA. Further, the benefits and issues of using concurrent dual-band transmitter architecture are investigated. The recent progress on deploying concurrent dual-band PAs has been surveyed, where recent published literatures reported significant improvement on the concurrent dual-band PA design and achievable efficiency. The challenges present in the development of the linearization schemes for concurrent dual-band transmitters are addressed and possible solutions are studied.


Methodological bases of man ecology education are proposed to create a healthy and safe behaviors, adaptive new information society. It provides not only the specific protection of the human-specific information threats, but also the formation of non-specific resistance of the individual to a wide range of information stress (education, communication, ICT). It was shown the effectiveness of this education to optimize the mental development of schoolchildren, to improve their psychosomatic health, to develop the foundations of health-learning culture.


Abstract : The focus of this work is the development of an anti-parallel pair of planar gallium arsenide Schottky barrier diodes, integrated on a monolithic chip. This chip was designed for integration into subharmonically pumped heterodyne receivers which are used to detect radiation at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The advantage of such a receiver is that it uses a local oscillator source at half the frequency required by a fundamentally pumped receiver. They are therefore useful in environments that preclude the use of high frequency oscillators, such a lasers, that are bulky and have significant power requirements. Also, the use of a planar diode technology eliminates the fragile whisker contact, thus allowing the fabrication of multi-diode circuits. The combination of planar diodes and subharmonically pumped receivers is ideally suited for space applications, such as the Microwave Limb Sounder of NASA's Earth Observing System satellites which will conduct long term studies of Earth's upper atmosphere. The diode pair, which was designed and fabricated in this research, has exhibited excellent electrical characteristics. These diodes contained anodes as small as 1.2 micron. This is the first use of anodes smaller than 2.5 micron on a planar diode. Also, excellent mixing results were observed with Aerojet-General Corporation's G-band (183 GHz) subharmonically pumped receiver. This is the first successful application of a planar diode technology at a frequency significantly above 100 GHz.


Summary. Leucine‐rich repeats are conserved structural motifs present in the four components of the human platelet glycoprotein Ib/IX/V complex receptor for the adhesive protein von Willebrand factor. The absence or abnormality of this complex is responsible for Bernard‐Soulier disease, an autosomal recessive bleeding disorder. We report a deletion of leucine 179, located in a highly conserved position of the seventh leucine‐rich repeat of GPIbα, found in a variant form of Bernard‐Soulier disease (Bernard‐Soulier Nancy I). Three affected siblings of a family were characterized by absence of ristocetin‐induced platelet agglutination, although ADP aggregation was normal. Flow cytometry studies showed detectable amounts of all four members of the GPIb/IX/V complex on the surface of the patients' platelets. Western blotting revealed normal levels of GPIX, decreased levels of GPIbβ and GPV, and <1% of GPIbα. RT‐PCR studies showed the presence of mRNA coding for GPIbα. GPIbβ, GPIX and GPV. Sequencing showed a three‐base deletion which results in the absence of a leucine residue, highly conserved across the seven leucine‐rich repeats of GPIbα and also within the other members of the leucine‐rich glycoprotein family. The absence of the leucine 179 in a patient's GPIbα is believed to cause a conformational change in the protein which would account for the lack of binding of most of the MoAbs tested and would be responsible for the absence of von Willebrand factor binding. These results point to the leucine‐rich region of GPIbα as being required for the correct exposure of the von Willebrand binding site as well as for the correct assembly and stability of the GPIb IX V complex on the platelet surface.


Kpong water Treatment plant is one of the two major Water treatment plants supplying the Accra/Tema Metropolitan areas. The filtering media at Kpong water works has been observed to develop a black coating after three to four years o f commissioning. This appearance results in more water than necessary being used for backwashing the filters. The source and toxicity of the black coating material as well as the possibility o f it leaching into the treated water have not been determined. The main objective of this study was to characterize and investigate the development of black coating on the Kpong filtering media and its effect on the filter performance. Another focus of the study was to conduct water quality analysis of effluents from the riparian industries, and the raw water at strategic points w ithin the study area in order to trace the source of the black coating material. The effect of the bl ack coating on filter performance with respect to iron removal was investigated using a laboratory based batch reactor. The study showed the chemical components of the black coating of the Kpong filter media to be mainly iron, manganese, sulphates and sulphides. Other components like copper, lead, mercury occurred in trace concentrations. The blackening of the filter media at Kpong is probably due to occurrence of iron sulphates and sulphides, hydroxides and / oxid es of iron and manganese ions in the raw water. The black coating has a limiting effect on t he iron removal capacity of the coated (Kpong) filter media. The adsorption phenomenon on the coated media of the Volta River Authority and the fresh filter media was mainly chemisorption.


