Mazin Al-saedi Flexible multibody dynamics and intelligent control of a hydraulically driven hybrid redundant robot machine Lappeenranta 2014 144 pages Acta Universitatis Lappeenrantaensis 577 Diss. Lappeenranta University of Technology ISBN 978-952-265-594-3, ISBN 978-952-265-595-0 (PDF), ISSN-L 1456-4491, ISSN 1456-4491. The assembly and maintenance of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) vacuum vessel (VV) is highly challenging since the tasks performed by the robot involve welding, material handling, and machine cutting from inside the VV. The VV is made of stainless steel, which has poor machinability and tends to work harden very rapidly, and all the machining operations need to be carried out from inside of the ITER VV. A general industrial robot cannot be used due to its poor stiffness in the heavy duty machining process, and this will cause many problems, such as poor surface quality, tool damage, low accuracy. Therefore, one of the most suitable options should be a light weight mobile robot which is able to move around inside of the VV and perform different machining tasks by replacing different cutting tools. Reducing the mass of the robot manipulators offers many advantages: reduced material costs, reduced power consumption, the possibility of using smaller actuators, and a higher payload-to-robot weight ratio. Offsetting these advantages, the lighter weight robot is more flexible, which makes it more difficult to control. To achieve good machining surface quality, the tracking of the end effector must be accurate, and an accurate model for a more flexible robot must be constructed. This thesis studies the dynamics and control of a 10 degree-of-freedom (DOF) redundant hybrid robot (4-DOF serial mechanism and 6-DOF 6-UPS hexapod parallel mechanisms) hydraulically driven with flexible rods under the influence of machining forces. Firstly, the flexibility of the bodies is described using the floating frame of reference method (FFRF). A finite element model (FEM) provided the Craig-Bampton (CB) modes needed for the FFRF. A dynamic model of the system of six closed loop mechanisms was assembled using the constrained Lagrange equations and the Lagrange multiplier method. Subsequently, the reaction forces between the parallel and serial parts were used to study the dynamics of the serial robot. A PID control based on position predictions was implemented independently to control the hydraulic cylinders of the robot. Secondly, in machining, to achieve greater end effector trajectory tracking accuracy for surface quality, a robust control of the actuators for the flexible link has to be deduced. This thesis investigates the intelligent control of a hydraulically driven parallel robot part based on the dynamic model and two schemes of intelligent control for a hydraulically driven parallel mechanism based on the dynamic model: (1) a fuzzy-PID self-tuning controller composed of the conventional PID control and with fuzzy logic, and (2) adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system-PID (ANFIS-PID) self-tuning of the gains of the PID controller, which are implemented independently to control each hydraulic cylinder of the parallel mechanism based on rod length predictions. The serial component of the hybrid robot can be analyzed using the equilibrium of reaction forces at the universal joint connections of the hexa-element. To achieve precise positional control of the end effector for maximum precision machining, the hydraulic cylinder should be controlled to hold the hexa-element. Thirdly, a finite element approach of multibody systems using the Special Euclidean group SE(3) framework is presented for a parallel mechanism with flexible piston rods under the influence of machining forces. The flexibility of the bodies is described using the nonlinear interpolation method with an exponential map. The equations of motion take the form of a differential algebraic equation on a Lie group, which is solved using a Lie group time integration scheme. The method relies on the local description of motions, so that it provides a singularity-free formulation, and no parameterization of the nodal variables needs to be introduced. The flexible slider constraint is formulated using a Lie group and used for modeling a flexible rod sliding inside a cylinder. The dynamic model of the system of six closed loop mechanisms was assembled using Hamilton's principle and the Lagrange multiplier method. A linearized hydraulic control system based on rod length predictions was implemented independently to control the hydraulic cylinders. Consequently, the results of the simulations demonstrating the behavior of the robot machine are presented for each case study. In conclusion, this thesis studies the dynamic analysis of a special hybrid (serialparallel) robot for the above-mentioned special task involving the ITER and investigates different control algorithms that can significantly improve machining performance. These analyses and results provide valuable insight into the design and control of the parallel robot with flexible rods.


hepatocytes and liver microsomes. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1987;255:14\x=req-\ 18. 16. Sandy MS, Di Monte D, Smith MT. Relationships between intracellular vitamin E, lipid peroxidation, and chemical toxicity in hepatocytes. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 1988;93:288-297. 17. Nicklas WJ, Youngster SK, Kindt MV, Heikkila RE. MPTP, MPP+ and mitochondrial function. Life Sci. 1987;40:721-729. 18. Ramsay RR, McKeown KA, Johnson EA, Booth RG, Singer TP. Inhibition of NADH oxidation by pyridine derivatives. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1987;146:53-60. 19. Hornsby PJ. The role of vitamin E in cellular energy metabolism in cultured adrenocortical cells. J Cell Physiol. 1982;112:207-216. 20. Tappel AL. Measurement of and protection from in vivo lipid peroxidation. In: Pryor WA, ed. Free Radicals in Biology. Orlando, Fla: Academic Press Inc; 1980;4:1.


