Submitted for the MAR05 Meeting of The American Physical Society Ab-initio theory of Kerr angles in magnetic multilayer systems IRENE REICHL, ANDRAS VERNES, PETER WEINBERGER, CMS, TU Vienna, Austria — Ab-initio magneto-optic Kerr rotation and ellipticity angles are presented for the system Cu4/Ni8/Cun/Ni9/Cu(100) and for Fen/Au(100) in the vicinity of the reorientation transition, with n varying between 2 and 10. For the Cu/Ni system it will be shown that the occurring oscillations in the Kerr angles with respect to the spacer thickness resemble closely those for the experimentally recorded interlayer exchange coupling energy. In the case of Fe/Au a very accurate description of the magneto-optical properties can be given as the preferred magnetization turns from perpendicular to in-plane. The obtained theoretical results are in very good agreement with available experimental data. Peter Wienberger CMS, TU Vienna, Austria Date submitted: 11 Oct 2004 Electronic form version 1.4


The journal, Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, is included in Scopus and has a Scopus impact factor listed per issue. This issue of Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning Journal includes research from scholars representing Canada (Ontario and Alberta) and the USA (Georgia, IL, Missouri, PA). The authors present research all levels of students both face-to-face and online. In this editorial, I focus on online mentoring or e-mentoring which I call—virtual mentoring and coaching or VMC. I am happy to have a paper published on this topic in this issue, because the literature in this area is severely lacking. In an I3 (Investing in Innovation Fund, US Department of Education) project that is being conducted at Texas A&M University by Rafael Lara-Alecio, Beverly J. Irby, and Fuhui Tong, Project English Language and Literacy Acquisition-Validation (ELLA-V), it has been determined that this is the only I3 project that has live VMC occurring with teachers across the vast state of Texas. What is live VMC? We have developed this method which involves having the mentor/coach present at the time of a teaching session (teacher is the mentee/coachee). The mentor is not on site, but observes the teacher via a live view camera which pans the room with the mentor in charge of moving the camera to observe the instruction and interactions with students. The teacher unplugs (which activates) the microphone which is powerful enough to pick up student responses as well. The way in which live feedback occurs is with bug-in-the-ear technology (audio transmission via microphone and wireless earphone), and it allows the teacher to continue teaching uninterrupted, while simultaneously receiving softly spoken feedback from the mentor/coach. At a later appointed virtual meeting time via Citrix Go-to-Meeting, additional feedback is provided to the teacher to help improve student learning and engagement; reflective practice occurs during this time. According to a presentation on the topic in Washington, DC in June, 2015, the Principal Investigators (Lara-Alecio, Irby, and Tong) indicated the following as findings of VMC with teachers in their project: (a) just conducting mentoring or coaching virtually does not make for effective lessons by the teachers; rather, preconference notes and purposeful, supportive structured observation and feedback sessions with a followup processing session can improve instruction for teachers, (b) the mentors must create a collaboration and must communicate well with the teachers, (c) provision of times of silence when processing the lesson with the teacher is called for as the teacher is reflecting on the lesson, and (d) the use of a reflection cycle that advocates for analysis, appraisal, and transformation is needed during the mentoring sessions. VMC may prove to be beneficial as more research is produced on this topic, and as technology and skills for VMC improve. The lead article, Mentoring from Different Social Spheres: How Can Multiple Mentors Help in Doctoral Student Success in Ed.D Programs? by Terry and Ghosh helps higher education professors understand how mentoring relates to doctoral degree completion. They found that doctoral students leave their programs early due to lack of mentoring relationships needed to support degree completion and success. However, they


© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Association for Clinical and Translational Science. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Responding to new NCATS requirements for D&I in CTSAs: JCTS articles that pave the way


Based on the concept of village style,the paper has pointed out that the planning of village style should follow such principles as ecological diversity,developing regional culture,general planning and sustainable development,and illustrated existing problems.From the perspective of style of spatial form landscapes,style of natural ecological landscapes,style of artificial material landscapes and style of intangible cultural landscapes,techniques for the village style planning were summarized,so as to explore principles and measures to create livable,ecological and beautiful rural landscapes.


The Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery is an international journal owned and sponsored by the Society of Acta Chirurgica Scandinavica, founded by Professor Axel Key in 1869 and sponsored by the Key Foundation, Sweden. The journal originates from the Scandinavian countries, and since many years Japan, which is evident by the representation in the Editorial Board. Both the Japanese and the Scandinavian National Associations appoint their members to the Editorial board. Since the introduction of the ScholarOne on-line system for submission, the number of submitted manuscripts has more than doubled. As a consequence, the Board of the Society of Acta Chirurgica Scandinavica, has decided about a very strict attitude towards case reports, which represents one third of the submitted manuscripts. Instead a new forum for publication of case reports in plastic surgery, hand surgery and related research, is starting in 2014, the Journal of Case Report in Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery. The scope of the new journal is to offer a quick way to publish case reports concerning original operative methods, newly discovered syndromes, rare complications etc. Another consequence of the high inflow of manuscripts is that the acceptance ratio has been reduced to 20 % regarding original and review articles. An improved reviewer organization ensures improved scientific value of the accepted manuscripts. The Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery, will therefore mainly be limited to original and review articles of high scientific quality in plastic surgery, hand surgery and related research. To improve the scientific level and speed up the editorial process the Editorial Office is extended to four Associate Editors, two for plastic surgery and two for hand surgery. In order to shorten the time period from accept to print the number of printed pages has been increased 2013 and will be so during 2014 until a time span of 4-6 months for the editorial process is reached. The over-all future aim of the journal is to become one of the leading international journals in plastic surgery and hand surgery and to serve all our readers and authors to our very best.


This paper introduces the high-precision automatic counting meter use MSP430F149 microcontroller on cement production line.The meter has two photoelectric switches and a rotary encoder to count the cement bags through a variety of detection means,the number displays on both instruments and the external high-brightness LED screen.Users can set the initial value and the maximum count,and also can choose use single or double photoelectric trigger to adapt to different work situations.The meter can distinguish the linked packages and stacked packages.The instrument has the wireless interfaces,so it has the function of remote transmission of information.The instrument can solve all kinds of soft packaging materials counting problems.


Suitable data set organizers are necessary to help users assimilating information retrieved from a database. In this paper we present (1) a general hypertextual framework for the interaction with tables, and (2) a specialization of the framework in order to present in hypertextual format the results of queries expressed in terms of a visual semantic query language.


As a concomitant of wastewater biological treatment, waste activated sludge (WAS) has become a current problem due to its huge production and potential environmental pollution. In this paper, the WAS from municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) treated by the cation exchange resin (CER) method for microbial flocculant (MBF) preparation was introduced. Various influencing factors, including sludge pH, sludge concentration, CER dosage, stirring intensity, and treatment time, were systematically investigated. The MBF extracted from neutral or alkalescent sludge shows higher flocculating activity than that from acid sludge. Increasing sludge concentration is beneficial to the MBF extraction. The flocculating activity of the extracted MBF can be enhanced by increasing the stirring intensity or the added CER dose. However, with extending extraction time, the flocculating activity of the extracted MBF increases and reaches to a peak, and then hold the line on the whole. Therefore, the CER method is feasible to extract MBF from excess sludge, which could provide a new way for WAS resource reuse, as well as cut down the cost of MBF preparation.


John Clare's confessed preference for the 'vulgar' names of flowers and his apparent dismissal of the sexual system as 'darkness visible' seems to keeps the taint of Linnaean influence at a distance. His enumeration of flowers in 'The Wild Flower Nosgay', however, looks very much like two eighteenth-century descriptive procedures: poetic diction and binomial nomenclature. Dryden's popular translation of Virgil's Georgics modified a classical inheritance of compound epithets into phrases later recognised as poetic diction. This inheritance finds an unexpected consonance in the binomial nomenclature of Linnaeus, who loved the Georgics and referred to them in his work. By comparing poetic diction and binomial nomenclature, this essay investigates the resources of compression or visibility which either procedure might offer to a bookish and keen-sighted poet like Clare. In doing so, it reiterates the case for Clare's immersion in eighteenth-century poetic procedure.


Human,whether natural being or social being,whether conscious being or beingmoid,is ultimately "objective being",namely labor being nature.As human's necessary objection,nature is the "intuition observation" and "validation" of human's essential power.The nature of human's objectivity and the objective relationship between human and nature decide to regard nature as the logic necessity of "ethical customer",and the "validity" of environmental ethics.The view of Marxism's of anthropology both vanquish and reserve the "natural human" of non-authropocentrism and revise the "rational" human of anthropocentrism;it will provide a full "ontological identification" for the foundation of environmental ethics.


The aim of present study was to investigate the possible influence and related mechanism of alcohol on the agonist-induced arterial contraction. Agonist-induced vascular smooth muscle contractions involve the activation of thick or thin filament pathway. However, there are no reports addressing the question whether this pathway is involved in alcohol-induced relaxation reported in rat aortae contracted with thromboxane A2 or phorbol ester. We hypothesized that alcohol plays a role in vascular contraction evoked by a vasoconstrictor in rat aortae regardless of endothelial function. Endothelium-denuded arterial rings from male Sprague-Dawley rats were used and isometric contractions were recorded using a computerized data acquisition system. Interestingly, alcohol didn`t inhibit thromboxane A2 or phorbol ester-induced contraction regardless of endothelial function. Therefore, alcohol didn`t decrease any agonist-induced contraction suggesting that additional pathways different from endothelial nitric oxide synthesis might not be involved in the already reported vasorelaxation. In conclusion, in the agonists-contracted rat aortae, alcohol has no effect on the regulation of vascular smooth muscle contractility regardless of endothelial function.