In this paper we investigate von Neumann regularity of rings whose simple singular right R-modules are flat. It is proved that a ring R is strongly regular if and only if R is a semiprime right quasi-duo ring whose simple singular right R-modules are flat. Moreover, it is shown that if R is a P. I.- ring whose simple singular right R-modules are flat, then R is a strongly π- regular ring. Finally, it is shown that if R is a right continuous ring whose simple singular right R-modules are flat, then R is a von Neumann regular ring.


ANSWER Nonuremic calciphylaxis with pseudoxanthoma elasticum-like changes in the setting of connective tissue disorder. Calciphylaxis is a progressive disorder involving calcification of the soft tissues and blood vessels with subsequent thrombosis and ischemic necrosis. Characteristically, calciphylaxis presents with exquisitely tender indurated plaques of livedo reticularis-like mottling in areas of high adiposity. Later, ulceration and eschar formation are observed.1,2 It is most commonly seen in patients with end-stage renal disease and secondary hyperparathyroidism.3,4 The pathophysiology remains unclear but is thought to be a 2-step process involving exposure to a sensitizing agent followed by exposure to a challenger.5 The sensitizer predisposes soft tissues to calcification and is most commonly thought to be parathyroid hormone. The challenger causes calcification and subsequent inflammation and necrosis of tissues and is often more difficult to identify. Potential challenging agents include trauma, corticosteroids, warfarin therapy, and immunosuppressants.2,4–7 Patients without uremia may also rarely develop calciphylaxis, representing a significant diagnostic challenge. It is extraordinarily uncommon with less than 100 reported cases in the literature.1 The most commonly reported causes in order of descending frequency include primary hyperparathyroidism, malignancy, alcoholic liver disease, and connective tissue diseases.1,2,8 Two cases have been reported in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, which was presumed to be the sensitizer. The proposed challengers in these cases were chronic corticosteroids, methotrexate, and protein S deficiency.9,10 It is possible that rheumatoid arthritis and prednisone or azathioprine served as the sensitizer and challenger, respectively, in our patient. Other reported causes include diabetes mellitus,11 Crohn's disease,12 vitamin D deficiency,13 chemotherapy,14 rapid weight loss,15 polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin changes syndrome,16 osteomalacia treated with nadroparin calcium,17 and chronic kidney disease.18 Possible predisposing factors include female gender, white race, obesity, warfarin therapy, and hypoalbuminemia.1,8 As in our patient, the majority of cases of nonuremic calciphylaxis lack abnormalities in calcium, phosphate, and parathyroid hormone levels.8 Histopathologic findings in calciphylaxis include medial calcification of smalland medium-sized blood vessels in the dermis and subcutaneous tissue along with secondary thrombosis, lobular panniculitis, and fat necrosis. Ischemic necrosis of the epidermis and adnexal structures and an inflammatory infiltrate consisting of neutrophils, lymphocytes, and histiocytes may also be seen. Even when clinical lesions are impressive, histologic findings are often subtle, and the Van Kossa stain can be used to highlight perivascular calcification.4,19 Changes resembling pseudoxanthoma elasticum were also observed in our patient's biopsy. Pseudoxanthoma elasticum is a genetic disorder characterized histologically by thick fragmented and calcified elastic fibers in the dermis.19 The elastic fibers can show abnormal calcification among them. Three other cases of calciphylaxis with pseudoxanthoma elasticum-like changes have been reported in the literature,3,4,19 only one of which was seen in nonuremic calciphylaxis.3 Similar to our patient, none displayed clinical evidence of pseudoxanthoma elasticum or features of systemic involvement.3,4,19 Other diseases that have been reported in association with pseudoxanthoma elasticum-like changes include systemic lupus erythematosus,20 idiopathic hypercalcemia with secondary calcinosis cutis,21 necrobiosis lipoidica,22 juvenile Paget disease,23 exposure to saltpeter,24 nephrogenic systemic fibrosis,19 L-tryptophan-induced eosinophilia–myalgia syndrome,25 beta-thalassemia,26 and uremia and hyperphosphatemia associated with end-stage renal disease.27 Our case of calciphylaxis is not only unique in that it occurred in a patient without uremia but also showed changes reminiscent of pseudoxanthoma elasticum. The exact implication of pseudoxanthoma elasticum-like changes in biopsy specimens of calciphylaxis is unclear but may be a result of abnormal calcium metabolism or an indication that the patient is a carrier of the pseudoxanthoma elasticum mutation, ABCC6.3 It is possible that it may even serve as a clue to the diagnosis of calciphylaxis when calcium deposition within vessel walls is subtle. Further investigation is needed. From the *Division of Dermatology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC; and Departments of †Dermatology, and ‡Pathology and Dermatology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Correspondence: Laura G. Pruitt, MD, Division of Dermatology, East Carolina University, 517 Moye Boulevard, Greenville, NC 27834 (e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com). Copyright © 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.


