Recent atomistic simulations of polyethylene melt afford a close look at the entanglement dynamics of a real polymer. We analyze these results in a new way, by defining the tube primitive path as the mean path of consecutive molecular dynamics trajectories. The result suggests that tube is semiflexible, the persistence length being about half the entanglement length. The time dependent tangent–tangent correlation function of tube primitive path is then used to test the standard molecular model of tube dynamics. It is found that the effect of the semiflexibility is important in the mildly entangled system we studied and that incorporating its effect into the standard tube model improves the theory drastically.


A 11L DI diesel engine was converted to a spark ignited CNG engine with PFI(port fuel injection) system. To apply various experimental variables (such as compression ratio, ignition and injection control) to engine more conveniently, six-cylinders engine was converted to a single cylinder experimental engine.
In this study, the effects of ignition timing, air fuel ratio and injection timing on the combustion and emission characteristics were investigated. We analyzed the combustion charatetistics of the engine by analysis of the cylinder pressure (such as IMEP, ignition delay, combustion duration, cyclic variation). Especially in the results of present study, the effect of injection timing on the combustion in lean regions is remarkable. It was found that intake-synchronous injection results in favorable combustion.


The clinical features of Parkinson's disease(PD)including tremor,rigidity,and bradykinesia were first systematically described by James Parkinson in"An Essay on the Shaking Palsy".One to two percent of the population that is more than 65 years old has PD.While the majority of the cases appear to be idiopathic;in rare cases,the disease can be inherited in an antosomal dominant fashion.An Italian family that allowed the first such mutation to be identified carried a point mutation(A53T)in the gene encodingα- synuclein.Subsequently,a second PD-linked autosomal dominant mutation inα-synuclein(A30P)was found in a German family;The E46K mutation was found in a Spanish family with autosomal dominant parkinsonism, dementia,and visual hallucinations of variable severity.Recently,other PD-linked mutations in genes encoding parkin,UCH-L1,and DJ-1 have been described.The interactions of these gene products withα-synuclein may be important in the pathogenesis of PD.This review will focus onα-synuclein,since it appears to be centrally important in the pathogenic pathway.


We study the onset of percolation of overlapping discrete hyperspheres on hypercubic lattices in dimension D = 3, 4, 5. Taking the continuum limit of the thresholds for discrete hyperspheres we obtain the values of percolation thresholds for continuous hyperspheres. In D = 3 we improved the value of the correlation length exponent: ν = 0.8762(7). In D = 4 and 5 we obtained the continuous percolation thresholds of hyperspheres with much better quality than previously known (the uncertainties reduced by the factor of 230 and 10 respectively). We discuss the hypothesis of constant exponent governing the rate of convergence of discrete models to the continuous one for hyperspheres.


Pneumocystis carinii is the commonest opportunistic pathogen to infect patients with the acquired immunode® ciency syndrome (AIDS). Although pneumonia is the most frequent presentation of P. carinii infection, extrapulmonary disease is increasingly recognized. Imaging experience of this mode of presentation is limited and the ultrasound appearances have not been speci® c enough to be of diagnostic use. We report a case of extrapulmonary P. carinii infection involving the spleen which exhibited sonographic features not previously described. We review the literature relating to splenic involvement in this condition.


Buffer materials are critical for engineered barrier systems (EBS) to handle high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in geological repositories. The water content and volume change of the buffer block during storage and installation are affected by environmental conditions, such as relative humidity and the initial water content of blocks. This paper investigated the drying process of bentonite buffer blocks by using a water transport model coupled with the capillary liquid flow and vapor diffusion, and the process was experimentally verified by desiccation tests. The model represents vapor-liquid equilibrium as the driving force for vapor diffusion, considering the effect of pore capillaries on thermodynamic activity. The theoretical relationship between relative humidity and water saturation is basically consistent with experimental measurements, and the established model can predict the drying rate under different relative humidity conditions. At the same time, the volume change of the buffer block during the drying process was analyzed. Based on the results, the effect of different environmental relative humidity and initial moisture content on block drying was evaluated. The results show that the block with lower initial saturation is less affected by the relative humidity of the environment than the block with higher initial saturation, and the environment with lower relative humidity is more likely to change the moisture content and volume of the block. This study can be used to predict the effect of different environmental conditions on the distribution and deformation of soil interior saturation.

 The disposal of spent fuel from nuclear power plants is a global concern, and the deep geological repository is widely considered to be the solution for the long-term storage of nuclear waste, as shown in Fig. 1 (Choi et al., 1999; Fukuda et al., 2003; Cho and Kim, 2016; Salonen et al., 2021). Spent fuel is stored in specially designed containers and placed in tunnels dug deep in stable geological formations (Hedin & Olsson, 2016). The buffer material between the canister and the bedrock prevents groundwater from flowing into the deposition holes and keeps the canister centered in the hole, the buffer material also prevents the diffusion of radioactive material into the bedrock in the event of a canister rupture (Salo & Kukkola, 1989; Lee et al., 2007; Yoon et al., 2018; Larson et al., 2020). Bentonite or its modified soil is often used as a buffer material because of its extremely low permeability in the saturated state (Suzuki et al., 2013; Choi et al., 2022).


OBJECTIVE
Obesity has become a major public health concern in the United States, and has ultimately affected occupational health, including Workers' Compensation. Obesity has been determined to contribute to work-related injury. This analysis examined weight change post-injury during the Workers' compensation rehabilitation process, and specifically how it relates to perceived mental health need, perceived dietary habits, food stamp usage, and the amount of time since the work injury.

METHODS
Archival data analysis was conducted examining Workers' Compensation claimants over a four year period.

PARTICIPANTS
Data was collected from 1,864 valid Workers' Compensation claims and analyzed using descriptive statistics and a backwards elimination multiple regression analysis to examine predictive relationships between the variables of interest.

RESULTS
Approximately 2/3 of the sample reported weight gain post-injury, with the additional 1/3 reporting weight loss or no change. Both perceived benefit from mental health services and perceived healthy dietary habits were significantly predictive of weight gain.

CONCLUSIONS
Clinical psychological distress, such as depression and anxiety, may be contributory factors to weight gain, and poor perceptions in food quality and caloric estimations may also relate to this problem. Suggestions for future research, including intervention studies, are also included.


North Dakota lignites occur in the Fort Union and upper part of the Lance Formations. Individual seams vary from a few inches to over forty feet in thickness. The lignite horizons are quite continuous over large areas, but the individual seam representing a particular horizon is commonly lenticular and of limited extent horizontally.Underclays are conspicuously absent. The lignite is woody in character and brown in color. Ash is low, and sulphur conspicuously so, and moisture is high. There is indication of cyclical sedimentation.


A norbornene polymer containing an excessive amount of a photoreactive group-containing exo isomer is provided to impart an improved molecular weight without any loss in the yield, to facilitate inter-chain crosslinking by a planar three-dimensional structure, and to increase the [2+2] cyclo-addition rate and yield. A norbornene polymer comprises a photoreactive functional group-containing norbornene monomer of the formula, wherein at least 50 mol% of the photoreactive functional group-containing norbornene monomer exists as its exo isomer. The norbornene polymer is a homopolymer of a photoreactive group-containing exo-rich norbornene monomer, a copolymer of exo-rich norbornene monomers containing different photoreactive groups, or a copolymer of a photoreactive group-containing exo-rich norbornene monomer with a photoreactive group-free norbornene monomer.


Objectives Rectovaginal fistulae (RVFs) are often debilitating and there are no established treatment algorithms. We sought to describe current diagnosis and management strategies for RVFs across the United States. Methods This institutional review board–approved multicenter retrospective study included 12 sites. Cases were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes during a 5-year period. Demographics, management, and outcomes of RVF treatment were collected. Results Three hundred forty-two charts were identified; 176 (52%) met criteria for inclusion. The mean (SD) age was 45 (17) years. Medical history included hypertension (21%), cancer (17%), Crohn disease (11%), and diabetes (7%). Rectovaginal fistulae were often associated with obstetric trauma (42%), infection/inflammation (24%), and cancer (11%). Overall, most RVFs were primary (94%), small (0.5–1.5 cm; 49%), transsphincteric (31%), and diagnosed via vaginal and rectal (60%) examination. Eighteen percent (32/176) were initially managed conservatively for a median duration of 56 days (interquartile range, 29–168) and 66% (21/32) of these resolved. Almost half (45%) of RVFs treated expectantly were tiny (<0.5 cm). Eighty-two percent (144/176) of subjects were initially managed surgically and 81% (117/144) resolved. Procedures included simple fistulectomy with or without Martius graft (59%), transsphincteric repair (23%), transverse transperineal repair (10%), and open techniques (8%), and 87% of these procedures were performed by urogynecologists. Conclusions In this large retrospective review, most primary RVFs were treated surgically, with a success rate of more than 80%. Two thirds of RVFs managed conservatively resolved spontaneously, and most of these were tiny (<0.5 cm). These success rates can be used in counseling to help our patients make informed decisions about their treatment options.


Offspring number was manipulated in Willow Ptarmigan Lrzgopus lagopus to determine the effect of brood size on parental effort in defence of young. Three chicks were added (n = 8), exchanged (n = 10) or removed (n = 12) among broods of females that had laid 7-9 eggs. If parents based effort on the value of the brood, it was predicted that defence should increase with offspring number because ptarmigan parents receive greater returns from large broods. Parental effort in defence was unaffected by brood size, probably because a predator cannot threaten the entire brood sin~ultaneously when ptarmigan young are scattered. This evidence supports theoretical models which predict that if the young are able to disperse, patterns of defence will be different in precocial birds from that in fish or altricial birds.