Abstract : In this report, we present research toward a vision-based landing system for unmanned rotorcraft in unknown terrain that is centered around our Recursive Multi-Frame Planar Parallax algorithm for high-accuracy terrain mapping. We give an in-depth description of the vision system, an overview of our experimental platforms, and both synthetic and experimental terrain mapping results.


Abstract Aiming at the problem of complex control, power interference and master-slave friction plates wore seriously of dual-clutch transmission, a novel dual-clutch transmission with one-way clutches was designed. The structural characteristics and shift principle of the novel dual-clutch transmission had been analyzed and through force analysis on the shifting process, the dynamic models of the transmission system were established. Finally, the dynamic characteristics of shifting process were analyzed based on computer simulation. The simulation results indicated that the dual-clutch transmission with one-way clutches was not only steady during the overall shifting process but also can ensure excellent acceleration performance and avoid power interference, meeting the requirement of vehicle comfort and dynamic performance.


Based on practical experiences with the first generation of digital cameras the impact of four new digital aerial cameras on the DEM generation is estimated. The cameras are evaluated with respect to elevation accuracy, area coverage and image quality. In the derived formulae for the absolute accuracy of elevations a camera factor is applied, which summarizes several features in one number. The produced graphs show the potential of the new cameras regarding the relative and absolute accuracy of automatically derived elevations. For better absolute elevation accuracy the increase of the base/height ratio and of the resolving power of lenses are more important than the reduction of the pixel size. Improvement of the elevation accuracy by means of multi-ray photogrammetry is discussed.


Recently, there have been increased many 3 dimensional graphic applications in Internet. Thus, a growing number of methods have been proposed for retrieving 3-D graphic data using their 3D features such as color, texture, shape, and spacial relations. However, few researches focus on 3D graphic modeling and database storage techniques. In this paper, we introduce a system that can store 3D graphics data modeled by XML-based 3D graphics markup language, 3DGML, and support content-based retrievals on 3D data by using SQL. We also present a mapping technique of 3DGML to relational database. The mapping process includes the extraction of semantic information from 3DGML and translate it into relational format. Finally, we show examples of SQL queries which use the 3D information contained in a 3D scene such as objects, 3D features, descriptions and scene-object component hierarchy.


In his recent writings, Jürgen Habermas asks how the liberal constitutional principle of separation between church and state, religion and politics, should be understood. The problem, he holds, is that a liberal state guarantees equal freedom for religious communities to practise their faith, while at the same time shielding the political bodies that take collectively binding decisions from religious influences. This means that religious citizens are asked to justify their political statements independently of their religious views, resulting in a burden that secular citizens do not experience. To compensate, Habermas demands from secular citizens that they open their minds to the possible truth content of religion, enter into dialog and contribute to the translation of religious reasons into generally acceptable reasons. This article focuses on Habermas's assumption that religious citizens suffer an asymmetrical cognitive burden that should be compensated, and his claim that his approach to religion in the public sphere is less restrictive than that of John Rawls.


We investigate the nature and origin of the outward-moving density inhomogeneities ("blobs") detected previously with the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. The blobs are concentrated around the thin plasma layer that surrounds the heliospheric current sheet and that constitutes the outer streamer belt; they represent only a small, fluctuating component of the total density within the plasma sheet. As noted before in Sheeley et al., blobs are characterized by low speeds and are continually emitted from the elongated tips of helmet streamers at 3-4 R from Sun center. We suggest that both the blobs and the plasma sheet itself represent closed-field material injected into the solar wind as a result of footpoint exchanges between the stretched helmet-streamer loops and neighboring open field lines. The plasma sheet is thus threaded by newly reconnected, open magnetic field lines, which lend the white-light streamer belt its filamentary appearance. Since in situ observations at 1 AU show that the slow wind (with speeds below 500 km s−1) spreads over an angular extent much greater than the ≲3° width of the plasma sheet, we deduce that a major component of this wind must originate outside the helmet streamers (i.e., from just inside coronal holes).


Cultivar selection is a crucial component to maximizing soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] yield. Little research exists on the relationship between cultivars and tillage practices in Iowa. Two experiments were established to address this relationship using conventional tillage and no-tillage systems. The first experiment evaluated twelve soybean cultivars at six locations across Iowa from 2007 to 2009 to determine the effect of cultivar performance in two tillage systems. The second experiment was conducted at two locations in Iowa during 2008 and 2009, and examined growth and development of four soybean cultivars in two tillage systems biweekly throughout each season. Few interactions were observed in both experiments. In the first experiment, no interaction was observed between tillage system and cultivar, indicating that a high yielding cultivar is high yielding regardless of tillage system. No yield differences were observed between tillage systems. Plants in the tilled system were 3 cm taller than in the no-tillage system at harvest. Yield differences existed among soybean cultivars, ranging from 4254 to 4930 kg ha. Cultivars resistant to soybean cyst nematode (SCN; Heterodera glycines Ichinohe) yielded 108 kg ha less than cultivars susceptible to SCN. No differences were observed in yield components between tillage systems or cultivars. Based on both experiments, it was concluded that no differences exist between soybean grown in conventional tillage and no-tillage systems in Iowa and that local adapted cultivars can be selected to maximize yield regardless of tillage system in Iowa. Abbreviations: SCN, soybean cyst nematode.


Emission spectra of HgCI(B2 Σ-X2 Σ) band system and atomic mercury lines have been observed and analyzed in the present studies during collisions of N+ /N+2 ions with HgCl2 molecule in the kinetic energy range of 100-1 000 eV (laboratory frame). The cross-sections for excitation of the most intense band of the HgCl (B2 Σ,, v' = 0 — X2 Σ, v" = 22) transition at 558 nm were determined at different kinetic energies of the projectile ions.


The importance of cost reduction has grown bigger to ensure the competetive power of products in the modern consumer-electronics industry. Thus, it is necessary to assess the reliability due to drop-impact happenning in the process of distribution of electronic products with thinner plates for cost reduction. In the present study, the drop-impact simulation using the explicit nonlinear transient dynamic analysis program , LS-DYNA3D, has been carried out for improving the impact resistance of a microwave oven. This CAE-based design approach can be successfully applied to enhance the deteriorated dynamic behavior under the drop-impact conditions of dropping height 70cm according to ISTA procedure 2A.


The paper describes an investigation of the stresses due to torsion of a doubly‐symmetrical thin‐walled rectangular box section with four corner spar flanges. The box section was subjected to a pure torque at the free end. The other end of the box section was constrained to remain plane. The shear stresses in the top and bottom skins and in the vertical webs and the direct stresses in the corner spar flanges were measured. The measured values were compared with theoretical predictions using the 'linear' and 'closely spaced rigid diaphragm' assumptions. The torsional stiffness was also measured and compared with theory. The experimental results show the marked effect of buckling of the skin covering on the stresses in the flanges. They also illustrate the importance of using the secant modulus in calculations.


This report evaluates the performance of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) feed preparation System using Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant (HWVP) process criteria and feed properties. Included is a proposed test plan to verify performance of the equipment identified in the evaluation. The HWVP is being designed to vitrify high-level liquid defense waste currently stored in double shell tanks on the Hanford site. The following sections describe the background and objectives and the approach used in this evaluation.


Based on a series of analyses of published data sets, it was observed that there is a consistent problem in the estimation of the vertical component of the hydraulic gradient. In most cases investigated, data collected for a single field site led to individual estimates of the orientation of the gradient that fell close to both +90 degrees and ‐90 degrees relative to the horizontal plane (i.e., the gradient was estimated to be oriented both vertically upward and vertically downward at the same site). Being consistent across most field sites analyzed, but inconsistent with our basic knowledge of hydrology (the impact of heterogeneity is distinct from the behavior presented here), alternative explanations for these observations were sought. Analysis using a simple numerical study showed that this behavior could be attributed to the presence of measurement error in the field data. The consistency of the field observations with the numerical study shows that errors in measuring the elevation of water in a well or piezometer may result in estimates of the vertical component of the gradient that are unreliable, effectively being measures of the difference in measurement error among wells. It is noted that this measurement error is in addition to local variations in the vertical component of the gradient that are related to heterogeneity or transients in the flow field. A formula is presented for the standard deviation of the error of the estimated vertical gradient as a function of both the measurement error and the relative location of the data points used in completing the estimate.


The present invention, vehicle electrical system having a first vehicle electrical system branch having a first nominal voltage U The vehicle electrical system (8) further comprises at least one DC / DC converter (3), the DC / DC converter (3), the first vehicle electrical system branch (1) and the second It is configured to transmit energy between the vehicle electrical system branch (2). The vehicle electrical system (8) further said at least one DC / DC converter for driving and controlling the (3) first drive control unit (4), the first vehicle electrical system branch (1) and a first detection unit configured to detect (5) the instantaneous voltage U The vehicle electrical system (8) is also configured to compare the said detected instantaneous voltage U Here is a Further, U


The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate the influence of situational factors on codal selections. Also suggested is a model for the analysis of spoken and written discourse. The paper begins with a brief description of the framework for the analysis of a university lecture. It then illustrates two different ways of describing the structure of discourse. Situational and codal features of the static structure are discussed first; these are followed by a phasal analysis of the dynamic structure. The paper concludes with a brief look at some pedagogical implications of the approach to discourse analysis.