Introduction Merold Westphal and Martin J. Matustik Sigla 1. THe Kierkegaard-Effect in the Shaping of the Contours of Modernity Calvin O. Schrag 2. SartreOs Debts to Kierkegaard: A Partial Reckoning William L. McBride 3. HeideggerOs Reading of Kierkegaard Revisited: From Ontological Abstraction to Ethical Concretion Patricia J. Huntington 4. God, Anxiety, and Female Divinity Alison Leigh Brown 5. KierkegaardOs View of the Unconscious C. Stephen Evans 6. Amatory Cures for Material Dis-ease: A Kristevian Reading of The Sickness unto Death Tamsin Lorraine 7. Kierkegaard and Feminism: Apologetic, Repetition, and Dialogue Wanda Warren Berry 8. Paradoxes in Interpretation: Kierkegaard and Gadamer Stephen N. Dunning 9. Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, and a Method of OVirtue EthicsO Robert C. Roberts 10. The Politics of Existence: Buber and Kiergaard Robert L. Perkins 11. Communicative Freedom and Negative Theology Jurgen Habermas Translated with Notes by Martin J. Matustik and Patricia J. Huntington 12. Kierkegaard and Critical Theory James L. Marsh 13. Instants, Secrets, and Singularities: Dealing Death in Kierkegaard and Derrida John D. Cputo 14. KierkegaardOs Radical Existential Praxis, or: Why the Individual Defies Liberal, Communitarian, and Postmodern Categories Martin J. Matustik 15. The Transparent Shadow: Kierkegaard and Levina in Dialogue Merole Westphal Works Cited Contributors Index


Cervical cancer may present as unhealthy cervix at an early stage. With improvement in awareness, screening programs and preventive measures, incidence of cervical cancer continues to decrease in both developed and developing countries. However, in developing nations like India, it continues to be diagnosed at more advanced stages. Approximately 90% of new cases are occurring in developing countries lacking an organised screening programmes.


The article dwells upon main directions of proving thefts committed under conditions of unobviousness. The author pays special attention to the interrogation of victims and witnesses as a significant and important investigative action in the investigation of such crimes. Moreover, she characterizes circumstances which influence investigation of thefts in case of their unobviousness.


Abstract An unexpectedly high probability of collisions between the fission particles and the atoms in an ionization chamber along the entire particle track causes a strong fluctuation of the shapes of the Bragg curves. This fluctuation imposes an upper limit of the charge resolution δZ/Z which can be achieved.


Buckling loads for long isotropic and laminated cylinders are calculated based on Euler, Fluegge and Donnell's equations. Results from these methods are presented using simple parameters useful for fundamental design work. Buckling loads for two types of simply supported boundary conditions are calculated using finite element methods for comparison to select cases of the closed form solution. Results indicate that relying on Donnell theory can result in an over-prediction of buckling loads by as much as 40% in isotropic materials.