The rhizome of Alpinia zerumbet (Pers.) B.L. Burtt & R.M. Sm) contains phenolic compounds, has antihyaluronidase activity which can reduce wrinkles on the skin. This study aims to determine the physical characteristics and antihyaluronidase activity of the nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) of the Alpinia zerumbet rhizome extract in-vitro. Alpinia zerumbet rhizome powder (4/18) was extracted by kinetic maceration method using 70% ethanol solvent, concentrated with a rotary vacuum evaporator at 100 mm Hg at a temperature of ± 50oC. The resulting extract was prepared into NLC nanoparticles using polyethyleneglycol 8-beeswax, isopropyl myristate and acrylyl glucoside with the high speed homogenization-ultrasonication method. The resulting NLC extracts were characterized by nanoparticle size and morphology, polydispersity index and zeta potential and antihyaluronidase activity test was determined using the Sigma Aldrich and Tu & Tawata methods with slight modifications. The results of the NLC characterization of Alpinia zerumbet rhizome extract were 171.3 nm; 0.37; -26.8 mV; and spherical shape. The results of the antihyaluronidase activity of Alpinia zerumbet rhizome extract loaded NLC was 552.75 µg/mL. It was concluded that the Alpinia zerumbet rhizome extract loaded NLC can be formulated into topical preparations which have the potential to be antihyaluronidase with the ability to reduce wrinkles on the skin.


This study aims to identify the role of business intelligence competencies (Managerial competencies, Technical competencies and cultural competencies) on the organizational capabilities in Jordanian banks (process improvement, innovations, flexibility, agility). Hence, a questionnaire was used to gather data to achieve the purpose of this study. Since it is difficult to cover the total population, a convenient sample was used. Therefore, 385 questionnaires were distributed and 340 were retrieved, 320 of which were suitable for analysis. Structural equation modeling via PLS3 was used to analyze the data. The findings from this study show that the level of availability of Business Intelligence competencies and organizational capabilities in Jordanian banks were medium. The core conclusion of this study proves that business intelligence competencies have a significant impact on the organizational capabilities in Jordanian banks. The main recommendation of this study was to continually assess the efficiency of business intelligence competencies in Jordanian commercial banks in order to develop them in line with the changing environment and new business requirements.


We show that Dirac fermions moving in two spatial dimensions with a generalized dispersion $E\sim p^N$, subject to an external magnetic field and coupled to a complex scalar field carrying a vortex defect with winding number $Q$ acquire $NQ$ zero modes. This is the same as in the absence of the magnetic field. Our proof is based on selection rules in the Landau level basis that dictate the existence and the number of the zero modes. We show that the result is insensitive to the choice of geometry and is naturally extended to general field profiles, where we also derive a generalization of the Aharonov-Casher theorem. Experimental consequences of our results are briefly discussed.


The neural response to virtually all sensory stimuli consists of overlapping excitatory and inhibitory currents – a consequence of the ubiquitous presence of feed-forward inhibitory disynaptic circuits in the nervous system. Additionally, it is well established that both the excitatory and inhibitory synapses onto a neuron are plastic. However, the computational significance of independently, or jointly, changing the strength of excitation and inhibition onto that neuron is not clear. For example, from a computational perspective what is the functional difference between potentiating excitatory inputs and depressing inhibitory ones? Furthermore, a number of plasticity protocols can potentiate both EPSPs and IPSPs onto the postsynaptic neuron; what is the computational benefit of this apparently self-defeating form of plasticity? Or, what is the computational consequence of the potentiation of excitatory synapses, in parallel with depression of inhibition?


The challenge for libraries is how to provide the best possible service with minimal resources. This article discusses the difficulties encountered in a small, unique library such as at Therapeutic Guidelines Limited (TGL).


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a gradual, lifelong dementia that typically affects elderly adults. Alzheimer's disease affects memory, listening, and other cognitive skills. Early Alzheimer's diagnosis is difficult for clinicians. Machine learning and deep convolution neural network (CNN) based techniques can handle brain imaging data processing difficulties. Clinical studies have employed MRI to detect Alzheimer's. In the proposed work we are using a deep Siamese-based neural network to automatically diagnose Alzheimer's disease from a Brain MRI images. Each MRI image of the brain is separated into two segments, which are sent into a network that compares their symmetric structure and infection levels. We are using the Kaggle dataset to train and evaluate for Alzheimer's model. This algorithm could help doctors to identify Alzheimer's from MRI images. The model exceeds the state-of-the-art in every output metric, indicating reduced bias and better generalization.


For a graph G, let P(G, λ) be its chromatic polynomial. Two graphs G and H are said to be chromatically equivalent if P(G,λ) = P(H,λ). A graph is said to be chromatically unique if no other graph shares its chromatic polynomial. In this paper, chromatic polynomial of the necklace graph Nn, for n ≥ 2 has been determined. It is further shown that N3 is chromatically unique.


ABS TRACT: One of the issues that mos t cities across the world are faced with is natural disas ters. Natural hazards and their devas tating effects remain on the ground, especially in recent years, the countries have been about to reduce the damage caused to it to plan and manage their events. Adminis trative units could have an important role as one of the elements before, during, and after the crisis. In this s tudy, connective s tatus and building accessibility in the offices of region 5 in Isfahan were s tudied, including Telecommunication Organizations, Fire S tations, Electricity Companies, municipalities, Education Minis try, and Gas Companies. Heretofore, there was no s tudy of the connective s tatus and accessibility of the office buildings in Esfahan. This research is a descriptive and analytical survey. The required information was evaluated and weighed by six indices, including the ques tionnaire, field collecting method, and A.H.P. measures. The results indicated that among adminis trative centers in terms of the degree of connectivity and accessibility, adminis trative codes 6 and 17, with weights of 0.03% and 0.031% were the mos t accessible, and adminis trative codes 14, 8, 9, 10, and 11 with weights of 0.07%, 0.067% were the mos t inaccessible.


Two classifications, DSM–III and catego4–derived ICD–8, included in the CIDI, are compared in 63 in-patients and out-patients with a broad range of psychiatric illness. Agreement for main diagnosis between these classifications was statistically significant for two time frames, the present state and lifetime. However, while diagnostic assignment by catego4 remained fairly constant between time frames, there was a marked shift in DSM–III-assigned diagnosis, with cases changing from anxiety state diagnosis (present state) to affective disorder (lifetime). Thirty-nine subjects were assigned a DSM–III diagnosis of affective disorder for lifetime illness compared with 21 assigned to this diagnostic group by catego4.


English core vocabulary is the cream of the English language.It is a must for every English learner.The present thesis reveals the extreme importance and possibility of mastering the core vocabulary by exploring the characteristics and rhetoric effects of this vocabulary.


Objection is taken to the conclusion reached in the May 26 1979 Lancet editorial on estrogen replacement therapy. The editorial correctly noted that estrogen therapy is related to the development of endometrial cancer but then went on to erroneously imply that the addition of progestagen to the estrogen regimen further increased the risk of endometrial cancer. In reality evidence supports the contention that the addition of progestagen protects the endometrium and reduces the risk of endometrial cancer. In a study conducted in London and Birmingham endometrial curettings from 220 women receiving estrogen treatment without progestagen revealed that 37 of the patients had endometrial hyperplasia and 1 had adenocarcinoma while the curettings from 325 women receiving estrogen treatment with added progestagen indicated that only 6 had endometrial hyperplasia and none had carcinoma. In addition the implication in the editorial that the use of sequential oral contraceptives enhanced the risk of endometrial cancer was apparently based on a study of women receiving Oracon. The proportion of progestagen to estrogen in this agent is too small to have a protective influence on the endometrium.


Pedestrians are some of the worst victims, as one of the weaker groups in road traffic accidents, but, at the same time, their unsafe behaviors are also an important factor in traffic accidents. This paper builds a pedestrian crossing hazard automatic-balance model and waiting-time threshold model by analyzing the process by which pedestrians cross the street. Then, the reasons for pedestrians' unsafe behavior when crossing the street are analyzed by using traffic psychology. Finally, this paper puts forward some measures, based on aspects of pedestrian psychology, to reduce or alleviate pedestrians' unsafe behaviors.


Associations between the number of crashes and the severity of crashes with a long list of potentially contributing factors, such as geometric and operational characteristics and weather conditions, were investigated. Both aggregate and disaggregate databases with crash statistics were used. Severity was estimated with constants for the different impact (cost) of fatalities, injuries, and material damages. Noteworthy associations included the negative correlation with the speed limit (spots with lower speed limits have more, or more severe, crashes), existence of merge–diverge pavement markings (suggesting the possibility of an illegal driving maneuver), downhill grade sections, and curves. Several temporal variables such as months, days, or time of day with a higher frequency of crashes worked well in models, but those were findings of local interest. An important outcome of this analysis is the absence of any major correlation, which implies that crashes on the modern and mildly congested Attica Tollway in Greece are events largely attributable to driver behavior and other circumstances that cannot be accounted for by geometric, operational, or other temporal variables. Findings of this research suggest that fixed and temporal roadway characteristics and the presence of rain or wet pavements may explain (and likely contribute to) about 5% to 10% of the crashes and severity of crashes observed in 2004 and 2005 on the Attica Tollway. The 2006 report from the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study concluded that nearly 80% of all crashes involved driver inattention, lending support to the finding that roadway and environmental factors are relatively minor causes of crashes.


Abstract The amino acid composition was determined for vitelline membranes from egg yolks from hens fed a diet with or without nicarbazin which were scored for mottling within 24 hours of oviposition or after two weeks storage at 12 or 22° C. The amino acid composition of the vitelline membranes subjected to the various treatments showed relatively small differences due to treatment. The use of stepwise discriminant analysis of the amino acid data enabled correct classification of the vitelline membranes by treatments and indicated the amino acids of greatest importance in classifying the vitelline membranes.