Someone discuss the "love of outside-marriage" of Zhu Shuzhen according to the principle of "words are the voice of the mind". But this kind of discussion is not very rational. The parlance of "words are the voice of the mind" will be right only in some specific situations and proper talking background. Because the author herself and her poems were restricted by many kinds of factors, sometimes her "voice" and "mind" disagree with each other. The parlance of "words are the voice of the mind" will be more rational in the scope of morality and value. Only the exploration of Zhu Shuzhen's life experiences can provide evidence to the rationality of this parlance rather than the opposite status. The particularity of poems especially the lyrics tells us that words, feelings and things don't always keep in accordance with each other. We must be deliberate when using poems to testify the history facts.


Among the substances that modify the effects of X-rays on cells are oxygen (1-3), nitric oxide (4-7), N-ethylmaleimide (8), sulfhydryls (9-15), and alcohols (1619). To explain the actions of these substances, several authors have suggested hypothetical reaction schemes for the events leading to the formation of injuries in vital macromolecules within the cell (20-24). Similarly, experiments on the survival of the biological activity of X-irradiated bacteriophage under a wide range of sulfhydryl concentrations have led to the formulation of a reaction scheme for the X-ray injury to phage DNA (25), which, in a simplified form, is as follows:


Establishing the Sun-Earth connection requires overcoming the challenges of exploring the data from past and current missions and leveraging tools and models (data mining) to create an efficient system treatment of the Sun and heliosphere. However, solar and heliospheric environment data constitute a vast source of information whose potential is far from being optimally exploited. In the next decade, the solar and heliospheric community will have to manage the increasing amount of information coming from new missions, improve re-analysis of data from past and current missions, and create new data products from the application of new methodologies. This complex task is further complicated by practical challenges such as different datasets and catalogs in different formats that may require different pre-processing and analysis tools, and the need for numerous analysis approaches that are not all fully optimized for large volumes of data. While several ongoing efforts aim at addressing these problems, the available datasets and tools are not always used to their full potential often due to lack of awareness of available resources. In this paper, we summarize the issues raised and goals discussed by members of the community during recent conference sessions focused on data mining for science.


As the sizes of mobile phones and watch phones decrease, the joining bolt for the products should also be decreased to a miniature size. However, the miniature-sized bolt has to support sufficient joining and anti-releasing torque to keep the product fastened. In this study, the thread shapes are designed to improve anti-releasing performance of bolts. Especially, when bolt materials is stronger than nut materials, the design of thread shapes is needed, like bolt for wood, to improve the fastening capability. Through the joining and releasing analyses of bolts, the thread shapes for SUS302 bolt and Mg alloy nut are newly designed. It was shown that the newly designed bolt has 20 % higher anti-releasing torque and 35% lower torque loosening slope compared to the standard bolt.


Making all types of public and private transport services available to users through a single and integrated digital platform is the new urban mobility paradigm called Mobility as a Service (MaaS). This scheme allows both a more sustainable urban transportation system and a more efficient transport service for users. For MaaS to be successful, its implementation should adapt to the specific features of the location covered by the service. The city maturity level has to be considered in terms of multimodality, infrastructures, regulations, user goals, and user willingness to use and pay for MaaS services. This paper discusses and analyses the results of a survey on MaaS conducted in three Italian metropolitan areas: Turin, Rome, and Genoa, which have very different and specific characteristics. The comparative analysis enables the definition of drivers, obstacles, and requisites for MaaS implementation to be successful. When it comes to cities with conservative mobility policies or cities that are new to MaaS experiences, resistance to adoption of the service might occur. The results of the research discussed in this paper can be a useful resource to enable decision makers to develop more effective and efficient transportation policies.


This paper presents a fully integrated low-power 0.18 μm CMOS Low-Dropout (LDO) voltage regulator for battery-operated portable devices. A single stage high-gain folded cascode-compensated amplifier is used to attain good static performances, while thanks to a very simple dynamic bias circuit, transient performances are significantly enhanced. Results validate a 1.2 V output voltage from a 3.3 V to 1.3 V battery input voltage, delivering a load current of 50 mA over a 50 pF load. The quiescent current is only 5.9 μA, including an all-MOS 0.4 V reference voltage. Settling times are lower than 5.4 μs at full load transient.


Modern microprocessors utilize several techniques for extracting instruction-level parallelism (ILP) to improve the performance. Current techniques employed in the microprocessor include register renaming to eliminate register anti- and output (false) dependences, branch prediction to overcome control dependences, and data disambiguation to resolve memory dependences. The techniques for value prediction and value speculation have been proposed to break register flow (true) dependences among operations, so that dependent operations can be speculatively executed without waiting for producer operations to finish. This thesis presents a new combined hardware and compiler synergy, value speculation scheduling (VSS), to exploit the predictability of operations to improve the performance of microprocessors. The VSS scheme can be applied to dynamically-scheduled machines and statically-scheduled machines. To improve the techniques for value speculation, a value speculation model is proposed as solving an optimal edge selection problem in a data dependence graph. Based on three properties observed from the optimal edge selection problem, an efficient algorithm is designed and serves as a new compilation phase of benefit analysis to know which dependences should be broken to obtain maximal benefits from value speculation. A pure software technique is also proposed, so that existing microprocessors can employ software-only value speculation scheduling (SVSS) without adding new value prediction hardware and modifying processor pipelines. Hardware-based value profiling is investigated to collect highly predictable operations at run-time for reducing the overhead of program profiling and eliminating the need of profile training inputs.


Objective To investigate the effect on neuron - specific enolase(NSE) in blood of patients with acute big area cerebral infarction with management of different dosage of mannitol. Methods Patients with acute big area cerebral infarction were divided into two groups, each was respectively treatde with small dosage of mannitol or routine dosage of mannitol. Every patient was tested the concentration of serum NSE on the days of No. 1,3,7 and 14 after onset. The results of each day of two groups were compared, at the same time compared with the healthy pelple' s. Results The serum NSE values at 1,3 and 7 days after the stroke were higher than that of control group (P 0.05) and peaked at 3 days, on more higher at 14 days (P 0.05). The similar varities were appeared in the two case - groups, no signigicant difference was found between them ( P 0.05). Conclusion The effect on serum NSE was same about the patients with acute big area cerebral infarction, no matter which were treated by small dosage of mannitol or routine dosage of mannitol.


In the process of cement burden, as the changing composition of the four raw materials, the oxide content in the raw meal product fluctuates. When the three-rate value is unqualified, the manual cannot judge the adjustment type and quantity of raw materials. This process has the disadvantage of large amount of calculation and difficult to accurately adjust the ratio of raw materials. Finally, the quality of raw materials fluctuates greatly and the qualified rate is low. So as to improve the pass rate of raw cement, this paper explored the optimal allocation of raw materials, which obtained the oxide data by near-infrared online analyzer, using segmented multiple linear regression to obtain regression parameters. Through the target value of four oxides of raw materials, the regression coefficient is used to solve the adjustment scheme of raw materials. Finally we use a variant of NSGA-II to solve the optimal blending scheme of raw materials.


Objective To study the characteristics of CD4+T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood from the patients with multiple myeloma(MM).Methods The CD4+ T lymphocytes subsets from the 30 cases in diagnosis the 20 post-treatment patients with MM and 10 healthy volunteers(control groups) were measured by flow cytometry,The percentage of Treg,Th1 and Th17 cells and the ratios of Treg/Th17,Th1/Th17 were analyzed among the three groups.Results The percentage of Th17 from the cases in diagnosis was clearly higher than that from healthy controls group.The percentage of Th1 and Treg,the ratios of Th1/Th17 and Treg/ Th17 from the cases in diagnosis were markedly lower than those from healthy controls group,and those index from the post-treatment cases were obviously higher than those from the cases in diagnosis.The percentage of Th1 and CD4+ CD25+ cells from the post-treatment cases recovered nearly to the levels of healthy controls,The percentage of CD4+Foxp3+ cells and the ratios of Th1/Th17 and Treg/Th17 from the post-treatment cases were still lower than those from healthy controls group.Conclusion Th17 cells in peripheral blood from patients with multiple myeloma make a polarizing advantage in the process of naive T cells differentiated into Th1,Treg and Th17.The polarizing advantage of Th17 cells is dramatically improved by treatment,and it is possible that Th17 cells are participated in the development of MM.