The overall aim of the paper is the assessment of human‐induced accelerated soil erosion processes due to forest harvesting in the Upper Turano River Basin. The spatio‐temporal pattern of soil erosion processes was investigated by means of a spatially distributed modelling approach. We used the Unit Stream Power Erosion and Deposition model. During the soil erosion‐modelling phase, the forest cover changes were mapped via remote sensing. According to this operation, the forest sectors exploited for timber production amounted to about 2781 ha or 9·9% of the wooded surface from March 2001 to August 2011. In this period, the average annual net soil erosion rate estimated by means of modelling operations totalled 0·83 Mg ha−1 y−1 for all the forest lands. The net soil erosion rate predicted for the disturbed forest lands is significantly higher than the average value for the entire forest (5·34 Mg ha−1 y−1). Estimates indicate a soil loss equal to 8521 Mg y−1 (net soil erosion 0·34 Mg ha−1 y−1) in the undisturbed forest area (254 km2), whereas the 27·8 km2 of disturbed forest area could potentially lose 14 846 Mg y−1. The paper shows that a disturbed forest sector could produce about 74·2% more net erosion than a nine times larger, undisturbed forest sector. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Power Spectral Density (PSD) refers to the amount of power per unit of frequency as a function of the frequency. The PSD describes how the power (or variance) of a time series is distributed with frequency. In this research, we calculated Grms (Root-Mean-Square Acceleration) and PSD of NAJI fire pump on healthy and unhealthy situations. In addition, we calculated Grms and PSD of NAJI fire pump electromotor on healthy, misalign and looseness situations. The results showed that different situations showed different PSD vs. frequency. With calculating PSD, we could find some fault and diagnosis of pump and electromotor as soon as possible. The results of this paper have given more understanding on the dependent roles of vibration analysis and Power Spectral Density carve in predicting and diagnosing of the pump and the electromotor faults.


The paper bases on technical theory of increasing concentration with bauxite slurry back sweetening digestion technology in Bayer process and experimental data at home and abroad,combines this technology with practice in ore dressing in Bayer process.The paper studies effect of red mud A/S,N/S,bauxite consumption,soda consumption,seed precipitation rate,process power consumption of increasing concentration with bauxite back sweetening digestion on operating conditions,also makes suggestion of how to use this technology in the future.


Acid and acidic urea-induced unfolding of hemoglobin (Hb) was investigated using protein-film-based electrochemical method. The conformational transition of Hb was monitored through the change of direct electrochemical response of Hb. The heme groups in Hb detached from their native binding sites after pH<4.0. Spectral experiments fully supported the results. Furthermore, the catalytic ability of Hb was enhanced 15 times under the optimal unfolded conditions of pH 2.0 PBS containing 3.0 mol L−1 urea. The method contributes to understand the relationship between function and conformation of Hb, and provides possibility of manipulating protein function by controlling its conformation.


Grounded by students' lack of conceptual understanding in identifying and comprehending basic concepts of computer network, this quasi-experimental study aims to identify the effect of applying blended learning model toward the improvement of students' conceptual understanding. It was designed using non-equivalent control group design in which the experimental group and the control group were differently treated using, respectively, blended learning and conventional learning model. There were 58 students selected as the sample of the research; 30 students in experimental class and 28 students in control class. Essay test was chosen to collect the data of the conceptual understanding of the students in both groups. Using MANOVA, the data analysis revealed the significant effect of applying blended learning model toward students' conceptual understanding with P = 0.000 < 0.05 of significance level. In conclusion, the result of study identified that 1) the students who taught using blended learning model performed better mastery of basic concepts of computer network with the average score was 74.86, valued in high category; 2) there was a significant difference of conceptual understanding improvement between the group taught by applying blended learning and those by conventional learning model in learning basic computer network.