Using the transient hot-wire method, the thermal conductivity properties of the molten Li2O–B2O3 and K2O–B2O3 systems were measured. The thermal conductivity increases with decreasing the temperature due to the borate structure change. In addition, calculations of the one-dimensional Debye temperature and the phonon mean free paths as a function of temperature of the alkali borate systems were made. At a fixed temperature of 1273 K, the effect of the alkali oxide concentration on the thermal conductivity was evaluated. Within a range of 10–30 mol% Li2O (or K2O), a positive relationship between the thermal conductivity and 4-coordinate boron was obtained. However, below 10 mol% Li2O (or K2O), the change in the intermediate-range order of the borate structure had a more dominant effect on the thermal conductivity. Finally, the effect of cations on the thermal conductivity in the various molten R2O–B2O3 (R=Li, Na and K) systems was considered. Depending on the type of cation, the change in the ionization potential had an effect on the thermal conductivity and also resulted in a change in the bond strength.


A method for determination of He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe isotopic compositions in rocks and minerals by mass spectrometry has been developed. The elemental abundance and isotopic ratios of He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe in the igneous and mantle rocks from Kuandian, eastern China were successfully measured by the present method. The interference from 40 Ar 2+ on 20 Ne was eliminated using absorbent at the liquid nitrogen temperature. The pressure in the mass spectrometer is less than 8×10 -4 Pa in order to ensure a better determining condition. The analytical results show that the noble gases signature in the continental mantle of eastern China has a feature of MORB reservoir.


Through the in-situ precasting case of Chejiagou Bridge 40 m T beam on the Wen-Yuan highway LA10 contract section,this paper expounds main construction methods of the bridge in the construction process,such as binding steel bar,installing shuttering pouring concrete,prestress stretching,and passageways grouting etc.,and summarizes some construction quality management measures.Thus,it has accumulated valuable experiences for similar project.


This overview of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) discusses the following: what causes PID; incidence; diagnosis; treatment; complications; and contraceptive choices as a factor in PID. Organisms commonly involved in causing PID include sexually transmitted agents such as "Neisseria gonorrhoeae" "Chlamydia trachomatis" and "Mycoplasma hominis." Other organisms that normally live in the lower genital tract (endogenous organisms) also may cause PID. The sexually transmitted agents account for 60-80% of all PID in women in less than 25 years of age. In different countries the percentage of cases caused by each of the STD organisms varies. By definition the infectious agents of PID ascend from the lower genital tract. It is possible that in the vast majority of cases the disease spreads through a mucosal infection extending from the cervix to the endometrium and into the fallopian tubes as has been demonstrated in animal and human studies but factors which determine the ascending spread of a vaginal or cervical infection are poorly understood. Microorganisms may be introduced into the upper genital tract by procedures such as uterine curettage insertion of IUDs hysterosalpingography and other invasive procedures. Such procedures have been shown to precede the onset of PID in up to 14% of PID cases. Nonmotile organisms such as "Chlamydia trachomatis" may be transmitted from the cervix to the fallopian tubes attached to motile organisms such as trichomonads or sperm heads. The lifestyle and sexual activity of a women and her partner(s) are significant. It has been observed that even PID not associated with sexually transmitted diseases is a rarity in women who are not sexually active. Estimates in the US and Europe from the late 1970s suggest that the annual incidence of PID is approximately 10-13 cases/1000 women in the age group 15-34 with a peak incidence of about 20/1000 per year in the high risk age group of 15-24. PID is difficult to diagnose accurately clinically. Westrom has used as his minimum criteria for diagnosing PID clinically: evidence of lower genital tract infection; low abdominal pain on both sides; and adnexal tenderness at pelvic examination. The best diagnostic method is liberal use of laparoscopy for it verifies or excludes a provisional diagnosis of PID and also enables specimen collection for microbiological examination directly from the fallopian tube. In acute PID conservative treatment with rest and antibiotics should be the rule and surgery the exception. Women with severe infection or an unclear diagnosis should be observed in a hospital until the diagnosis established and treatment effected. In most cases of PID antibiotic treatment has to be initiated before it is known what organism is responsible. In severely ill patients and those subjected to operative diagnosis or surgery the antibiotic treatment should be started using intravenous infusion. Complications of PID include mortality recurrent infection chronic abdominal pain infertility following PID and ectopic pregnancy. Numerous studies have shown a higher rate of PID in women using IUDs.


Abstract In this paper, the problems of teaching and learning leadership will be discussed from the viewpoint of students of Industrial Engineering Management (IEM), in Europe. The following questions will be tackled: What does leadership mean today? How are problems handled by leaders and managers in industry nowadays? How can leadership to solve complex problems be taught in the university? Today we do not learn much about such processes at our universities. Therefore we have developed the organisation ESTIEM (the European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management). Through ESTIEM we learn and practice working in teams with shared and rotating leadership among ourselves. These experiences are to be described in the paper in some more detail, as a model for university education in industrial engineering and management.


The present work evaluates the effects of mixing vane shape on the flow structure and heat transfer downstream of mixing vane in a subchannel of fuel assembly, by obtaining velocity and pressure fields, turbulent intensity, flow-mixing factors, heat transfer coefficient, and friction factor using three-dimensional RANS analysis. Four different shapes of mixing vane designed by the authors, are tested to evaluate the performances in enhancing the heat transfer, in comparison with commercialized split vane. Standard k-ε model are used as a turbulence closure model, and, periodic and symmetry conditions are set as boundary conditions. The flow blockage ratio is kept constant, but the twist angle of mixing vane is changed. The results with three turbulence models are compared with experimental data.


A powerful tool for users of radio frequencies (RFs) is the ability to visualize those distributions. Here, the 2-D visualization of RF waves on a circuit board is demonstrated using the fluorescence associated with the double resonance of cesium atoms. The invisible RF waves are upconverted into near-infrared light that can be viewed with an optical camera. In addition, a 2-D visualization image is captured separately for each polarization of the RF magnetic field component using a direct-current magnetic field. The images of the 2-D polarimetry are consistent with finite-element calculations of the distribution of the magnetic field strength.


Techniques to manufacture tungsten conductor pastes for high temperature co-fired process were researched in this paper,and the effects of Microstructure and distribution of tungsten powders,the content of nonmetallic on printing,metallization combination strength and sheet resistance of the paste were analyzed as well.In order to meet the needs of microelectronic packaging,two kinds of tungsten powder with globularity and the diameter under 5μm were mixed up.A certain quantum of nonmetallic powder and organic carrier were added.Tungsten powder,nonmetallic powder and organic carrier were separated with muller.As a result,tungsten paste with sheet resistance of 6mΩ/□and combination strength of up to 54 MPa of the metallization and alumina co-fired ceramic substrate were realized,which could be used in fine line printing of 100μm on thick film integrated circuits process.Tungsten paste was applied on insulator of microwave package as conductor material connecting the devices in the shell and the assembly.Tested in 29 GHz to 31 GHz Ka band,VSWR was less than 1.15 and insertion loss was 0.4dB.


The boiler is widely used in modern industry, to study the operation mechanism of boiler and improve boiler efficiency are particularly important. In the research of the impact of boiler operating parameters on boiler efficiency, the main factors affecting the efficiency are mainly exhaust gas temperature, ash fuel, air temperature, water temperature, steam pressure and so on. Through literature and the actual situation of the boiler, the model was constructed for each parameter influence on boiler efficiency. The multi-objective optimization model as the core of NOxand boiler efficiency was built, the effects of NOxon boiler efficiency was discussed, which can guide operators to optimize the combustion process, thus improving the boiler efficiency.


In this work we present an effective and computationally simple algorithm for image compression based on Hilbert Scanning of Embedded quadTrees (Hi-SET). It allows to represent an image as an embedded bitstream along a fractal function. Embedding is an important feature of modern image compression algorithms, in this way Salomon in [1, pg. 614] cite that another feature and perhaps a unique one is the fact of achieving the best quality for the number of bits input by the decoder at any point during the decoding. Hi-SET possesses also this latter feature. Furthermore, the coder is based on a quadtree partition strategy, that applied to image transformation structures such as discrete cosine or wavelet transform allows to obtain an energy clustering both in frequency and space. The coding algorithm is composed of three general steps, using just a list of significant pixels.


The carried out researches have shown dependence of inclination angle of pistil style in soybean flower from developing lengths of day in period of flower formation, ovary growth and beans formation. The increase in photoperiod duration causes re-duction of angle α°SPS inclination of pistil style. Flowers and beans formation in the conditions of the truncated photoperiods of the rather genetically determined optimum for each separately taken soybean genotype defines angle α°SPS increase. The revealed dependence between degree of adaptability of soybean genotype to photoperiod and inclination angle of pistil style allows to rec-ommend it as a visual express method of a tentative estimation of soybean plant potential reaction for day length and a determina-tion of its inhering to northern or southern ecotype without organization of latitudinal tests and use of computational methods of research.


We present two methods for computing filtered estimates for moments of integrals and stochastic integrals of continuous-time nonlinear systems. The first method utilizes recursive stochastic partial differential equations. The second method utilizes conditional moment generating functions. For the case of Gaussian systems the recursive computations involve integrations with respect to Gaussian densities, while the moment generating functions involve differentiations of parameter dependent ordinary stochastic differential equations. The second method is applied in the expectation maximization algorithm.


Using an ecology model of human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1993), I frame the exploration of racial identities of 38 college students with multiple racial heritages. I map the influence of interactions within and between specific environments on students' decisions to identify in one or more of five patterns of mixed race identity found in a previous study.