BACKGROUND: Women with inflammatory bowel disease are at increased risk for the development of cervical dysplasia. The use of immunomodulating medication is reported to be a significant risk factor for the development of cervical abnormalities. However, it is uncertain if different categories of immunomodulating agents are associated with different rates of abnormal Pap smears. This study evaluated the rate of abnormal Pap smears in women with inflammatory bowel disease who are maintained on immunosuppressants and Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-a). METHODS: A retrospective medical record review of women with inflammatory bowel disease maintained on immunomodulating medication at an urban, university medical center during a 1.5 year period was performed using a multispecialty electronic health record. There were no exclusion factors. Patient age, medication regimen, and Pap smear results were obtained. Medical regimens were categorized into immunosuppressants (steroids, 6-mercaptopurine, azathioprine, methotrexate, cyclosporine) and TNF-a (infliximab, adalimumab, and certolizumab). Pap smears were considered abnormal if there was positivity for human papilloma virus or cervical dysplasia. A database, maintaining patient confidentiality, was created. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher Exact Test with significance set at P < 0.05. The study was approved by the university Institutional Review Board. RESULTS: Two hundred eight medical records were reviewed. One hundred women (mean age 37.6 years) were on immunomodulating therapy. Sixty-three women had Crohn's disease, 36 had ulcerative colitis and 1 had indeterminate colitis. Sixty-six women (39 with Crohn's, 27 with ulcerative colitis) were maintained on immunosuppressants. Thirty-four women (24 with Crohn's, 10 with ulcerative colitis) were maintained on TNF-a. Twenty-seven of 66 (41%) women were on immunosuppressants and 21 of 34 (61.7%) on TNF-a had documented Pap smears. There was a significant difference (P = 0.0385) in the rate of Pap smears based upon medication type. Five of the 27 (18.5%) on immunosuppressants had abnormal Pap smears. Eight of the 21(38.1%) on TNF-a had abnormal Pap smears. There was no significant difference (P = 0.1179) in the rate of cervical dysplasia based upon medication type. CONCLUSIONS: Women with inflammatory bowel disease who are maintained on immunosuppressants have a greater rate of cervical dysplasia than the 5% reported in the general population. This is the only study that has evaluated the effect of specific categories of immunomodulating agents upon the development of cervical abnormalities. In this study, women maintained on TNF-a more frequently underwent Pap smears. This may be the result of a greater appreciation by women on TNF-a agents and their physicians of the increased cervical cancer risk. However, there was no significant difference in the rate of abnormal Pap smears based upon the use of immunosuppressants or TNF-a medication. More needs to be done to increase cervical cancer screening in women with inflammatory bowel disease maintained on immunomodulating agents. Continued education of physicians and patients may increase the rate of Pap smears and optimize medical management of women with inflammatory bowel disease.


Forensic economists are often engaged to determine the pecuniary losses resulting from alleged harmful acts in the workplace. The economic consequences resulting from employment events such as discrimination, harassment, and wrongful termination can be substantial and long lasting. Accurate projection of pre-event and post event earnings streams must be based upon understanding the individual's pre-event and post event earning capacities, and also the way the person's earning capacity interrelates with the marketplace. Understanding economic models that describe the nature of the employer-employee and employee-market relationships, and their effect on market wages and employment duration can help the forensic economist accurately determine the monetary losses of the damaged party. Elements of Human Capital Theory (Becker, 1993), Personnel Economics (Lazear, 1998), Managerial Economics (Miller, 1992), and Labor Economic Theory are discussed as relevant to the task of projecting earnings losses in cases of alleged illegal employment practices or actions. How human capital is accumulated, used and retained (or lost) in employment is described through connecting elements of economic theory to the employee-employer relationship and the employee-market relationship. The effect on employment and earnings of various types of employment capital is explained along with how this knowledge can be used to develop accurate economic damages projections in employment cases.


The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extant human resource development (HRD) definition research literature and theorizes a new definition of HRD.,The authors adopted keyword and content analyses to examine selected 32 HRD definitions in relation to different organizational and sociopolitical contexts base on theory development criteria and methodology for definition research.,From a theoretical perspective, the extant definitions were mostly empirical descriptions of HRD practice with conceptualization being absent. From a context perspective, the definitions were based on HRD phenomena indigenous to the western world, especially the USA and Western Europe. They can hardly explain HRD phenomena in a non-western context. The glaring gaps lead to theorizing a new definition by focusing on the hard core of HRD in defining and criterial attributes. The defining attribute of HRD is its host-system-dependence, and the criterial attributes are its shaping and skilling mechanisms.,This study unveils that HRD is a means to support the ends defined by the corresponding host system, and not an end in itself. This definition is applicable to different sociopolitical, cultural, and organizational contexts. It provides clear criteria and boundaries to gauge the relevance of HRD research and shows the unique identity of HRD, thus offering new directions to expand the landscape of HRD research.,The new definition can help human resources practitioners better understand the role and mechanism of HRD that the worldwide practitioners can resonate in various sociocultural and political contexts. Communicating the definition and goals of HRD will enhance internal clients' understanding and appreciation of the value of HRD.,This study fills important research gaps in HRD definition research. It is the first HRD definition derived through a rigorous theory development process. The new definition connects the HRD research niche to the general human resource literature and lead to new HRD research.


A better understanding of what life is and how living organisms function has always been of crucial importance to humans, but 'biology' as a scientific discipline is quite young, the term being coined around 1800. Similarly, 'respiratory biology' as a discrete branch of biology is much younger and even today the term is not commonly used. However, the knowledge about life and the discovery and study of respiration as parts of other disciplines accumulated as a mosaic over the centuries. Some of the most important persons and their primary achievements in the field that we now call respiratory biology are summarized in this chapter.


A procedure for calculating microscopically the input for standard shell-model calculations, i.e., the core and single-particle energies plus the two-body effective model-space interactions, is presented and applied to nuclei at the start of the sd-shell. Calculations with the JISP16 and Idaho χEFT N3LO nucleon-nucleon interactions are performed and yield consistent results, which also are similar to phenomenological results in the sd-shell as well as with other theoretical calculations, utilizing other techniques. All results show only a weak A-dependence.


The Orthodox Church and her symbolism have gone through various transitions during her two millennia of existence. The Church's approach to symbolism over the centuries has come from two vantage points, one vantage is describing the symbol and/or what it represents and the other vantage is trying to understand the concept of symbolism itself. This paper is a reflection on the developments of symbolism as it relates to the elements and events within the Divine Liturgy, primarily the Eucharist.


The literature describes the Semantic Textual Similarity (STS) area as a fundamental part of many Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks. The STS approaches are dependent on the availability of lexical-semantic resources. There are several efforts to improve the lexicalsemantics resources for the English language, and the state-of-art report a large amount of application for this language. Brazilian Portuguese linguistics resources, when compared with English ones, do not have the same availability regarding relation and contents, generation a loss of precision in STS tasks. Therefore, the current work presents an approach that combines Brazilian Portuguese and English lexical-semantics ontology resources to reach all potential of both language linguistic relations, to generate a language-mixture model to measure STS. We evaluated the proposed approach with a well-known and respected Brazilian Portuguese STS dataset, which brought to light some considerations about mixture models and their relations with ontology language semantics.


Financial performance plays an important role as a description of the company's ability to manage existing resources. Profitability ratios can be used as a tool to measure the company's financial performance in determining the company's efficiency in managing assets to obtain the maximum level of profit. This study aims to determine the financial performance of PT Bank Sulselbar Makassar Main Branch in the 2018-2022 period. The variables of this study are profitability ratios and financial performance. The population and sample of this study were financial statements in the form of balance sheets and profit and loss from PT Bank Sulselbar Makassar Main Branch in 2018-2022. Data collection was carried out using documentation techniques. Data analysis was carried out using profitability ratios with the two pont system approach. The results of this study indicate that the ROA ratio level of PT Bank Sulselbar Makassar Main Branch for the period 2018-2022 is classified as very healthy and the ROE ratio level of PT Bank Sulselbar Makassar Main Branch for the period 2018-2022 is classified as healthy. This is influenced by fluctuations in net income.


The insecticidal activity of essential oils from 12 species of Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) was evaluated on larvae of Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae), the most important vector of dengue and yellow fever in the Americas. Oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and their chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry; yields ranged from 0.2 to 2.5%. Essential oils were mainly composed of 1,8‐cineole, α‐pinene, α‐phellandrene, β‐phellandrene, γ‐terpinene, 4‐terpineol, α‐terpineol, p‐cymene, and spathulenol. Larvicidal effects were tested on susceptible third or fourth stage Ae. aegypti larvae, determining median lethal concentration (LC50) and median effective concentration (EC50). Essential oils from Eucalyptus dunnii (Maiden), Eucalyptus gunnii (Hook), Eucalyptus tereticornis (Smith), Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Dehn), and Eucalyptus saligna (Smith) showed the best larvicidal activities with LC50 values of 25.2, 21.1, 22.1, 26.8, and 22.2, respectively. No significant differences were observed between LC50 and EC50 values of the same oil. Regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between total essential oil yields and 1,8‐cineole concentration. Significant relationships were also revealed between larval mortality and the concentration of 1,8‐cineole and p‐cymene. This indicated that Eucalyptus species with high oil yields have higher 1,8‐cineole concentrations and lower p‐cymene concentrations and have less effect on Ae. aegypti. Our results suggest the potential of controlled crossing methods to obtain Eucalyptus trees with chemical profiles having enhanced activity against this mosquito.


The mobility of people and objects is a central motif in the work of contemporary artist Sophie Calle. In this article, I compare two of Calle's exhibitions that take a particularly unusual approach to mobility. In Fantômes and Prenez soin de vous, the objects are an email and works of art and their mobility arises from their displacement. In both exhibitions, Calle obliges the spectator to look at other people looking at the artefacts, which I refer to as the 'double look'. In this article, I analyse how this technique serves to question the notion of a unitary, individual artist behind each work of art, how it questions the parameters of spectatorship, and how it challenges understandings of intimacy in contemporary culture.


The concrete synergist can reduce the amount of cementitious material, keep the performance of the concrete not reducing or even improving. By adjusting the ratio, effect of concrete synergist on the properties of stone chip concrete was studied, results showed that in reducing the dosage of cement, concrete synergist can also effectively improve the working performance of concrete. The early strength of concrete adding synergist is inferior as that of the base, after the later the strength will increase slightly. Adding synergist, shrinkage of concrete is larger, the contraction slows after later period. By adding concrete synergist, concrete electric flux declines slightly, which is beneficial to anti permeability of concrete. Concrete synergist can optimize the microstructure of concrete and increase the density of concrete. The application of the concrete synergist is feasible and can be used to improve the efficiency of the materials.