Nurse-practitioner-led breast clinics Mr Earnshaw and Ms Stephenson (May 1997 JRSM, pp 258-59) report their initial experience of a nurse-led breast follow-up clinic. Their data support the safety of this extension of nursing practice since no clinical recurrence was missed by the nurse. Although they do not provide data on the tumour, nodes and metastases status of their patients, they state that both early and advanced breast cancers were included. However, training of the nurse by the breast surgeon was only in breast examination. This training is certainly appropriate for patients with early breast cancer with a low (1.5% per year) risk of recurrence within the conserved breast per year1 and where most recurrences are symptomatic. We have reservations about including patients with advanced breast cancer within nurse-led breast cancer follow-up clinics. Most of these patients relapse with metastastic disease2. While there is no evidence that early detection and treatment of metastatic breast cancer improves survival, clinical assessment of potential metastatic sites assumes greater importance in locally advanced disease. Our recommendation is that nurse-led breast cancer follow-up clinics be confined to early breast cancer where core skills in breast and peripheral lymphatic examination alone are needed. If the value of a nursing role is confirmed in this setting by randomized trials comparing nurse-led with traditional medical follow-up, more comprehensive training in clinical examination will be needed before consideration of nurse-led follow-up in locally advanced disease.


Nowadays,the problem of insufficient motivation exists among English majors(Business English) of universities,including universities of finance and economy.In this paper,we are to discuss the following questions:(1) a study of foreign language learning motivation,(2) the problem: the current situation of English major(Business English) teaching and students' foreign language learning motivation in universities of finance and economy and(3) measures to deal with the problems.


Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is a cancer of blood caused due to increase in number of immature lymphocyte cells. Detection is done manually by skilled pathologists which is time consuming and depends on the skills of the pathologist. The authors propose a methodology for discrimination of a normal lymphocyte cell from a malignant one by processing the blood sample image. Automatic detection process will reduce the diagnosis time and not be limited by human interpretation. The lymphocyte images are classified based on two types of extracted features: shape and texture. To identify prominent shape features, Correlation based Feature Selection is applied. Principal Component Analysis is applied on the texture features to reduce their dimensionality. Support Vector Machine is used for classification. It is observed that 16 shape features are able to give a classification accuracy of 92.3% and that changes in the geometrical properties of the nucleus emerge as significant features contributing towards detecting a malignant lymphocyte.


Based on rough sets on double domains,we construct L-fuzzy rough set on double domains which is built on L-fuzzy relation.And some basic properties of L-fuzzy rough sets on double domains are discussed.


A 70-year-old woman presented with symmetric swelling and pain in the lower legs that developed three weeks after she had started taking a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (Picture 1). A physical examination did not reveal "peau d'orange" or "groove sign". The eosinophil count, and C-reactive protein, creatine kinase, aldolase, and soluble IL-2 receptor levels were within the normal ranges. Leg MRI revealed subcutaneous edema along the fascia (Picture 2). A skin punch biopsy specimen from the calf, which included the epidermis and dermis to subcutaneous fat, without the fascia, showed nonspecific lymphocyte infiltration in the dermis, but it did not reveal eosinophil infiltration or lymphoma cell infiltration within the small blood vessels (Picture 3). Thus, to rule out a drug interaction, we switched from PPI to histamine 2receptor antagonists, which alleviated her symptoms. Subsequently, her GERD symptoms worsened and the administration of the PPI was resumed. However, the swelling and pain were exacerbated again. Her symptoms resolved again with the discontinuation of the PPI, and a clinical diagnosis of PPI-induced fasciitis was suggested. Drug interactions are not necessarily associated with systemic involvement, such as drug-induced peripheral edema. Even in cases of localized involvement, it is important to differentiate a drug interaction. Eosinophilic fasciitis (EF) has been reported to occur without eosinophilia or eosinophilic infiltration in the fascia