Free-living birds are subjected to both external and internal stresses which can affect their health, activity, and reproductive success. To study stress in free living birds, they must be captured in nets and handled by the researcher to take blood samples for commonly used measures of stress, an activity which itself can induce stress and confound results. This study compares the effects of handling time on three different measures of stress: levels of the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT), levels of Heat Shock Protein 60 (HSP 60) and the ratio of heterophils to lymphocytes (H/L ratio) in tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) captured at feeders between December and January (2011-2013) in Fredericksburg, VA. Blood samples collected between two and 15 minutes from 12 birds were assayed for levels of CORT and HSP and from 24 birds for H/L ratios. Relationships were examined between these stress indicators and handling time, body mass and body condition. CORT was significantly correlated with handling time (p<0.01), which reinforces existing evidence of CORT's sensitivity to the way subjects are handled immediately prior to blood collection. HSP or H/L ratios were not affected by handling time, suggesting that they may be preferable indicators of stress in free living birds under some circumstances. INTRODUCTION Free-living birds face a variety of internal and external sources of stress, which may affect physiological function and reduce fitness. Acute stress results from a specific stressful event, such as an attack by a predator or sudden storms, whereas chronic stress results from prolonged exposure to biologically challenging conditions, such as exposure to extreme temperatures (Vleck et al. 2000), periods of limited food availability (Herring et al. 2011), and anthropogenic pressures such as pollution, habitat disturbance (Arriero et al. 2008; Busch and Hayward 2009), and from prolonged psychosocial stressors (Cyr et al. 2007; Cyr and Romano 2007; Landys et al. 2011). To Corresponding author: firstname.lastname@example.com 1 Virginia Journal of Science, Vol. 65, No. 3, 2014 http://digitalcommons.odu.edu/vjs/vol65/iss3 134 VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF SCIENCE cope with such stressors, birds and other animals have a protective physiological stress response that allows them to withstand immediate threats to their homeostatic balance. When this response is elevated chronically, however, it can become biologically costly and have negative impacts on birds' fitness by weakening the immune system (Dabbert et al. 1997), which could increase susceptibility to disease, and compromising growth and reproduction (Sapolsky et al. 2000). Thus, stress levels can indicate the general physiological condition of birds and point to possible environmental perturbations. Biomarkers such as the glucocorticoid corticosterone (CORT), heterophil/lymphocyte ratios (H/L), and heat shock proteins (HSPs) have all been used as tools to assess chronic or long-term stress in wild populations. These markers may be predictably regulated according to environmental conditions and various biological challenges (Gross and Siegel 1983; Sapolsky et al. 2000; Vleck et al. 2000; Moreno et al. 2002; Martinez-Padilla et al. 2004; Tomas et al. 2004; Davis 2005; Herring and Gawlik 2007; Busch and Hayward 2009; Cockrem et al. 2009; Krams et al. 2010; Herring et al. 2011), and thus can provide researchers with consistent methods of detecting stress experienced by birds in their natural habitats. However, they may also be affected to varying degrees by acute stress caused by capture and handling leading up to blood sample collection. Therefore, drawing inferences about birds' long-term stress status prior to their capture by researchers may be problematic since the relationships between the different measures used have not been adequately studied. Quantifying glucocorticoids, such as CORT, is presently the most frequently applied method of assessing individual stress in birds (Sapolsky et al. 2000; Tomas et al. 2004; Herring and Gawlik 2007). However, the release of CORT is highly influenced by acute stress associated with capture and handling during field research which may confound results. Capture and handling can rapidly mobilize CORT, which can make the interpretation of CORT measurements difficult under some circumstances (Sapolsky et al. 2000; Romero and Reed 2005; Fridinger et al. 2007; Herring and Gawlik 2007; Busch and Hayward 2009; Cockrem et al. 2009). When handling time before sampling lasts for more than 2 or 3 minutes, CORT levels may no longer accurately reflect birds' physiological status before their capture (Romero and Reed 2005; Cockrem et al. 2009). In studies involving free-living birds, field conditions may prevent sufficiently prompt blood collection, leading to less reliable measures of chronic stress. Additionally, fecal CORT, can degrade over time in frozen samples (Herring et al. 2007) which reduces reliability of measurements. Herring and Gawlick (2007) compared the use of CORT with that of HSPs as ways of measuring stress associated with allostatic overload (when the energy requirements needed to maintain homeostasis in the body exceed the capacity of the animal) and concluded that HSPs have some advantages over CORT and may represent a viable supplementary or even alternative indicator of chronic stress. Circulating H/L ratios have also been used to measure chronic stress in birds. These ratios are used because the avian immune response to stress takes significantly longer to initiate, by hours to days, than the rapid CORT response, and changes in leukocyte numbers last longer than changes in CORT levels (Davis et al. 2008). Their slower response to stress and longer endurance indicate that H/L ratios may be informative, especially in obtaining baseline stress measurements. However H/L levels are impacted by disease and infection and may not reflect true levels of stress to external stressors. While studies on Adélie penguins (Vleck et al. 2000) and house finches (Davis 2005) Virginia Journal of Science, Vol. 65, No. 3, 2014 http://digitalcommons.odu.edu/vjs/vol65/iss3 MEASURING STRESS IN BIRDS 135 indicate that H/L ratios are resistant to handling up to 1 hour, a study investigating wintering male great tits (Cirule et al. 2012) found that acute stress due to capture and handling caused an increase in heterophil counts between 30 and 60 minutes and a decline in lymphocyte counts between 60 and 120 minutes after capture. Therefore, H/L changes may be species specific and may change more rapidly than originally thought, which may limit the reliability of results in a way similar to CORT. A different cellular response to stress is mediated by HSPs. HSPs are a family of proteins whose expression is increased when cells are exposed to both cellular stressors such as parasites (Merino et al. 1998; Martinez-Padilla et al. 2004; Arriero et al. 2008; del Cerro et al. 2010), limited food availability (Zulkifli et al. 2002; Herring et al. 2011), and sibling competition (Martinez-Padilla et al. 2004; Merino et al. 2006) as well as psychosocial stressors such as crating in birds (Zulkifli et al. 2009), fear (AlAqil et al. 2013) and social interactions in fish (Currie et al. 2009). They have been found to exist in almost all organisms, including bacteria, plants, and animals (Feder and Hofmann 1999). HSPs are a special class of proteins referred to as molecular chaperones which protect proteins from degradation and correct damage caused by stress-induced instability (Merino et al. 1998; Feder and Hofmann 1999; Tomas et al. 2004; del Cerro et al. 2010). Essentially, they serve to restore and maintain cellular homeostasis during times of increased stress (Tomas et al. 2004; del Cerro et al. 2010). These molecules may be reliable indicators of chronic stress because they are maintained at high levels for longer periods after stressors are applied, and some research has shown that handling stress does not cause their rapid up-regulation (Martinez-Padilla et al. 2004; Herring and Gawlik 2007; Herring et al. 2011). However, the resistance of HSPs to acute stress triggered by capture and handling has not been systematically compared to those of CORT and H/L ratios in the same study. The tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) is a good model species to expand research on the relationships between these three stress indicators and their relative sensitivities to handling time. Close relatives of the tufted titmouse, the blue tit and the great tit, have been used in past studies examining both the intracellular and hormonal stress responses (Arriero et al. 2008; Cockrem et al. 2009; del Cerro et al. 2010). The tufted titmouse is a canopy-dwelling, omnivorous permanent resident species of eastern North American deciduous forests (Grubb and Pravosudov 1994). During the winter, they spend time in flocks of about 2 to 5 individuals. Caching food during cold weather, they commonly frequent feeders and carry 1 seed at a time to store within 40 meters of the feeders, allowing them to be easily captured with mist nets (Grubb and Pravosudov 1994). This study compared the sensitivity of HSP60, CORT, and H/L to acute stress induced by the capture and handling of tufted titmice to evaluate their reliability as tools in avian stress research. The relationships between CORT, H/L ̧ and HSP60 and the time elapsed between capture of subjects and blood collection, as well as the relationships among these bioindicators, were analyzed. We predicted that CORT levels, but not H/L ratios or HSP60 levels, would be positively correlated with handling times longer than 2 minutes after capture of subjects. Finally, we examined whether CORT, H/L, and HSP values were correlated within subjects and related to body condition. Virginia Journal of Science, Vol. 65, No. 3, 2014 http://digitalcommons.odu.edu/vjs/vol65/iss3 136 VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF SCIENCE MATERIALS AND METHODS Capture, Handling, Blood Samp


As a result of the contributions to science and technology made by humankind, intellectual ability has given rise to knowledge economy that increases the importance of intellectual capital. The development of intellectual capital in corporate dimension provides a competitive advantage and increases the market value of the firms. This study aims to examine whether or not the intellectual capital calculated according to the intangible assets method is reflected in the values that investors accord to firms in the ISE (Istanbul Stock Exchange) banking sector. A new model is developed in this study in order to overcome the limitations of the existing model in the literature. The results suggest that the intellectual capital is highly positively correlated with the market values. The correlation is even stronger for the new model developed in this study. As the importance of the intellectual capital in banking sector is relatively higher than other sectors, firms should give importance to the management of intellectual capital which is not reflected by the traditional accounting method. The intellectual capital should be calculated and reported to the concerned parties.


It is proposed that general engineering college should aimed at training application-oriented undergraduate talents mainly,and practice teaching is an integral part of this training system.College physics experiment teaching is the initial part of practice teaching for the undergraduates,which can not be substituted in cultivating students' manipulative and innovative ability.The reform of teaching system,teaching contents,teaching methods and management on college physics experiment is introduced in detail.Grading opening experiences of laboratory and the experience in setting new experiment testing system are expounded.


Dynamic Positioning (DP) capability studies are used to assess if a vessel has sufficient thrust capacity to withstand environmental loads while keeping its position and orientation at a specified set-point or path. These studies are usually performed on ships and other DP-controlled surface vessels; consequently, standards and procedures for these are widely known. In this work, a methodology for conducting a DP capability study for Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) is presented. Due to the nature of ROV operations, a DP capability study should include different features that are not common to surface vessels. In this case, an ROV connected to a surface vessel through a tether is considered. During operation, the tether is subject to varying current loads that are accumulated along the water column and transferred to the vehicle. Therefore, the ROVs thrusters must be able to withstand, in addition to its own drag, three-dimensional loads due to three-dimensional currents and umbilical-related loads. To illustrate the methodology, two case studies are considered: the DP capability of an ROV that has to operate in the Colombian Caribbean and an existing ROV operating in the North Sea.Copyright © 2017 by ASME


The correlation energy of finite systems of electrons in a neutralizing spherical positively charged background (jellium) is investigated within various approximations. The correlation energy is defined with respect to the Hartree–Fock energy (with exact treatment of exchange). On one hand, the exact second-order energy contribution is calculated from many-body perturbation theory. On the other hand, a quasi-boson approximation to harmonic order only allows one to estimate the RPA ground-state correlation energy and to emphasize the relative importance of Coulomb-interaction screening corrections (ring diagrams). One finds that the second-order contribution accounts for most of the correlation energy. Comparisons with other approaches, such as density-functional theory and CI calculations, confirm this assertion.