The low temperature electrical conductance through correlated quantum dots provides a sensitive probe of the physics (e.g., of Fermi-liquid vs non-Fermi-liquid behavior) of such systems. Here, we investigate the role of level asymmetry (gate voltage) and local Coulomb repulsion (charging energy) on the low temperature and low field scaling properties of the linear conductance of a quantum dot described by the single level Anderson impurity model. We use the numerical renormalization group to quantify the regime of gate voltages and charging energies where universal Kondo scaling may be observed and also quantify the deviations from this universal behavior with increasing gate voltage away from the Kondo regime and with decreasing charging energy. We also compare our results with those from a recently developed method for linear and non-linear transport, which is based on renormalized perturbation theory using dual fermions, finding excellent agreement at particle-hole symmetry and for all charging energies and reasonable agreement at small finite level asymmetry. Our results could be a useful guide for detailed experiments on conductance scaling in semiconductor and molecular quantum dots exhibiting the Kondo effect.


The authors examine indicators of education and labor markets in the Appalachia Partnership Initiative (API) region, with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and on the extraction industry. The authors look at how the indicators have changed over time, tighten some of their analysis specifically to the API region, and introduce new measures, such as participation in career and technical education.


The rise of the internet has been transforming the way society interacts, which makes it possible to overcome barriers that hinder access to knowledge. In this scenario, educational institutions have invested in the construction of programs to meet the teaching-learning demands, so that choosing the most appropriate platforms for each case is of fundamental importance. There are several methods available for the evaluation of platforms, among which the one proposed by Delone and Mclean stands out, widely used in different fields, but timidly applied to the evaluation of e-learning platforms. Based on the above, this study aims to identify the benefits of using the Delone and McLean assessment method in e-learning platforms. Therefore, a systematic literature review was carried out using the PRISMA protocol. Sixteen articles were selected from the databases used, and the results describe relevant benefits of the method proposed from the perspective of users. This study has academic contributions because it promotes the understanding of the current state of publications on the subject and helps to point out paths for future research, and it has managerial contributions because it enables the improvement of virtual educational platforms.


Iron deficiency is the most prevalent nutritional disorder worldwide, when the prevalence of anaemia is used as an indicator (ACC/SCN, 1992). Although anaemia can also be caused by other factors, such as folic acid deficiency or genetic disorders, in most cases it will be caused by iron deficiency. Table 1 shows that anaemia (as defined in the Table) is prevalent in industrialized countries, but it is especially so in developing countries where large proportions of the population are deficient. Areas with the highest prevalence are Africa and South Asia. The values in Table 1 originate partly from the early 1980s, but from more recent data it can be concluded that the situation has not much improved since that time. A report from WHO (1992) indicates that the prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women in Southeast Asia and Africa was estimated to be 74 and 52% respectively. Iron deficiency will occur if over a prolonged period of time the amount of iron absorbed by the body is too little to compensate for the normal physiological requirements, or when iron is lost through disease or trauma. The amount of iron which can be absorbed from the food, that is its bioavailability, depends on the quantity and chemical form of iron in the diet and the presence of dietary constituents that modify its absorbability. The amount absorbed also depends on the iron status of the individual. Individuals depleted of iron have a much higher absorption rate than those who are not depleted (Hallberg et al. 1995). In adult males iron requirements are determined by the basal losses, which are normally of the order of 0.7-1.0 mg (Hallberg et al. 1994). To be able to absorb 1 mg iron, the diet of an iron replete person should contain about 10 mg highly bioavailable iron. In women of fertile age iron lost in menstrual blood is added to the basal losses, leading to a higher daily requirement of about 1.2-1.5 mg. The requirement is especially high for pregnant


Background: The aim and objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness between mannitol and sodium phosphate as a colonoscopic bowel cleansing agent conducted in the department of Gastroenterology of Sir Salimullah Medical College Mitford Hospital.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total number of 108 cases were randomly selected, who underwent colonoscopy from November 2019 to June 2020 in the department of Gastroenterology of Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital. The patients were divided into two groups based on received bowel preparations agent, either mannitol (Group MN) or sodium phosphate (group NaP).
Results: Out of 108 patients 57 received mannitol and 51 received sodium phosphate. Thirty-two males and twenty-two females received mannitol, while 28 males and 23 females received sodium phosphate. Excellent bowel preparation was observed in 32(55%) cases of MN group and 26(45%) cases of group NaP. No statistically significant difference between two groups by Chi-square (X2) test (p=0.793).
Conclusion: This cross-sectional, randomized study did not show any significant statistical difference between the two agents regarding effectiveness of bowel preparation. So, both mannitol and sodium phosphate are almost equally effective in achieving excellent or good quality of bowel preparation.
Bangladesh J Medicine 2022; 33: 263-268


The management of coastal fishery resources of India, accommodating the technological changes, socio-economic objectives, interaction of different users of the resources and other activities which influence the fisheries, has been a matter of great concern for the policy makers, planners. Scientists and maritime State Fisheries Departments in the last decade.


The effects of particle size and concentration of calcium carbonate fillers on the critical oxygen index and the evolution of hydrogen chloride during pyrolysis of unplasticised PVC has been shown to parallel the effects in plasticised PVC but to differ from them in two respects. Coarser varieties of calcium carbonate (i.e. appreciably greater than 0.1 micron) react with pyrolysis hydrogen chloride more efficiently in UPVC than in plasticised PVC.

Plots of critical oxygen index against concentration of calcium carbonate in UPVC show two inflexions, maxima at low concentrations (i.e. 40 PHR). Similar inflexions are also shown with alumina trihydrate and silica. In both plasticised and unplasticised PVC, calcium oxide produces a steady fall in critical oxygen index with increasing concentration, more marked than with calcium carbonate at equal hydrogen chloride retentions.

The complex behaviour is attributed to the number of factors contributing to overall burning behaviour. Of these, char formation, in particular, is not readily assessed numerically, and consequently it has not been possible to quantify the contributions of the individual effects.


The asd gene from Salmonella typhimurium was obtained by PCR and sequencing.The asd gene was cloned into plasmid pUC19which was named the plasmid pZL21.At the same time replacing the asd gene located in the vector pYA248containing the wild-type asd gene from Streptococcus with the asd gene from S.typhimurium.Comparing the growth of S.typhimurium X4072containing those vactors.Results showed S.typhimurium X4072(pZL21)grown better than X4072(pYA248).This work will help to improve a balanced-lethal system,to develop liver attenu-ated S.ty phimurium vaccine strains.


Describes an action selection method for multiple mobile robots box-pushing in a dynamic environment. The robots are designed to need no explicit communication, and be adaptive to a dynamic environments by changing modules of behaviors. Though it is a significant problem to deal with adaptive action selection for multiple mobile-robots in a dynamic environment, few studies have been done. Decentralized control of robots without explicit communication is also practical and important for robustness. Thus we propose adaptive action selection without explicit communication for multi-robot box-pushing, which changes an available behavior set depending on a situation. First four situations are defined with two parameters: existence of other robots and task difficulty. Next we design a set of behaviors for each situation, and mobile robots are programmed to act with a behavior-based approach. We fully implement our method on four real mobile robots, and make experiments in dynamic environments.


The vapour phase catalytic oxidation of toluene over perovskite viz. LaFeO 3 /SiO 2 and LaCrO 3 /SiO 2 has been studied. The heterogeneous catalytic vapour phase oxidation of toluene give benzaldehyde, benzoic acid, maleic acid and CO 2 as products. LaFeO 3 /SiO 2 has been found to be the most active and selective catalyst giving 75.0% selectivity of benzaldehyde at 450 ºC with surface area 18 m 2 /g. The overall kinetic analysis indicates that the oxidation of toluene to benzaldehyde is first order. The order of catalytic reactivity is LaFeO 3 /SiO 2 > LaCrO 3 /SiO 2 . The selectivity and activity of catalyst is correlated to surface area value.


This research aims to find out the relationship between GDP, Labor, Exports and Exchange Rates to foreign direct investment in Indonesia from 1986 to 2019. Using time series data, data analysis techniques use the Error Correction Model (ECM) model, which is then followed by Eviews 10. The results of the analysis showed that the long-term calculation of GDP variables was not significant but had a positive effect, exports had a significant effect, while labor and exchange rates had a negative and insignificant effect. Furthermore, the results of short-term analysis, GDP and Exchange Rate variables are insignificant and negative value, while for Export and Labor variables are insignificant and positive value.