Scheme 1. Synthetic route to a new brønsted acid 2 Brønsted acid catalysis is one of the growing fields in modern organic synthesis. Although several Brønsted acids, such as urea/thiourea, TADDOL, and phosphoric acid, have been applied to a variety of organic reactions, other Brønsted acid scaffolds have been much less explored. Recently, Rawal et al have developed a Brønsted acid catalyst based on squaric acid moiety and successfully applied it as a catalyst for conjugate addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds to nitroolefins. More recently, we have developed a strong Brønsted acid derived from squaric acid by introducing a strong electron withdrawing trifluoromethanesulfonyl (Tf) group and applied it to Mukaiyama aldol and Michael reaction of a variety of aldehydes, ketones, and α,β-unsaturated ketones. As a continuing effort to develop strong Brønsted acids based on the squaric acid scaffold, it was expected that replacement of Tf group with a longer perfluoroalkanesulfonyl group would be able to tune the physical properties, such as solubilities in organic solvents and fluorophilicity, without loss of reactivity (Figure 1). Herein, we report the development of a new Brønsted acid based on the squaric acid scaffold carrying two nonafluorobutanesulfonyl (Nf) groups and the preliminary results of its reactivity to various organic reactions. Squaric acid diamide 2 carrying two Nf groups was attempted to be synthesized by the same method for the synthesis of bistriflyl squaramide 1. In the conditions for the synthesis of compound 1, however, only mono-nonaflylated squaramide was obtained as a product. Thus, we investigated a different synthetic route to compound 2 as shown in Scheme 1. Squaric acid diamide was easily prepared from squaric acid diethyl ester according to the literature procedure. Next, we moved our attention to the nonaflylation of the resulting diamide. Nonaflylation of the diamide was carried out with nonaflyl fluoride in the presence of triethylamine in a sealed tube (IMPORTANT: The reaction must be carried out in a sealed tube. Otherwise, the yield of the reaction will be quite low due to the low boiling point of nonaflyl fluoride). To our delight, the desired product 2 was obtained in 57% yield after column chromatography on silica. With this compound in hand, we employed this newly developed Brønsted acid 2 in the Mukaiyama aldol reaction of benzaldehyde 4 with silyl enol ether of acetophenone 3a to compare its reactivity with that of compound 1 (Scheme 2). With 1 mol % of 1 and 2, aldol product 5 was obtained in 96 and 95% yield after deprotection of silyl group, respectively. The reactivity of compound 2 was further tested in the Mukaiyama Michael reaction of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compound 6 with pentamethyldisilyl (PMDS) enol ether of acetophenone 3b (Scheme 3). With PMDS enol ether 3b, both Brønsted acids 1 and 2 gave almost the same result. These results implied that the replacement of Tf group with Nf group may have little effect on the reactivities of both acids. However, with TMS enol


Machine intelligence systems have been increasingly widely deployed in real-world circumstances, while the conventional human-vision oriented video coding schemes are inefficient to be embedded in large-scale systems and further support a wide range of applications. There have been urgent demands for a new generation of compression framework to efficiently encodes visual data, where the compression and analytics for machine vision and human perception can be jointly optimized. To this end, we propose a novel visual compression framework to provide visual contents with different granularity for both human and machine vision tasks collaboratively. The proposed scalable compression framework maintains the critical semantic information in a basic layer, so that it is capable of supporting the accurate machine vision analysis under a tight bit-rate constraint. It is scalable to provide visual representations of different granularity to support various kinds of tasks, including video reconstruction that serves human vision examination. Experimental results on the human-centered videos have demonstrated the promising functionality of scalable visual coding with improved efficiency for high-performance machine analysis and human perception.


This paper explores the views of victim survivors – both men and women – on the current prosecution of Dominic Ongwen at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, includin...