OBJECTIVES
Hyporegenerative anaemia of prematurity is the cause of frequent transfusions of packed red blood cells. Wellknown is the effect of inhibiting the erythropoiesis after blood transfusions as well as the risk of transmissive infections. Therefore the main purpose of this study was to work out a protocol - indications for blood transfusions in order to achieve maximal reduction in their incidence with premature babies during their stay in ICU.

STUDY DESIGN
The study includes 57 newborn babies - birth weight < or = 1400 g, gestational age < or = 34 g.w. The changes in blood count values (Hb, Ht, Er,) from day 1 until day 60-70 were followed and analyzed. The effect of blood transfusions on oxygen needs reduction was analyzed by monitoring acid-base status in 30 infants with anaemia of prematurity with different degree of oxygen dependency.

RESULTS
Mean Hb and Ht at birth were 163 +/- 20,4 g/l and 48.6 +/- 6, 3%. At day 15-20 Hb was 111,02 +/- 10,9 and Ht 32,65 +/- 3,46. A significant decrease in blood count values is observed until the end of the first month /p <0.05/. Afterwards they remain relatively constant, fairly close to those at day 25-30/Hb 101,45 +/- 10,24 g/l; Ht% 29,78 +/- 3,42/. The study showed that transfusions of packed red blood cells reduce oxygen requirements by aproximately 30% in premature babies on mechanical ventilation with high oxygen concentrations\FiO2 > or = 50%/. In premature babies with good overall condition and on low concentration oxygen therapy - < 50%, no effect was observed in reducing oxygen requirements after RBC transfusion.

CONCLUSION
The leading indications for RBC-transfusions are not only Hb, Ht, postnatal age, but also the clinical condition and oxygen requirements. Severely ill premature babies on mechanical ventilation with FiO2 > or = 50% require blood transfusion at higher Hb values/<120 g/l/regardless of postnatal age.


Since the RAVE and the RITUXVAS trials, the use of rituximab (RTX), an IgG1 anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, has significantly increased and is currently recommended as first line therapy in various types of glomerulonephritis.1 To date, the minimal dose of RTX to induce significant and durable B cell


Jean-Loup Samaan is an associate professor in strategic studies for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) National Defense College. His research focuses on Middle Eastern strategic affairs, in particular the evolution of the Gulf security system, and the Israel-Hizbullah conflict. Prior to taking up his position in the UAE, he was a researcher for the Middle East Faculty at the NATO Defense College in Rome between 2011 and 2016. He was a policy adviser at the French Ministry of Defence from 2008 to 2011. Dr Samaan has authored four books and several articles for various international academic and policy journals such as the RUSI Journal, Survival, Orbis, Comparative Strategy, Politique Etrangère and Internationale Politik.


In the course of keeping Orchelimum katydids (Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae) collected as nymphs and adults from the southeastern U.S. and Washington, D.C., I have obtained a small number of puparia of a parasitic tachinid fly, as follows: two pu-paria from a single adult male O. agile from Gainesville, FL; one puparium from an early instar female O. pulchellum from Appling, Columbia Co., GA; one puparium from an adult male O. silvaticum and one puparium from an adult male O. pulchellum from Montgomery, AL; one puparium from an adult male O. pulchellum from Gautier, MS; one puparium from an adult male O. nigripes from Fairview-Riverside State Park, LA; and one puparium from an early instar female O. pulchellum from Wash-ington, D.C. The host exhibits a characteristic syndrome in response to the parasite: the katydid (nymph or adult) becomes sluggish and a distinct bulge develops in the abdomen. Within a few days, a puparium appears outside of the katydid and the ka-tydid dies. Three of the pupae were reared in the laboratory (from Louisiana O. nigripes , Mis-sissippi O. pulchellum , and Alabama O. pulchellum) and a representative adult (from the Louisiana O. nigripes) was identified as Ormia lineifrons. The identified fly has been deposited in the collection of the U.S. National Museum. Since an adult fly was actually reared and identified only from a single O. nigripes , the association of Ormia lineifrons with the other parasitized Orchelimum species (O. pulchellum, O. silvati-cum, and O. agile) must remain tentative, although all the puparia and reared adults appeared to be the same. The only hosts previously known for this fly are Neocono-cephalus katydids, especially N. triops (T. lineifrons is attracted to tape recordings of the calling song of N. triops ; Walker reports (in litt.) that each year O. lineifrons is attracted in small numbers to mole cricket (Scapteriscus vicinus) sound trapping stations, although it does not parasitize mole crickets. (A Brazilian Ormia species is currently being used as a biocontrol agent for this introduced cricket in Florida.) While some acoustically orienting tachinids apparently depend almost entirely on host calling song to locate hosts (e.g., Lakes-Harlan & Heller 1992), this reliance on calling song to locate individual hosts is not always so complete (e.g., Walker & Win-eriter 1991). Given that two of seven parasitized Orchelimum were nymphs (and hence silent), O. lineifrons apparently does not depend strongly (perhaps does not depend at all) …


Suppose that (X1, Y1),…, (Xn, Yn) is a random sample sequence from (X, Y), If EY is finite, the regression function m (of Y on X) is defined by m(x) = E(Y|X = x). In this paper, we obtain the asymptotic normality of the improved kernel regression function estimates Where K is a univariate density function, 0 hn → 0 and 0 bn → ∞ (n - ∞).


Objective To study the clinical efficacy and toxicity of the treatment of nedaplatin combined with radiotherapy for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Method The 60 patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated by chemotherapy treatment in our hospital from Jan, 2010 to Jan, 2012 were randomized into control group(cisplatin) and observation group(nedaplatin), with 30 patients in each. The recent efficacy,long-term efficacy, toxicity and side effects in both groups were observed and then compared. Result For the observation group, the difference of CR rate(20.0% vs 16.7%; 66.7% vs 60.0%) and the PR rate(76.7% vs 76.7%;33.3% vs 40.0%) of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and cervical lymph node were not statistically different(P 0.05) compared with the control group; While the incidence of bone marrow suppression(23.3% vs 50.0%),and nausea and vomiting(36.7% vs 76.7%)were significantly reduced(P 0.05). Conclusion For locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma, nedaplatin combined with radiotherapy causes minor toxicity and less side effects, which is relatively safe and is worthy of clinical promotion.


ABSTRACT: In this paper, we study an M/M/1 queue with a storage system having capacity S which have a common life time (CLT ), exponentially distributed. On realization of common life time or the first time inventory level drops to zero in a cycle whichever occurs first, a replenishment order is placed so as to bring the inventory level back to S (zero lead time). Customers arrive to the system according to a Poisson process and their service time is exponentially distributed. Reservation of items and cancellation of sold items is permitted before the realization of common life time. Cancellation takes place according to an exponential distribution. In this paper we assume that the time required to cancel the reservation is negligible. When the inventory level becomes zero through service completion or CLT realization, a replenishment order is placed which is realized instantly. We first derive the stationary joint distribution of the queue length and the on-hand inventory in product form. Using the joint distribution, we introduce long-run performance measures and a revenue function. The case of positive lead time is also investigated. Numerical illustrations are provided.


Purpose: To report a case of the keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) associated idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (IHES). Methods: We present a report and review of a 53-year-old man who suffered from IHES and KCS. The ocular examination showed conjunctival papillary hypertrophy, interpalpebral corneal and conjunctival punctate staining with fluorescein dye, and peripheral corneal neovascularization. His Schirmer I test results were nearly zero mm of wetting in both eyes. Impression cytology showed squamous metaplasia. Results: He had treated with low dose systemic steroid since October 2003. Because he showed a side effect of steroid induced myopathy, we could not increase the dosage. We added topical steroid (Pred Forte?), conservative free artificial tear and topical antibiotics, after which his ocular condition improved. Neovascularization was regressed, punctate staining decreased, and his visual acuity increased to 20/25 2 months later. Conclusions: This case demonstrates that the KCS can be associated with IHES and be treated with systemic and topical steroid.


FIELD: process engineering. SUBSTANCE: set of invention relates to air treatment by volatile substances and may be used for air aromatisation. Proposed device comprises container with volatile substance, semi-permeable membrane to close said container that allows passage gaseous volatile substance, and moving wall to open and close said membrane. Said wall is shaped to allow compensation for possible deformation of the membrane when said wall is applied thereto. This set relates also to the method of controlled evaporation of, at least, two volatile substances. It comprises bringing said volatile substances in contact with each said semi-permeable membranes, directing airflow thereto and controlling said airflow by applying said wall to said membrane for compensation of possible deformation thereof. EFFECT: possibility to select substances to be sprayed. 17 cl, 15 dwg


The ichnogenus Protovirgularia M'Coy 1850 is a simple, relatively narrow chevron‐shaped trace, generally possessing a median line and associated lateral appendages. It has previously been reported from several Paleozoic deep and, less commonly, Devono‐Carbonife‐rous and Mesozoic shallow marine environments. Herein, we describe specimens of Protovirgularia from turbiditic strata of the informally named Silurian Kingsclear group and Devonian Wapske Formation of the Tobique Group from New Brunswick, eastern Canada. The morphological variation exhibited in this material suggests that P. harknessi Lapworth 1870, P. nereitarum (Richter 1871) and P. mongraensis Chiplonkar and Badve 1970 can best be regarded as synonyms of the only other ichnospecies described to date, the type P. dichotoma M'Coy 1850. An updated systematic review of P. dichotoma is provided.