The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and usefulness of baseline pneumatic squeeze (bulb) dynamometer for measuring hand strength in preschool children. A total of 95 preschool children aged 5–7 years participated in the study. The equipment used in this study includes a baseline pneumatic squeeze bulb dynamometer (Baseline, USA). Non-significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed between testing sessions for Dominant (ES = trivial; p = 0.87) and Non-dominant hand (ES = trivial; p = 0.61). High testretest reliability (ICC > 0.90) was observed for both measures. However, CV% was above 5% in both, Dominant and Non-dominant hand. The typical error for Dominant (TE = 3.05 Kpa) and Non-dominant hand (TE = 2.85 Kpa) was greater than the presumed SWC (SWC = 1.80 Kpa and SWC = 1.87 Kpa), consequently these measures were rated as "marginal". We observed a higher variation in handgrip strength in the group of children aged 5 to 7 years old, which might be explained by the smaller sample size compared with the other studies. Moreover, possible differences in hand sizes could also contribute to a higher variation in this age group. Future studies should also increase the sample size, especially in children with different hand


Methods in English Language Teaching departs from the usual format of methods texts. Instead of presenting each method separately, it provides four general frameworks into which methods can be categorized. These are referred to as receptive, communicative, reconstructive, and eclectic strategies of language teaching. There is a thorough discussion of the psycholinguistic characteristics, pedagogical dimensions, learner characteristics (personality, age, and aptitude), and contextual factors (intensity of teaching, class size, level of language study, and teacher characteristics) for each strategy along with an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of implementing each. Marton begins by defining a language teaching strategy as "a globally conceived set of pedagogical procedures imposing a definite learning strategy on the learner directly leading to the development of competence in the target language" (p. 2). By this definition, this perspective fails to recognize humanistic teaching strategies among its four categories because they do not identify specific learning strategies which develop competence in the target language. A receptive strategy, as implied by its name, has as its objective comprehension. It is based on the premise that it does not matter if linguistic competence is developed via receptive or productive activities. It is assumed that developing comprehension will also develop the potential and readiness for production skills. A communicative strategy is viewed as the replication, in the classroom, of the natural process of first language acquisition. The goal is for the learner to be able to communicate in the target language. This differs from the receptive strategy in that hypotheses about the language are formed not only by observing input but also by interpreting feedback. A communicative strategy is viewed, like first language acquisition, as creative construction.


Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious disruption to food security in the world. Declining incomes, purchasing power, and food production and rising prices in the food supply and consumption chain have affected and increased the risk of food insecurity, the most important consequence of which is the worsening of world hunger and malnutrition. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic since December 2019 in Wuhan, and its spread around the world has caused major changes in people's lives; one of the most important affected areas is the food and nutrition sector. This study aims to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on changes in food choice, purchase, and consumption.
Methods: Keywords "food", "nutrition", "choice or select", "buy or purchase", "consumption" and "behavior" in combination with the word "COVID-19" were used to search for English articles in Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus. All articles from the beginning of the pandemic to the end of May 2021 were included in this study. After deleting some studies due to non-English language, duplication, inconsistency with the intended purpose, and being reviewed, 25 articles entered the final phase.
Results: The results indicate that forced quarantine and travel restrictions with the formation of new nutritional behaviors have affected the quality of nutrition of different populations. It has positive consequences, such as reducing ready meals and fast foods, increasing attention to nutrients to promote and maintain health and reduce food waste. The negative consequences include increased intake of snacks, high-calorie foods, canned foods, and processed meats in some countries.
Conclusion: Decreased nutritional quality from this pandemic can have adverse effects on public health. More detailed studies are needed to examine the impact of quarantine on food choice, purchase, and consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic.


~-----------------------------------------------------------.------HONGKONG, Aug. 24 (AP) Only five ot 19 persons aboard a Chinese-American owned airUner wh n it was reported forced down and machine gunn d today by Japanese airmen were known to have escaped aUve. The large land plane, carrying two women, a baby, a small child and 11 men as po sengers and a four-man crew, was forced to aUght on a small river between Canton and Macao on the south China coast H . L. Woods ot Winfield, Kall., pilot and only American aboard, reported Japanese alrmen riddled the airUner as It sank. Bides Woods, the known survivors al'e his radio operator, Joe Loh , C. N. Lou, a pas nger, and two unidentitled passengers. All on the plane except Woods were Chinese. Survivors saId two Japanese plan s opened fire on the airliner I sengers were wounded while the shortly after It took olf from plane was sUI] In the air and others Hongkong. The pilot veered south while thAy were altern ting to from his westward course to shake ~ p off the attackers, reach shore. A little lal r five pursuit plane, " I fear I am one of the few suratacked, diving and zooming clo e vivors among the passengers," Lou to the large plane 80 that it was said, "because the Japanese ptanes, forced down. C. N. Lou, who reached a Macao alter machine-gunning us while in hospital with a bullet wound in his the air, contInued to do so while neck, said some ot his tellow paswe were attempting to go ashOl·e."


Hospital staff members reported increased stress-related workload when caring for inpatients with COVID-19 ("frontline hospital staff members"). Here, we tested if depression, anxiety, and stress were associated with poor sleep and lower general health, and if social support mediated these associations. Furthermore, we compared current insomnia scores and general health scores with normative data. A total of 321 full-time frontline hospital staff members (mean age: 36.86; 58% females) took part in the study during the COVID-19 pandemic. They completed a series of questionnaires covering demographic and work-related information, symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, social support, self-efficacy, and symptoms of insomnia and general health. Higher symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress were associated with higher symptoms of insomnia and lower general health. Higher scores of depression, anxiety, and stress directly predicted higher insomnia scores and lower general health scores, while the indirect effect of social support was modest. Compared to normative data, full-time frontline hospital staff members had a 3.14 higher chance to complain about insomnia and a significantly lower general health. Symptoms of insomnia and general health were unrelated to age, job experience, educational level, and gender. Given this background, it appears that the working context had a lower impact on individuals' well-being compared to individual characteristics.


Abstract The military effectiveness literature has largely dismissed the role of material preponderance in favor of strategic interaction theories. The study of counterinsurgency, in which incumbent victory is increasingly rare despite material superiority, has also turned to other strategic dynamics explanations like force employment, leadership, and insurgent/adversary attributes. Challenging these two trends, this paper contends that even in cases of counterinsurgency, material preponderance remains an essential—and at times the most important—factor in explaining battlefield outcomes and effectiveness. To test this, the paper turns to the case of the Sri Lankan state's fight against the Tamil Tiger insurgency, a conflict which offers rich variation over time across six periods and over 25 years. Drawing on evidence from historical and journalistic accounts, interviews, memoirs, and field research, the paper demonstrates that material preponderance accounts for variation in military effectiveness and campaign outcomes (including military victory in the final campaign) better than strategic explanations. Additionally, a new quantitative data-set assembled on annual loss-exchange ratios demonstrates the superiority of materialist explanations above those of skill, human capital, and regime type.


For the purposes of farm animal welfare assessment, Farm Assurance Schemes and enforcement of animal welfare legislation, a requirement arises for a unitary welfare score which may be the amalgamation of several animal welfare measures. In amalgamating measures, weighting to reflect the importance of the individual measures for animal welfare is desirable. A study is described in which conjoint analysis was used to collect and evaluate expert opinion to weight a number of welfare assessment measures for the importance of each to broiler welfare in UK husbandry systems. The statistically combined opinion of the experts consulted revealed the weighting factors of the welfare assessment measures selected, with respect to the importance for bird welfare, to be: 0.26 for mortality levels on the growing unit; 0.24 for the level of leg weakness; 0.16 for the level of hock burn; 0.14 for stocking density; 0.10 for enrichment provision; and, 0.10 for the level of emergency provision. Criteria for selection of welfare assessment measures for use in the field, and level of agreement between experts consulted for the study, are discussed. It is concluded that weightings of welfare assessment measures by expert opinion, using conjoint analysis, might be used in the construction of a welfare index for assessment of broiler welfare on-farm. Such an index should not be considered as a 'gold standard' for welfare measurement but as an evolving standard for welfare assessment, based on current knowledge.


The list of illness afflicting Angolan society is a long one: political instability, civil war, macroeconomic mismanagement, and the desperation born of poverty. A profound sense of uncertainty afflicts all levels of society - the government (and its opponents), entrepreneurs and rural and urban communities. Ordinary citizens are deeply skeptical of the country's political, economic, and social institutions, and regard high inequality as a sign that economic policy is largely run for the benefit of the wealthy. Uncertainty undermines government institutions, discourages long-term investment by entrepreneurs and hinders community development. Therefore both uncertainty, and high and rising inequality, create low levels of trust in social institutions. The resulting loss of social capital undermines both economic performance and the effectiveness of national, sectoral and community level interventions in poverty reduction. Restoring confidence in social institutions will take considerable time. But some war-torn societies - Mozambique in particular - have shown that it is at least possible to make a start.


In post-war Italy, the requests for renewal of childhood educational practices and the search for architectural identity converge and a change emerges in the conception of the architecture of holiday camps. The essay provides an overview of the diffusion of the colonies in the Italian context, and, through the analysis of two architecture competitions, focuses on the relationship between socialization dynamics, educational practices and the articulation of the architectural spaces of buildings, in the light of the dual individual and collective existential dimension that the child experiences during the stay in the colony.


173 Background: Cancer patients (pts) are increasingly searching online for information and support. Online resource usage and preferences may differ between patients treated with curative versus palliative intent. Methods: Cancer pts completed a cross-sectional survey at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, assessing their usage and perceptions of social media and the internet with regards to their cancer. Associations between patients' responses and treatment intent were evaluated univariably (t-tests, chi-squared tests) and multivariably (linear/logistic regression). Results: In a univariable analysis comparing 65 palliative pts (PALL) and 222 curative pts, PALL were more likely to be older (p < 0.001) and less likely to be currently employed or a student (p < 0.001); they were less likely to use the internet (91% vs. 97%, p = 0.03), social media (68% vs. 87%, p < 0.001), and used social media less frequently than curative patients (66% vs. 83%, p = 0.01). PALL were less likely to be interested in an online personal health record (62% vs 76%, p = 0.04) and more likely to indicate that they would not use online information (17% vs. 7%, p = 0.02), compared to curative pts. PALL were more likely to be unfamiliar with social media (20% vs. 7%, p = 0.01), to not know how to use social media (21% vs. 7%, p < 0.001), and to have difficulty finding information (14% vs. 5%, p = 0.03). However, no significant differences by intent were identified after adjustment in a multivariable analysis controlling for age. Conclusions: After the age differences between both groups were adjusted for, there were no significant differences in patients' online activity nor their perceptions of the trustworthiness, utility, and role of social media, and the Internet. These similarities suggest that online resources for PALL can be developed simultaneously with curative pts.