A few years ago, the introductory programming course for STS students, engineering students within sociotechnical systems engineering, at Uppsala University was redesigned according to principles presented in [5]. One concern that was raised after this change is whether those students are now appropriately prepared for future programming courses with the new design in the introduction course. To investigate this closer, a starting point is to study the students' self-efficacy beliefs, i.e., their judgment about their own programming capabilities as there are other studies that confirms a correlation between students self-efficacy in programming and their success in learning and using programming. [7, 8] We have investigated how the self-efficacy in programming among STS students change during the year after their introductory programming course and have also studied how well they consider themselves to meet specific course goals from the programming course. Our results show no significant difference in the overall self-efficacy score, but a significant increase in self-regulation. Students perceive an increase in most of the abilities expressed by course goals investigated. We find no indication that students would be insufficiently prepared to face programming tasks in other courses after their introductory course on the topic. Introduction and Motivation Self-efficacy theory is used within several domains concerning education, training or other activities where a person is to attain a new or develop a higher level of skill. The theory has its beginning in the 70's when Albert Bandura a Canadian psychologist known by many as the originator of the theory defined self-efficacy as "...people's judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performances" [3]. Bandura argues that self-efficacy beliefs affect: 1. Choice of activities 2. Level of effort expended 3. Persistence in the face of difficulties 4. Performance [2,3] Self-efficacy beliefs are also malleable and affect a person's intellectual performance. For these reasons, studies concerning self-efficacy are highly relevant and the theory is widely applied in education as well as other activities where skill development is processed [6]. Wiedenbeck [7] among others present a view on self-efficacy as factor of success. When comparing students at the same level of cognitive skill development, a student with higher self-efficacy beliefs is more likely to take on more advanced and progressive challenges and will strive harder to reach goals. With low self-efficacy beliefs an individual tends to exaggerate problems and may therefore undergo stress and depression which can make a solvable problem impossible [1,7]. The theory of self-efficacy gives four sources of information from which a person's self-efficacy beliefs arise: 1. Personal mastery experiences, in which an individual practices a skill 2. Vicarious experience, for example, modeling of a behavior of others 3. Verbal persuasion, such as suggestions that the individual can cope with a situation 4. Emotional arousal, in which one monitors one's level of stress, anxiety, and fear to assess selfefficacy. [2,3,4] Introductory programming can be taught in different ways to different students – even within the same university. At Uppsala University, the traditional approach is a Java-centric introduction to the topic of imperative programming where the students have lectures, a few programming assignments and a written exam at the end. One of the study programs observed that their students did not perform as expected in this and following courses, which initiated a process to rework the course structure to achieve a course with a constructive alignment between course goals, syllabus and assessment. The result was a course structure with programming assignments related to the course goals and no written exam at the end as presented in [5]. Instead, students have roughly one assignment per course week to solve, mostly in groups of two, using pair-programming techniques. Assessment is achieved through continuous feedback, weekly sessions, demonstrations and explanation of the assignments. Other differences in the course are less focus on programming language and more about the ability to correctly debug a program and diagnose errors. Students are exposed to three different languages throughout the course to train the ability to bring previous knowledge into a new programming language. Following this course, there are several courses that include elements of programming where the students are mixed with students that have taken other introductory programming courses. Concerns have been raised about that students who have taken the new course are not as well prepared as other students and thus will not perform as well. To study this closer, an important issue is the one of selfefficacy – how well prepared students consider themselves to be when faced with programming tasks. Research Question In this report, we study how the self-efficacy among students who have taken the new introductory programming course changes during a year. The research question asked is: How does the self-efficacy in programming change from the introductory course until one year later? Related Literature In [6], Ramalingam and Wiedenbeck present a 32-item Self-Efficacy Scale for computer programming. This scale as well as the rest of the article is frequently referred to in studies concerning self-efficacy, e.g., [1, 7, 8]. In [6] the Self-Efficacy Scale was handed out to 421 students in the beginning of a C++ programming course as a pre-test. The students were asked to rate their confidence in doing programming task using a Likert scale from 1 (not at all confident) to 7 (absolutely confident). In the end of the course the same scale was administrated to the same student group as a post-test. Unlike Ramalingam and Wiedenbeck we administrated the pre-test and post-test to two different groups: 2nd year STS students (pre-test) and 3rd year STS students. Ramalingam and Wiedenbeck [6] assessed their scale and found it to be highly reliable, with a score of 0.98. Looking at their results an increase in self-efficacy between the pre-test and post-test is found, especially among the students with initial low self-efficacy. No substantial difference was found between males and females. Since Ramalingam and Wiedenbeck [6] studied C++ Programming students, a closer look at the study made by Askar and Davenport [1], including 326 Java Programming Computer Engineering students, gave us wider perspective on how to conduct our study. In [1], Askar and Davenport developed an instrument assessing Java Programming Self-Efficacy from the self-efficacy scale of [6]. Like the test mentioned above this test consisted of 32 items and the reliability was even greater (0.99). The results show with a significant difference that the males' self-efficacy was higher than the females'. The overall self-efficacy score increased with the students' experience, frequency of computer usage, as well as mother's and siblings' computer usage. Data collection Data was collected via an online survey that was e-mailed to students in both students groups, STS-2 and STS-3. There was a total of 40 questions in the survey. In five of the questions, the students are asked to answer (on a scale 1 to 4) how well they think they meet five specific course goals of the introductory programming course: 1. Analyze, and design solutions for simple problems 2. Formulate a strategy for managing larger problems 3. Systematic debugging 4. Read, understand and modify small parts of large amounts of code written by others 5. Explain the general principles for how a computer is structured and operates Three of the questions asked for gender, programming experience and what student group they belonged to. 32 of the questions in the survey have the purpose of evaluating the students' self-efficacy using the exact same questions used in [1], where students grade their confidence on a scale 1 (not at all confident) to 7 (absolutely confident). These questions are developed from the self-efficacy test presented in [6]. Self-efficacy tests regarding programming are often based on the questions in [6]; by using questions from that test, the survey in this study becomes easier to compare with results from other studies. Participants The students are engineering students within the sociotechnical systems engineering (STS) program at Uppsala University. Before the introductory programming course, they have done basic programming tasks in two previous courses, though without learning how to program. Their introductory programming course are placed in their third semester and it is a semester-long course with 11 assignments where they first learn Python and later in the course move to Java. There is also one assignment in which they are exposed to assembler programming for a MIPS architecture. During the year following the introductory programming course, they encounter programming tasks in several courses, e.g., Scientific computing II and Object oriented design. These courses are taught jointly with students from other engineering programs. The student groups in the second and third year of the STS program that were asked to participate in this study are described as follows: Men Women Total STS-2 33 20 53 STS-3 14 10 24 Total 47 30 77 Table 1: Participants data Due to the time limits, it has not been possible to follow a group of students throughout a year. Instead, we have collected answers from two student groups – one that currently takes the introductory programming course (STS-2) and one that took the course one year ago (STS-3). The course teacher and course structure have remained the same as previous year. The main difference between the two student groups are that one of them have since their introductory programming course also taken