ABSTRACT – The initial reaction of the body to bacterial infection or severe tissue trauma is an acute inflammatory response. The magnitude of an acute inflammatory response is of critical importance in evaluating patients during early postoperative mobilization. Uncontrolled inflammation can cause further tissue damage, while insufficient inflammation can result in immunodeficiency. An uncontrolled inflammatory response can cause further tissue damage, while an insufficient response can result in immunodeficiency. A normal inflammatory response helps to annihilate the threat posed by bacterial pathogens, such as endotoxin and thus, restore the body to a healthy state. Here, we present a mathematical model incorporating key components of the inflammatory response in humans. Our model was calibrated to experimental data obtained from experiments measuring pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, and TNF) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 over 8 hours in 20 healthy men. Each partcipant was given a low dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an endotoxin stimulating inflammation. The initial reaction of the body to bacterial infection or severe tissue trauma is an acute inflammatory response. The magnitude of an acute inflammatory response is of critical importance in evaluating patients during early postoperative mobilization. Uncontrolled inflammation can cause further tissue damage, while insufficient inflammation can result in immunodeficiency. An uncontrolled inflammatory response can cause further tissue damage, while an insufficient response can result in immunodeficiency. A normal inflammatory response helps to annihilate the threat posed by bacterial pathogens, such as endotoxin and thus, restore the body to a healthy state. Here, we present a mathematical model incorporating key components of the inflammatory response in humans. Our model was calibrated to experimental data obtained from experiments measuring pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, and TNF) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 over 8 hours in 20 healthy men. Each partcipant was given a low dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an endotoxin stimulating inflammation.


PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the impact of financial literacy on savings and retirement planning in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses primary data collected from a sample of formal sector workers and probit models, to assess how financial literacy affects retirement planning.FindingsThe empirical analysis of this study shows that most individuals lack knowledge of basic concepts of finance. This study finds that only about 27% of respondents were able to correctly answer three simple questions on inflation, interest compounding and risk diversification. Generally, the young, the old, women, low-income earners and the less educated perform worst on financial literacy measures. Also, financial literacy has a positive significant impact on the probability of saving for retirement.Practical implicationsThe low level of financial literacy observed should be of concern to policymakers. Evidently, concrete measures are required to strengthen the knowledge of particularly those in the vulnerable groups such as the young, the old, women, low-income earners and the less educated, in order to enable them to prepare adequately for retirement.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the scant financial literacy and financial behavior literature in developing countries such as Ghana.


In meeting the changing needs of the bulk handling and storage user the intermediate bulk container is bridging an important gap between the small standard bag and the giant silo. In this article the author puts forward the case for a flexible approach in the movement and storage of granules and powders.


Both n and p-type a-Si:H films with very high conductivities have been grown by diluting SiH/sub 4/ in Ar or H/sub 2/. These films have Fermi levels close to the conduction and valence bands (0.03 eV). The use of these heavily doped films as p/sup +/ and n/sup +/ junction layers in a p/sup +/in/sup +/ cell should increase the diffusion voltage of the diode, thereby increasing both J/sub sc/ and V/sub oc/. The analysis of conductivity and thermoelectric power on films of diverse thickness have revealed no systematic changes. However, the drift mobility shows a systematic increase with thickness. The analysis of cells by studying quantum efficiency vs. applied voltage has revealed the electron (..mu.. tau) product is limiting transport in nip cells and not the hole (..mu.. tau) product. Analysis reveals that typically (..mu.. tau)/sub eta/ = 10/sup -9/ cm/sup 2//V. A new device design, Tandem parallel-connected cells, has been evolved to improve the current collection in a-Si cells. This design may help increase J/sub sc/ to 15 to 16 mA/cm/sup 2/ in a-Si:H.


PURPOSE: A cosmetic composition carrier is provided to well maintain cosmetic composition, and homogenize cosmetic composition for long period, and when cosmetic composition is ejected, appropriate amount is used and finally has an excellent durability. CONSTITUTION: A cosmetic composition carrier includes layered structure of the polyurethane foam. Polyurethane foam includes the polyether series polyurethane foam. The polyurethane foam has network structure. The cosmetic composition carrier includes two layers of polyurethane foam. The cosmetics include the cosmetic composition carrier. [Reference numerals] (AA) Discharge degree; (BB) Comparative example; (CC) Example 9; (DD) Number


[1] The depth-scale accuracy of marine sedimentary series collected by coring is of key importance for the precise calculation of sedimentation rates and fluxes. For three giant piston cores collected during the InterPole MD99-114/International Marine Past Global Changes Study (IMAGES) V cruise (MD99-2227, MD99-2246, and MD99-2251), the 3.5-kHz chirp profiles recorded on board are compared to synthetic seismograms computed from physical property logs measured on cores. In each case, the perfect match of main deep reflectors requires a significant upward shift of the water-sediment (W/S) interface in the synthetic seismograms with respect to the 3.5-kHz profiles. Since no drastic perturbation of the physical property logs is observed, this upward shift is interpreted as resulting from a significant sediment oversampling in the upper part of the cores. The affected depth intervals are consistent with the thickness of the perturbed zones observed in penetrometry and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility records (∼10–15 m). To retrieve the true in situ sediment thickness, a linear depth correction is applied between consecutive acoustic reflectors to achieve a perfect match between the synthetic seismogram and the corresponding 3.5-kHz profiles. Depth correction laws (amount of material excess as a function of initial depth) are deduced from this resynchronization procedure. First estimations of upper core oversampling rates range from 30% (core MD99-2227) to 37% (core MD99-2246). Moreover, we observe that some undersampling may also exist in the lower part of the sediment cores.


The effects of changes in respiratory minute volume (V) on breath radon were studied in resting, supine subjects. At the onset of the unsteady state, at increased V, the curies of radon per liter o...


Case Report A 56-year-old packer and processor was splashed at work with Broc flame retardant, which contains 2,3-dibromocresylglycidyl ether, on his left shoulder, thigh and lower limb, and the right lower limb. He was wearing new cotton overalls, cotton-lined rubber gloves, plastic overshoes, goggles and a plastic hat. He showered 20 min later and went home. He had never been in contact with this chemical before and there was no subsequent contact. 13 days later, he developed an acute vesicular eczema at the precise sites of contact with the chemical. This worsened and became bullous over the following 3 days (Fig. 1), but settled slowly with topical corticosteroids alone and completely cleared. We patch tested him with the European standard series, and 2,3-dibromocresylglycidyl ether 0.01%, 0.05% and 0.1% acet. He reacted + + to 2,3-dibromocresylglycidyl ether 0.05% and 0.1% acet. Patch tests with this chemical on 10 normal controls were negative at 2 and 4 days. However, 7-10 days later, 3 controls developed reactions at the site, which settled slowly over the following week. Subsequent patch testing of these individuals showed positive reactions to dibromocresylglycidyl ether 0.01% and 0.0% acet.


The paper discusses the curent tourism promotional activities targeting the youth package market. It argues that marketing messages which use sexual imagery are an example of the successful targeting of Generation X. The marketing strategies of the UK youth tourism operator Club 18-30 form the case study although the discussion is relevant for all tourism marketers interested in appealing to the youth market segment. The paper briefly discusses market segmentation and then reviews some of the recent literature which highlights the lifestyle characteristics of today's young consumers. Its main focus, however, is to highlight the role of sexual imagery in tourism marketing and to assess the success of a particular campaign which clearly uses sex to sell torrrism products. It concludes that this is an effective campaign aimed at younger consumers, especially in view of recent arguments that many market-


We have carried out a series of charge transient measurements on a-Si:H in which we insert a double temperature step during the period when electrons are being emitted from deep defects. The behavior of this emitted defect charge is completely inconsistent with any density of states that remains static during the emission; that is, defect relaxation must be invoked. Such measurements allow us to separate the temperature dependence of relaxation from that of thermal emission. In particular, we demonstrate that the emission itself exhibits thermally activated behavior in spite of the ongoing relaxation processes.


In the high-energy 𝑝 + 𝑝 collisions, the fundamental processes of extensive air shower development and hence the origin of the ultra-high energy cosmic ray can be studied by measuring the cross section of the very forward particles. On the other hand, transverse single spin asymmetry ( 𝐴 N ) for very forward particle production is an unique tool to understand the spin-involved diffractive particle production mechanism. 𝐴 N for very forward neutron production has been interpreted by an interference between 𝜋 (spin flip) and 𝑎 1 (spin non-flip) exchange. Since the neutron 𝐴 N has been studied only in a narrow transverse momentum ( 𝑝 T ) range of 𝑝 T < 0 . 4 GeV/ 𝑐 , the RHICf experiment measured the neutron 𝐴 N in a wide 𝑝 T coverage up to ∼ 1 GeV/ 𝑐 to test the validity of the 𝜋 and 𝑎 1 exchange model in the higher 𝑝 T region. In this poster, we report our analysis status and result on the neutron 𝐴 N measured by the RHICf experiment.


Homopolymerisation of vinyl stearate and its copolymerisation with five other fatty vinyl monomers have been carried out in benzene using benzoyl peroxide as the initiator. The comonomers included stearyl acrylate, stearyl methacrylate, allyl stearate, stearyl vinyl ether and divinyl sebacate. Stearyl acrylate and stearyl methacrylate furnished copolymers with inherent viscosities much higher than that of the vinyl stearate homopolymer while allyl stearate and stearyl vinyl ether gave copolymers with inherent viscosities much lower than that of the vinyl stearate homopolymer.

Uber die Copolymerisation von Vinylstearat mit anderen Monomeren von Fettsaure-Vinylderivaten

Es wurde mit Hilfe von Benzoylperoxid als Initiator bei Gegenwart von Benzol die Homopolymerisation von Vinyl-stearat sowie die Copolymerisation desselben mit funf anderen monomeren Fettsaure-Vinylderivaten durchgefuhrt. Die Comonomeren waren Stearylacrylat, Stearylmethacrylat, Allylstearat, Stearylvinylather sowie Divinylsebacat. Die Viskositaten der Copolymeren aus Stearylacrylat und Stearylmethacrylat waren wesentlich hoher als die des Vinylstearat-Homopolymeren. Dagegen lagen die Viskositaten der Copolymeren aus Allylstearat und Stearylvinylather niedriger als die des Vinylstearat-Homopolymeren.