The relevance of this work is caused by the need to reduce operating costs in the group of companies of NC KazMunayGas JSC in general and in Ozenmunaigas JSC in particular by increasing the service life of the tubing used. In this regard, the purpose of research and testing was to select the optimal tubing material for each group of wells. Correct grouping of wells (PSL zoning) is also important for the selection of the optimal tubing material. The article indicates the methodology and characteristics for the distribution of wells into groups (PSL zoning). analysis of the causes (wiping, corrosion) contributing to the rapid wear of tubing in the fields of JSC Ozenmunaigas, and recommendations for their solution.


Field robotics has been undergoing rapid progress in recent years. It addresses a wide range of activities performed in outdoor environments, and its applications are being developed in areas where it was previously considered difficult to apply. This rapid progress is largely supported by AI-based improvements in computer vision systems with monocular cameras, stereo cameras, RGB-D cameras, LiDAR systems, and/or other sensors. Field robotics is impelled by an application-driven approach by its nature, and it contributes to the resolution of social problems and the creation of new innovations, including autonomous driving to reduce casualties, autonomous working machines/robots to resolve the problems of labor shortages or dangers, disaster-response robots to aid rescue parties, various kinds of aerial robots to do searches or make deliveries, underwater robots to perform search missions, etc.
 In this special issue on "Field Robotics with Vision Systems," we highlight sixteen interesting papers, including one review paper, fourteen research papers, and one development report. They cover various application areas, ranging from underwater to space environments, and they propose interesting integration methods or element technologies to use in outdoor environments where vision systems and robot systems have great difficulty performing robustly.
 We thank all authors and reviewers, and we hope that this special issue contributes to future research and development in area of field robotics, which promises new innovations.


In steam turbines, insight into the aero-thermal interactions within the complex transient 3D multi-phase flow must be gained for effective optimization. This goal can be achieved by means of efficient and fast computational techniques capable of accounting for the appearing challenging phenomena like real gas effects and nonequilibrium condensation. To this aim, we present a densitybased CFD solver library for condensing wet-steam flows implemented in the OpenFOAM CFD framework. The multi-phase flow is solved by means of two efficient mono-dispersed Euler-Euler models. Here, the numerical fluxes are computed by the AUSM+ scheme with a 2 order MUSCL reconstruction. For the presented steady state calculations, an explicit local time stepping with a 4 order Runge-Kutta scheme is used. The non-equilibrium condensation effects are modeled based on the classical theory of droplet nucleation and droplet growth. For highly efficient and accurate computations, the thermodynamic properties of steam and water are obtained by means of the Spline Based Table Lookup (SBTL) method. This tabulation approach is optimized for the presented density-based solution methods and the potential is revealed comparing to Young's virial state equation. Surface tension, molecular viscosity and thermal conductivity coefficient are computed based on the IAPWS formulation. Quasi 3D (q3D) results of the Euler equations are shown for three different Laval-nozzle testcases compared to measurements. The computational speed of the different models and state equations is evaluated, where the sourceterm model in combination with SBTL shows best performance. On this basis, further laminar and turbulent q3D and 3D results are presented for the Moore nozzle testcase B. Here, the agreement between numerical predictions and experiments is improved, because the calculations do account for boundary layer effects which are present in the experimental configuration. These developments represent the first steps towards high performance, high-fidelity simulations of condensing steam flows in low pressure turbines by means of large eddy simulations. INTRODUCTION Steam turbines play a central role in industrial processes as well as for power production, especially in the context of green processes like, e.g., concentrated solar power plants. The low-pressure stages are of particular interest as the largest portion of power along the machine is transformed here, while additional losses occur due to condensation and the resulting presence of a second, liquid phase. Because of high velocities and expansion rates, the phase-change occurs in non-equilibrium metastable conditions, as an energybarrier to form liquid droplets in the flow must be overcome. Although the modeling of non-equilibrium condensing steam flow has been ongoing for several decades [1], the recent International Wet Steam Modelling Project [2] reviewing the ability of modern computational methods to predict condensing steam flows has revealed that yet no common modeling standard has emerged; various numerical approaches produce a wide spread of results and it is currently not possible to achieve reasonable agreement with experimental data for the entire range of available test cases [2]. The numerical treatment of spontaneous condensation is a complicated undertaking, exceptionally sensitive to small changes in various parameters. In this context, we present a density-based CFD solver library in the OpenFOAM CFD framework [3] for generalized thermodynamics and its application to condensing wet-steam flows. A distinguishing feature of OpenFOAM is the underlying data structure, enabling researchers to rapidly develop new solution methods, which can easily incorporate existing implementations such as, e.g., turbulence models, combustion models or radiation models. Due to the parallelization and the use of unstructured grids,


We focus on axiomatizations of the Pareto equilibrium concept in multicriteria games based on consistency.Axiomatizations of the Nash equilibrium concept by Peleg and Tijs (1996) and Peleg, Potters, and Tijs (1996) have immediate generalizations.The axiomatization of Norde et al.(1996) cannot be generalized without the use of an additional axiom.


Haenogamasus yunlongensis sp. nov. (figs. 1-8)Holotype ♀ and paratype l♀ were collected off Nasillus gracilis Thomas, in March 1983, from Yunlong County, 25.9°N, 99.3°E, Yunnan Province. Type specimens were deposited in the Control and Research Institute of Endemic Disease of Yunnan Province (holotype) and the Department of parasitology Guiyang Medical College (paratype).The present species belonging to the emeiensis-group Zhou et al, 1982 is closely allied to Hacmogamasus emeiensis Zhou, 1982 and H. suncus Allred, 1968, but may be differentiated as follows:


This study is concerned with the examination and investigation
of facts and documents relating to past and present provisions for
the teaching of art and design in the Republic of Lebanon. It
encompasses nursery, elementary, secondary and higher grades
of schooling and includes initial evaluation of the present art
syllabus. The study will be accompanied by a survey of the
current state of art and design practice in Lebanon, as set
against the historical background and cultural heritage of the
country. The effect of recent political events on education will be
appraised. From the material a number of inferences will be
drawn concerning the needs and priorities of art and design
education in Lebanon. The study concludes with proposals for
reorganising and updating the art syllabus. In the conclusion
a number of recommendations will be made to assist with the
diffusion and dissemination of art education throughout the country.


We have developed an EMTP model of a resistance-type and a rectifier-type super-conducting fault current limiter (SFCL) and defined their parameters which a user specifies when he plans to introduce an SFCL into a power system. Using these models, we propose the setting method of these parameters so as not to affect the response of protective relays when SFCLs operate.


Development of information technology as a technical basis of the modern society enters all spheres of life of the society and influences significantly ways and forms of existence of every individual. On the one hand, intensive application of information technology innovations in the society's everyday life and appearance of the sphere of virtual communication create wide space for realisation of possibilities, but on the other hand, it often leads to social atomisation of a personality. Urgency of the given research is caused by dynamics of the information flow as a global factor of contemporaneity that gave rise to the problem of social atomisation of the personality expressed in mediated communication, characterised by isolation of the individual, when the virtual environment becomes the main channel of communication excluding traditional ways of relations.


1. Oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide elimination of Tetrahymena geleii has been ascertained for different temperatures, for different population densities, and for "young" and "old" cultures.2. The tests were conducted in most of the experiments with washed organisms in inorganic buffer solution.3. When "young" organisms are used, the oxygen consumption per unit volume of cell substance is inversely proportional to population density. The respiratory quotients for all tests were nearly always above 1.0.4. When "old" organisms are used there is an increase in O2 consumption per unit volume of cell substance with an increase in population density up to 69,000-72,600 organisms per ml. Densities above this result in lower consumptions. Respiratory quotients varied from an average of 1.11 in low population densities to 1.28 at optimum densities.5. Oxygen consumption is always greater in the "young" cultures than in the "old" cultures, densities being equal.6. With an increase in temperature, the O2 consump...


Concurrency control methods are studied in two contexts: centralized and distributed database management systems. Models to study the performance of the many algorithms that have been proposed to keep databases consistent are presented.
For the centralized case of heuristic analytical model is solved iteratively and results concerning optimal granularity are derived. A proof that for all reasonable systems the iteration converges is given. Additionally, a simple test that determines whether the point of convergence is unique is provided.
Previous studies of the performance of concurrency control mechanisms in distributed database management systems have not considered workload characteristics or system constraints. These factors are incorporated into a framework that enables an easier choice of concurrency control algorithm for a distributed database management system. Finally, two distributed algorithms are compared using a simulation model and the effect of various system and workload parameters are investigated.


As a key point of the cost chain, inventory is a less liquidable item which occupy the biggest share in current asset. Inventory is easy to be used to regulate the amount of asset 、 tax and profit.there are many reasons such as that (1) inventory consists of many item; ( 2) inventory runs through a series of operating process including purchasing 、 storage、 custody and using; (3) it takes a long time before inventory leaves enterprise; (4) inventory is calculated through many accounting. One of inventory frauds means is adjusting accounting to take advantage of the selective inventory pricing . So through special auditing methods to find the reasons and tricks of inventory pricing is important to control the disguise of accounting information.