This article presents a modification of the Kutter-Jordan-Bossen method aimed at improving the sustainability of stego files to different types of attacks, an increased amount of hidden information in graphics file and the correct reading of the hidden information.


Customer service is probably one of the most critical elements of the user experience. With the advancement of natural language processing techniques, the industry is looking into automated chatbot technologies to deliver high-quality service to an ever-growing user base. This paper provides a case study of such chatbot strategies. The implementation of chatbots and virtual assistants is discussed in this article. An introduction to the area of chatbots is given, as well as a quick overview of previous and existing methods used to create chatbots. The theory underlying the methods used is then presented. Deep learning methods, such as gated recurrent unit neural networks, are primarily covered. Following that, a checklist of issues resolved, basic characteristics, method of communication, services provided, accuracy, technology providers of virtual assistants is also written down. IndexTerms Machine learning, Keras, Chatbot, GUI, Natural Language Processing, Virtual Assistant, Chatbot Knowledge, Chatbot Domain.


Ensuring food security and sustainable agriculture is vital as the global population expands, leading to increased protein demand. However, competitive demand for feed ingredients such as maize and soybeans has driven up costs. As a result, alternative feed sources, including Jackfruit by-products like seeds, have been explored. This study aimed to assess the effects of incorporating raw jackfruit seedmeal (JSM) into the diet of guinea fowl keets, specifically regarding growth performance, carcass yield, organ weights, and economic production. The seven-week study involved 120 keets divided into different treatments, each replicated three times. Treatments 2, 3, and 4 included JSM at 10%, 15%, and 20%, respectively, while treatment one served as the control without JSM. Increasing the level of JSM resulted in a consistent decline in all relevant indicators, as observed through proximate analysis. Treatment four, which included 20% JSM, exhibited the best performance in terms of final weight (745g) and daily weight gain (15g). Notably, the gizzard was the most significant parameter among carcass features, with treatment four showing the highest value (3.95%), while the control diet had the lowest value (2.83%). Diets containing 15% and 20% JSM had the most favorable outcomes in terms of feed cost per weight gain, with the 20% JSM diet demonstrating the highest gross margin and revenue. Importantly, dietary inclusion of JSM did not significantly impact the performance of guinea fowl keets, and incorporating 20% JSM into their diet resulted in a significant increase in productivity and feed utilization.