The relationship between an employer and an employee is typically guided by formal agreements, be they individual letters of understanding, union-management contracts or the government legislation that sets the standards for fair and equitable work. But there is another contract that can be even more important called the psychological contract. The psychological contract may be best understood as the informal understanding of the relationship between an employer and employee. It is a belief that some form of promise has been made that both parties agree to abide by, such as mutual expectations of honesty, respect, fairness, loyalty and dedication. It is an unwritten and unlike the written contract, is continually changing. By nature it is generally unspoken and dependent on the interpretation of all parties. The present paper throws light on the concept of psychological contract and some of its models. It also explains the probable outcomes of psychological contract violation.


In this study the use of silica activators such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid and chloric acid, in addition to the con- ventional coagulants and flocculants, was found to give much better results in flocculating and sedimenting the colloidal silic a particles from CMP process which is now generally used in semiconductor industry for the purpose of planarizing the surface of the silicon dioxide. Experimental results show that both the diameter of the silica particles and the negative charge build- up on the surface of the silica particles are increased when the silicon activator is added into the colloidal silica solution. It was also found that the final silica floc formed by using a silica activator, an anion polymer flocculant and Ca(OH) 2 has a higher density and a larger size than the floc made by using only the polymer flocculant and Ca(OH) 2. Among silica activators sul- furic acid was found to yield the best flocculation results from the stand point of the floc size and density. It was even poss ible to form a dense silica floc having a diameter of 15 mm if proper quantities of a silica activator, an anionic polymer flocculan t and Ca(OH)2 are added into the colloidal silica solution.


Library is a growing organism and no library is self sufficient enough to procure all the documents of its interest [5]. A large number of institutions in the world are actively engaged in increasing agricultural production and, therefore, they are the generating points of agricultural information. Access to all the information produced by them is not possible by any single library. It is, therefore, obligatory on the part of libraries to cooperate with each other for inter-library loan [3].


Abstract A function f(t) of the independent variable t changing with every increment dt can be formulated as a functional sequence. If g(f(t)) is a derivative or an integral of f(t) and the value of dt is interpreted subject to an error ΔT, then g(f(t)) is Grünwald-Letnikov differintegral of that sequence with an order closely related to dt and ΔT. This paper illustrates this relationship and proposes a geometrical and physical interpretation of a fractional order Grünwald-Letnikov differintegrals using the example of path and acceleration measurements of a point in motion.


In this work, the specific activity of acid urease immobilised on Eupergit ® C250L at different enzyme loadings YP/B in the range of 48-170.5 mg BSAE/g dry support (ds) was satisfactorily reconstructed by using the simultaneous film and intraparticle diffusion and Michaelis-Menten kinetic reaction model. By referring to the intrinsic kinetic parameters of free acid urease, the statistically significant change in the apparent affinity of immobilised enzyme for urea was attributed to diffusion limitations only. When operating in a stirred bioreactor in the pseudo-first order regime, the specific activity of the biocatalyst was mainly restricted by its internal resistance, the corresponding effectiveness factor (η) reducing from 0.9 to 0.28 as YP/B increased from 12.5 to 400.0 mg BSAE/g ds. The combined effect of internal and external mass-transfer resistances limited the advantages of using biocatalysts with enzyme loadings greater than 150 mg BSAE/g ds.


The "War of the Currents" has raged since the 1880s and has been revitalised with the move to widespread use of computers and communications, low energy LED lighting and renewable energy generators. "Project Edison: SMARTDC" is a demonstration project using a DC (Direct Current) smart supply network for ICT and lighting at the University of Bath, UK. A centralised AC/DC converter provides power through a low voltage distribution system to an array of computers and monitors which are part of the library's education support facilities. This bulk DC network provides a secure supply for individual computers and monitors together with several advantages for the AC power network.


According to the early history of the People's Army led by the Communist Party of China,Qu Jiubai always held in respect the initiative coming from Party organizations at a lower level,and implemented actively the spirit of the resolution made by the Communist International on the agrarian revolution and the establishment of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.Moreover,he also promoted and gave the great impact on the title changes of the People's Army in early period.


In the United Kingdom, pharmaceutical services can be delivered by both community pharmacies (CPs) and dispensing doctor practices (DPs). Both must adhere to minimum standards set out in NHS regulations; however, no common framework exists to guide quality improvement. Previous phases of this research had developed a set of characteristics indicative of good pharmaceutical service provision.


A 32 yr old female clinically and radiographically diagnosed as tuberculosis initially not responding to anti tuberculous treatment was later on Diagnosed as classical Wegener's granulomatosis basing on tissue biopsy, c-ANCA, along with other systemic manifestations posing a diagnostic challenge. *Corresponding author: Pragati Rao D, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, NRI General Hospital, Chinakakani, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India, E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Received January 27, 2012; Accepted February 28, 2013; Published March 04, 2013 Citation: Pragati Rao D, Kalyani K, Venkateswara Rao P, Sreelatha V (2013) Classical Wegener's as Non Resolving Pneumonia. J Pulmon Resp Med 3: 141. doi:10.4172/2161-105X.1000141 Copyright: © 2013 Pragati Rao D, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


By using CdTe quantum dots(QDs) as fluorescent(PL) probe,dopamine hydrochloride was quantitatively detected based on PL enhancement of CdTe QDs.The influences of concentration of buffer solution,QDs and the incubation time were investigated and optimized in view of their influence on the FL behavior.The results indicated that in a Na2HPO4-NaH2PO4 buffer solution with pH value of 7.5 and 20 min of incubation,the emission intensity of CdTe QDs and the concentration of dopamine hydrochloride in the range of 1.2×10-8~1.0×10-7 mol/L were linear.The obtained linear regression equation is: △F=-27.47+25.54c(10-8 mol/L) with the correlation coefficient of 0.9992.The detection limit is 6×10-11mol/L.The results indicate that CdTe QDs can act as a new luminescent probe for detecting dopamine hydrochloride with a low detection limitation and extremely high sensitivity.


Recent works on form understanding mostly employ multimodal transformers or large-scale pre-trained language models. These models need ample data for pre-training. In contrast, humans can usually identify key-value pairings from a form only by looking at layouts, even if they don't comprehend the language used. No prior research has been conducted to investigate how helpful layout information alone is for form understanding. Hence, we propose a unique entity-relation graph parsing method for scanned forms called LAGNN, a language-independent Graph Neural Network model. Our model parses a form into a word-relation graph in order to identify entities and relations jointly and reduce the time complexity of inference. This graph is then transformed by deterministic rules into a fully connected entity-relation graph. Our model simply takes into account relative spacing between bounding boxes from layout information to facilitate easy transfer across languages. To further improve the performance of LAGNN, and achieve isomorphism between entity-relation graphs and word-relation graphs, we use integer linear programming (ILP) based inference. Code is publicly available at https://github.com/Bhanu068/LAGNN


I am all for improving patient care and removing barriers to effective nursing, but health minister John Hutton needs to gain a better understanding of what nursing involves (news October 30).


Background: With the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (2019-nCoV, also named COVID-19) and growing knowledge of its epidemiological characteristics, it has been clear that children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are also susceptible to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods: In the past four months, we educated the guardians of children with leukemia with a series of preventative measures, including ⑴ Hand Hygiene and Hand Care; ⑵ the use of masks; ⑶ separation and sterilization of patient items; ⑷ avoiding public transportation; ⑸ Staying at home unless medically necessary; ⑹ Telemedicine; ⑺ Allowing only one caretaker during hospital admission ⑻ minimizing patients and their families visiting or travelling. We conducted a retrospective review to study the relationship between compliance with personal preventive measures and exposure to 2019-nCoV among children will ALL and their caretakers before and during the outbreak of 2019-nCoV in China between Jan 21-May 23 of 2020. Results: Prior to the outbreak of coronavirus 2019-nCoV in Jan 2020, 88.9% of patients washed their hands before meals and 55.6% after they ate. All of the patients who are >3 years old and 91% of the patients <3 years olds wore face masks regularly as a strategy for protection in the outdoors. When in the hospital, 95.5% of the patients who are >3 years old and 78% of the patients <3 years olds wore face masks regularly as a strategy for protection. Since the outbreak of coronavirus 2019-nCoV in China in Jan, 2020, the percentage of compliance to hand-washing before and after meals rose to 100% for all patients, as well as the compliance of regular mask use was 100%. Similar trend is also seen in the caretakers, prior to the outbreak 75% of whom washed their hands before and 66.7% after they ate or handed food. ALL of them wore masks regularly in the hospital or outdoors. Since the outbreak, 100% of caretakers wore masks during outside and in the wards. Regardless of the children with ALL are immunocompromised patients, key message of infection prevention provided to the families were using alcohol to disinfect surfaces, avoid going to public transport and without visitor or travelling. Prior to the outbreak, internet consults consisted of 20% out of all patient consults. As of date, which is 160 days since the outbreak, 80% of patient consults are done via internet. ALL of patients are voiding public transportation. Private cars and taxi are their choices. ALL of them comply with the policy of just one companion and stayed at home unless have to get IV chemo or got likely infection. In April 2019, 21.38% of the ALL patients in inpatient department suffered febrile neutropenia. Otherwise, in April 2020, only 5.18% suffered febrile neutropenia.Conclusion: From Jan 22 of 2020 to the authorship of this report, within the 200 number of ALL patients whom we have provided care for in Shenzhen Children's hospital, none of the patients as well as their families were infected with 2019-nCoV, and all of them received chemotherapy as planned. The infection rate of ALL patients suffered febrile neutropenia decreased by seventy-five percent. These outcomes demonstrated that our response to the public health emergency was on-time and appropriate. The operational result shows that the control measures taken are effective. Our experience suggest that offering prompt and appropriate instructions in addition to provision of regular education and preventative practices to patients and their families may be considered to other pediatric oncology centers around the world.