Quaker historians agree that William Penn's Holy Experiment was destroyed by materialism and secularization over the first half of the eighteenth century. Friends became obsessed with private economic opportunity and the profit they could gain through speculation in cheap land. Quaker involvement in the Pennsylvania government eventually came into conflict with the Society's peace testimony as the non-Quaker settlers increasingly lobbied the assembly for a militia. By 1755, then, financial prosperity and political interest had usurped a higher place in the personal lives of Friends than did the religious testimonies of their Society.1 Much less agreement exists over the nature of the spiritual reformation that occurred within Philadelphia Yearly Meeting following this crisis. One of the primary issues of debate concerns the extent to which this spiritual reformation was tribalistic in orientation. Sydney James, in his 1 963 work A People Among Peoples, views the late eighteenth century as a time when the Society re-directed its energies away from the political sphere and into reform work. James emphasizes the extrinsic motives Friends had for entering social service. Having failed to resolve their dilemma as ardent pacifists who also served in public office in a time of war, Quakers hoped to preserve their influence on Pennsylvania society through their involvement in social reform rather than governmental affairs. For James, the sphere of influence changed, but Friends still retained a strong interest in public matters.2 This interpretation was challenged by Richard Bauman in the early 1970s. In his work, For the Reputation of Truth, Bauman maintains that the trials of the Revolutionary era instigated a spiritual movement within Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and one that was divided along political lines. While the leaders of this reformation


Background: Thyroid alterations have adverse effects on other health systems in the body, and reproductive system is one of the most affected organs. Here, we perform a comprehensive analysis on the effects of different thyroid abnormalities on sexual and reproductive-related hormones in both men and women in different age groups. Method: A comprehensive analysis was performed on 15,043 subjects within the reproductive age (15 - 49 years). They were tested for thyroid markers (TSH, FT4, anti-TPO, anti-Tg) and 13 reproductive hormones in Vibrant America Clinical Laboratory between March 2016 to July 2018. The alterations of each reproductive hormone in hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, anti-TPO+ anti-Tg+ groups were evaluated. Results: A total of 10,626 women was tested. Women with hypothyroidism had elevated cortisol and low SHBG and DHEA-S. Women with hyperthyroidism showed elevated total testosterone and SHBG. Women seropositive for anti-TPO had elevated total testosterone and low cortisol. Women seropositive for anti-Tg had low parathyroid hormones. Similarly, a total of 4417 men was tested. Men with hypothyroidism had low IGF-I. Similarly, men with hyperthyroidism had low DHEA-S, but elevated estradiol, FSH, LH and prolactin. Men seropositive for anti-TPO had elevated SHBG and low progesterone. Men seropositive for anti-Tg had elevated progesterone. The reproductive and related hormone levels of age group 36 - 49 showed the most variations. Conclusion: Our results clearly show that individuals with different thyroid alterations have different effects on reproductive health, especially in the age group 36 - 49. Hence, routine testing and follow-up checkups on reproductive system would be beneficial for individuals in the age group 36 - 49 with thyroid disorders.


Abstract We examined the diet of 2 island-dwelling phyllostomids, the brown flower bat (Erophylla sezekorni) and the Greater Antillean long-tongued bat (Monophyllus redmani), by analyzing fecal contents and pollen swabs from >100 individuals of each species. Although both bats are putative nectar-feeders, their feeding niches were differentiated. A greater proportion of M. redmani (91%) consumed nectar compared with E. sezekorni (50%), but the reverse was true for fruits (22% versus 85%, respectively); about 75% of both species included insects in their diets. However, insect consumption in E. sezekorni was dominated by coleopterans, whereas in M. redmani, diet was more diverse and included soft-bodied prey, such as lepidopterans and dipterans. Both species consumed fruits of Panama berry (Mutingia calabura) and elder (Piper aduncum), but E. sezekorni also included turkey berry (Solanum torvum). When consuming nectar, E. sezekorni often fed at flowers of guava (Psidium guajava), whereas M. redmani visited flowers of guava, woman's tongue (Albizia lebbek), myrtle (Eugenia), and wild tamarind (Leucaena leucocephala). Interspecific differences in diet are consistent with published differences in craniodental and wing (flight) characteristics. The more diverse diet of M. redmani and its lesser reliance on fruit may allow it to survive stochastic events, such as hurricanes, and recover more quickly than populations of E. sezekorni.


The demand of consumers for the use of sour milk functional products is analyzed. The recommended sour-milk product was obtained by thermostat from ultra-pasteurized drinking milk with a mass fraction of fat of 3.2%. As a fertiliser was used the preparation «Bifivit» VIVO Kiev Institute of Milk and Meat (Ukraine, Kiev), which includes Bifidobacterium lactis , Bifidobacterium longum , Bifidobacterium bifidum , Bifidobacterium breve , Bifidobacterium infantis , Lactobacillus bulgaricus , Lactobacillus acidophilus , Streptococcusthermophiles. The effectiveness of the use of fermentation of VIVO trade mark – bifiit in the technology of preparation of lactic acid products is proved, which is confirmed by high tartar of lactic acid bacteria in the finished product. The optimum time of digestion of lactic acid is established, which according to the results of studies is 5-6 hours, which corresponds to the optimum acidity of the product – 65 0 T for yoghurts. It is recommended as yogurt fillers to use api products: honey, propolis and pollen, which improve the flavoring properties of the product and enrich them with useful biologically active substances. Beekeeping products are a powerful source of biologically active substances. According to the results of personal studies, the optimum dosages of fillers were determined: floral honey – 6%, propolis – 0.5%, pollen – 5%. The research results show that yeast is present in the yogurt with honey and pollen for the third day. And on the 7th day in the sample with pollen, the amount of yeast exceeded the norm (50 Columns of forming units / ml). Signs of fermentation were observed in this sample. This indicates that when a saw is introduced into the product, a significant amount of foreign microflora enters simultaneously. The most stable microbiological parameters are observed in samples of yogurt with propolis. This may be explained by the fact that propolis is a natural antiseptic, which in some way affects the growth of yeast cells, as well as other microorganisms. Honey has a positive effect on the development of lactic acid microorganisms, but the period of changes in the organoleptic properties of the product with honey is less compared with control samples.


Cholangiocarcinoma is the most common malignant tumor of the biliary tract, with a relatively high mortality rate and an incidence rate increasing year by year. Due to atypical symptoms in the early stage and complex anatomical location, it is often difficult for patients with cholangiocarcinoma to be diagnosed in the early stage, and therefore, they often miss the optimal treatment period and tend to have poor prognosis. In recent years, studies have shown that miRNAs play a key role in the pathophysiological process of the development and progression of cholangiocarcinoma. This article reviews the regulatory role of miRNAs in the development, invasion, metastasis, drug resistance, and tumor microenvironment of cholangiocarcinoma and introduces the latest advances in exosome miRNA and cholangiocarcinoma, so as to provide potential treatment strategies for cholangiocarcinoma.


This project has been conducted in Laboratoire d'Electronique, Antennes et Telecommunications (LEAT) in Sophia Antipolis and is funded by Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) under the doctorate grant awarded by the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE). The supervisor for this project is Claire Migliaccio (Professor at University Nice Sophia Antipolis) and assisted by Jerome Lanteri (Associate professor at University Nice Sophia Antipolis).


In this paper,a build-up aspherical solar concentrating mirror and its design method are presented.It is composed of 38 pieces of revolution surfaces,and each piece of revolution surface is the part of the aspheric surface defined by a set of specific coefficients C,a2,a4,a6,a8,a10. According to the even aspherical equation and the law of reflection in vector form,the relationship between the direction vectors of rays of light reflected from the inner wall of aspheric surface and the coefficients of an aspherical equation,C,a2,a4,a6,a8,a10,has been derived. By appropriately choosing these aspherical coefficients,namely,appropriately adjusting an aspherical surface type,the reflected light beam can have specific direction vectors,which can make the sunbeams incident on an aspherical inner wall focus on a particular area and form a small spot. Each group of specific coefficients is obtained by using particle swarm optimization algorithm. The focusing effect of the solar concentrating mirror with the specific coefficients is demonstrated by using computer simulations and proved experimentally. The theoretical compression ratio for this concentrating mirror is 330∶ 1. The focused spot can be used as a high temperature heat source and the concentrating mirror can be used in a solar heating device.


This paper focuses on the current and ongoing engagement with slavery as a space for traumatic remembrance and explores how one's sense of self and identity might be transformed by applying ethics to the remembrance of slavery. I reject the ideas central to trauma theory purported by Cathy Caruth (1991) that considers cultural trauma to be rooted in the tragic episode itself, arguing that it is driven by the strategic, practical and political interests of both nationalist discourses and the Black diaspora. By engaging with new thinking in cultural trauma proposed by Jeffrey C. Alexander (2004), I maintain that trauma is evoked through the effects of stories, narratives and images which are adopted and accepted as our history and attempt to look past the constructed slavery narratives premised on death and victimhood to reveal subjectivities that expose tropes of renewal, creative energy and agency. I further criticise trauma theory's denial of unconscious fantasies and psychopolitical forces behind the representation of traumatic memories and consider the importance of applying psychosocial thinking to the impact of this cultural atrocity on a post-slavery generation. The paper attempts to fashion an ethical mode of remembrance by engaging with postcolonial thinkers such as Franz Fanon, Paul Gilroy, Saidiya Hartman and Toni Morrison and includes literary pieces by Caryl Philips, Octavia Butler and William Blake. In addition, Judith Butler's (2005) theory of 'opacity' is used to reveal the fragmented nature of slavery and slave subjectivity. Overall, I argue that applying ethical thinking to the memory of slavery is of critical importance not only for the creation of black subjectivity and political lives, but also for the future of multicultural relations in the UK.