The Nigerian construction industry is confronted with numerous challenges, including poor performance and waste generation during construction. Lean, to a greater extent, has been able to improve quality, minimize waste generation, and ensure value for money on delivered projects. Hence, this paper aims at identifying the extent and level of awareness of lean technology;311assessing the benefits of adopting lean technologies on construction projects in Imo state, Nigeria. A total of about 200 self-administered questionnaires were purposely distributed to practitioners within Imo state. Of the 200 questionnaires, 132 were completed and returned, while 6 were found unfit, and the rest (126) were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0. The result indicates that the level of awareness of lean construction technology use is still at a moderate level, while the benefits of lean technologies adoption include allowing for the maximum use of equipment and materials on construction sites. This paper recommends that workshops and seminars by professional bodies be organized from time to time to help in enlightening practitioners on the needs and benefits derivable from the adoption of lean construction technologies.


The study discusses the entrepreneurial practices of a vocational high school in Indonesia. The vocational high school has been practicing some digital marketing techniques as a way of promoting their own products. The vocational high school discussed in this study produces batik sasirangan, a type of traditional fabrics mainly produced in Kalimantan region in Indonesia. Analyses were conducted to first assess the competitive landscape of the batik (traditional Indonesian fabric) industry. Using SWOT analysis and Porter's Five Forces, it was found out that the landscape of the Batik Sasirangan industry in Kalimantan is promising. However, to better improve the sales as well as to refine the marketing strategy utilized by the vocational high school to market Batik Sasirangan, a digital marketing strategy was designed and implemented. The paper further discusses how the marketing strategy was implemented and what is in store for Batik Sasirangan.


Photonics Integrated Circuits (PICs), a feature of contemporary optical communications technologies, can represent a stringent packaging challenge, particularly in terms of their requirements for thermal control. Devices such as laser arrays can demonstrate tight temperature limits, sub-ambient operating temperatures, moderate heat loads but high device-level heat fluxes. A key feature of many hybrid PICs is a multilayer substrate which offers mechanical support, electrical interconnection and heat spreading for the devices that it carries; such substrates are typically mounted on a thermoelectric (TE) module (TEM) to achieve thermal control. The objective of this paper is to examine the influence of heat spreader structures on the thermal behavior of PICs, with particular attention on maximizing TEM efficiency. To this end, closed-form analytical and numerical models are developed for a representative laser array PIC which captures the conductive heat transfer within the spreader, coupled with a constitutive representation of the TEM. A parametric study is conducted to illustrate the influence of the following parameters on the source temperature of the PIC for the application: effective conductivities and dimensions of the heat spreader; thermal interface resistances; and thermal resistance between the TEM and the ambient. The outcome of the paper is an enhanced understanding of the role of heat spreading in the stable and efficient operation of contemporary PICs. This paper represents the initial results of an extensive programme of work on packaging-related aspects of next-generation PICs.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


It is important to maintain a certain amount of melt during sintering of iron ores to improve yield and strength of sinter product.The rapid spreading out of the initial melt through adhering layer seems to be essential to achieve solid bonding phase in microstructure in sinter.The influence of iron ore characteristics on flowing behavior of CaO·Fe2O3 melt was investigated.Penetrating tests were conducted to demonstrate the spreading behavior of the initial melt.Based on chemical composition(silica,alumina)of ores and morphology of the ore surface after dehydration,the penetrating behavior of melt into iron ore was analyzed.The experimental results show that the penetrating behavior is restrained as the increasing of silica,alumina and combine water.


The author, Nestor Dimas, a native speaker of the language, relates in this text a part of the history of Purepecha music and dance, including details dating from the colonial period. He notes that musicologists have not yet found early musical scores, but that mention was made of the great ability of colonial Purepecha musicians to read music. Dimas includes the text from a 19th century pirekua that he has recovered from Riva Palacio's work. Dimas' knowledge as a member of a family of pireris , 'cantors', as well as his formation as an ethnolinguist and student of Purepecha traditions, let him present this example of Purepecha musical tradition with great sensitivity. He has translated his original Spanish commentary into Purepecha, reflecting the interest by the speakers in using the language in academic situations, and in this way implementing their policies for the refunctionalization of the language.


Goals   of  this  research   are  implementing    Artificial   Neural   Network (ANN)  algorithm for  load forecasting   and getting  its performance.   The training  data  was takenfrom     UPB  Ungaran.  The performance   can be got through  comparing  ANN test result with the real load at that time. The   research    methodology    usc   experimental     and   design    models approach.    The     phases    of  this   research    were:    I.   analyzing    and identifying    of  need    2.  developing    of  load  forecasting     application software  with  C programming.   3. entering  and  training  the data to get data pattern. The  result  of  this  research.   the  load forecasting  result  by ANN  was close with UPB loadforecasting.    but several  ANN  test result have more deviation  than  UPB. because  number  of training  data  was  less. so the forecasting     pattern    111as not   too   accurate     Beside    that.   another possibility   was  the number  of iteration  must  be more  than  / ()()(J  times iterations   in  order  to get  more  less  error.   There  was  33,3% of ANN result  that  has  more  less  deviation,   although   the  number   of  training data  was  not  different,  because  that  data  has  no  extrem variation,  so the pattern   was faster   to be recognized.   Generally,   ANN  will  give  an accurate  pattern  recognation    if the data is valid and the number  of the data is quite enough.


With a perseverance worthy of a better application, humanity throughout its history has been creating means of defeating its own kind. The stone ax and club were replaced by such tools as a knife, an arrow, a dart, a battle ax, a saber, a sword, etc. With the invention of gunpowder, the era of firearms began, which began to improve rapidly and over a relatively short period of time - about 200 years, has undergone dramatic changes. However, no matter how condescendingly today we look at the guns of the era of Peter the Great, a qualitative leap in the development of means of destruction of manpower occurred precisely when the first shot from a primitive gun sounded.


The orientation and deviation angle of intermetallic Al 2 Cu phase in directionally solidified Al-40wt. %Cu hypereutectic alloy were investigated using a rotating orientation X-ray diffraction (RO-XRD) method. Experimental results show that preferred planes (110) and (310) of the Al 2 Cu phase occur at 10 μm/s and the growth directions of the two planes are not well aligned with the heat flux direction. The growth direction of the preferred plane (110) has a 7.24 º~11.43 º angle with the heat flux direction. For the direction of the plane (310), its deviation angle attains 2.68 º~20.82 º. Besides, the measured data agree well with the previously reported results, indicating that the RO-XRD method is an effective method for measuring the orientation and deviation angle of the phase in polycrystalline materials. Copyright © 2011 VBRI press. Laboratory Solidification Processing His research is the study of intermetallic phase orientation during directional solidification.


The invention relates to a holding device for stored goods with a base body (10) having an opening formed as a cup holder receptacle (12) and which is associated with an insert part (14) which is insertable into the receptacle (12) of the base body (10). The insert (14) comprises a holding recess (30) through which opposing segments (28) are divided from each other.


We investigated the effect of the electro-optic chromophore concentration on the space charge field formation in polymeric photorefractive composites. For polymeric photorefractive materials, the electro optic chromophore is one of the most substantial components, because it is to provide a refractive index modulation in response to the electric field and probably can act as trap which is essential part to promote space charge field inside the material. The photoconductivity was decreased as the chromophore ratio increased. However, the space charge field measured by our characterized method remains unchanged. This result can be explained that presence of chromophore may reduce the photoconductivity, but also facilitate the charge trapping process.


Recent intensive developments on the labor market and globalization of the engineering society have led to significant changes in Russian educational standards in the last decade. This governmental attempt is aimed at reformation of the national system of higher professional education in view of the newly-defined desired attributes of engineers. In this endeavor the importance of systematic inclusion of foreign languages into curricular in Russian technical universities rises to the top of the list as English is consistently replacing all other languages on the globe and becomes an international language. Taking into account the urgent needs of engineering education in Russia and the proposed place of foreign language courses in engineering curricular the authors apply a modular teaching approach to improve students' ability to attain meta-subject competences. In this paper implementation of the Introduction to Debate course is described to illustrate the proposed approach. The modular approach to teaching ESP allowed focusing on the development of specific speech skills based on a professional context. Therefore, the didactic principles of an academic freedom, interdisciplinarity, professional communication, flexibility and transformation of developed abilities have been translated into practice.


As a core pillar of its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction policy the European Commission (EC) envisages shifting 50% of long distance freight transport to rail and inland navigation by 2050. While technical solutions to mitigate GHG emissions are well researched, non-technical policy paths still need further attention. It is in particular unclear, how assumptions on framework conditions impact the result of policy options in such long term forecasts. In this paper the authors therefore look at the performance of a set of measures to achieve a given modal shift target in front of alternative baseline developments of the German economy. The authors chose a 10 percentage point increase of national freight movements on rail to be achieved by 2030. The results found by applying the ASTRA-D system dynamics model indicate that the stronger the economic growth is assumed, the more easy the achievement of targets will be. In this case the authors run into much more serious capacity problems at the railways, but the authors can suspect that under more dynamic economic conditions capacity enlargement measures can be implemented more easily.


In "Crossing Species Boundaries" (Robert and Baylis 2003), the authors explored the history, ethics, and prospective future of stem cell research involving chimeras made in part from human cells. They dismissed the various then-extant ethical objections to the creation of such chimeras, finding them all inadequate. In their stead, they sketched (but did not elaborate or defend) an alternative response—namely, that their creation would create a kind of inexorable moral confusion. Since then, a variety of alternative objections to—as well as justifications for—this research have emerged, alongside advances in the technologies for introducing genetic and cellular material across putative species boundaries. In this chapter, the authors revisit the notion of inexorable moral confusion, further specifying and elaborating the original concept in light of recent scientific and technical developments and ethical insights.