Thirty snakes were prepared for this study and most speciments were infused with 10% gelatine added indian ink or vermillion. The infused cranium was fixed with 10% formalin and decalcified and then embedded in celloidin to be cut into 300 to 500 microns transparent serial sections or into 30 microns Hematoxylin-Eosin stained sections. The so-called soft tissues was taken out from the cranium in a few specimens and


Psychological assistance is strongly needed in relation to the recovery of the psychological state of children who are in conflict with the law. Semarang City has developed a school-based restorative justice program as a response to such needs. This research aims to explore the factors which could potentially obstruct the psychological recovery process of these children during the implementation of the program. The study adopts a qualitative design through multiple case studies, with the participation of three children and those close to them. The case study data analysis was conducted based on Yin's (2015) techniques, consisting of pattern matching, explanation building, logic models, and cross-case synthesis. The results show that negative support from peers, drug abuse, negative role models, emotional detachment from close friends and relatives, and negative stigma were the factors obstructing the recovery process of the participants. These findings could be essential for practitioners' design of psychological interventions which are more relevant to the children's recovery needs.


The burning velocities of methane--oxygen--diluent mixtures were determined at atmospheric pressure by use of bunsen flames under laminar flow conditions. The fuel-lean region was investigated at theoretical flame temperatures of 2000, 2250 and 2500/sup 0/K employing nitrogen, helium and argon as diluents. By maintaining constant calculated flame temperatures for the different mixtures, evaluation of the effects of the properties of the diluent and of O/sub 2//CH/sub 4/ ratio was greatly simplified. The dependence of burning velocity on O/sub 2//CH/sub 4/ ratio was not in accord with the approximate theories of combustion. Therefore, an empirical expression was developed to describe the effect of diluent, O/sub 2//CH/sub 4/ ratio, and flame temperature on burning velocity. The evaluation of this expression is discussed in terms of effective transport properties and concentrations.


Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of eating behaviors and sleeping habits of children aged 6-12 years on obesity.

Material and Metod: The data required for the research were collected online between 21 May 2022 and 15 July 2022. The study group of the research consisted of children aged 6-12 years. In data collection, online survey method, socio-demographic data collection form, three-factor eating scale, child sleep habits questionnaire (CHA) were used from 220 children aged 6-12 years who had parental consent, participated voluntarily, and were selected by convenience sampling method, one of the improbable sampling methods. SPSS 26.0 data analysis program was used in the statistical analysis of the data obtained in the study, and t-test and one-way Anova test and regression were used to examine the effects of children's eating behaviors and sleeping habits on obesity.

Result: In the study, it was revealed that children's sleep habits and uncontrolled eating, cognitive restriction, emotional eating behaviors were similar to each other according to age groups, gender, education level, night sleep interval, total sleeping time. It has been stated that children are at risk of obesity depending on the degree of eating behavior and sleeping habits of children.

Conclusion: It is recommended to conduct studies on the effects of eating behaviors and sleeping habits of children aged 6-12 on obesity.


This paper introduces an interesting tool to support the modelling of complex geometries, temperature distributions and, more in general, initial conditions to numerical models. The paper explains the approach to the problem and the algorithm choice and the coding strategy, then proceed to illustrates some workflows to embed the tool in existing geodynamics computational frames. I find this tool very helpful and timely and I am confident our community could benefit from using it. I have recommendations the Authors could consider, listed below. The paper reads well and I will not comment on the form, yet I would suggest some more explanation in the content: while i understand that the ropes are likely explained in the documentation, a minimum amount of information should be provided here to warrant a separated scientific paper, unless this is


A public health experts, it has become commonplace not to ask if a flu pandemic will strike, but rather when this will occur. Andrew Lakoff's book, Unprepared: Global Health in a Time of Emergency, outlines how this type of pandemic awareness—as both a rationale and a governmental tool—is by no means self-evident and is rooted in Cold War defense mobilization and planning. Today, while infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis remain some of the world's leading causes of death, especially in the Global South, few have gained as tremendous visibility in terms of biomedical, political, technological, and media attention as pandemic influenza. With its potentially high mortality rate and great mutagenic potential, pandemic influenza ranks among the most prominent infectious diseases. It is in this context that pandemic preparedness, in very general terms, might be understood as a modality of future-oriented emergency and resilience planning. As such, it has been implemented in countless plans and guidelines on a local, regional, and national scale. These plans and guidelines share a common underlying framework of a scenario depicted as event-like, sudden, disruptive to business continuity, and catastrophic. In this context, Lakoff's genealogical account portrays preparedness not as a destination to be reached, but rather as a continuous attempt to manage and survey potential disease threats transcending geographical, political, and disciplinary boundaries. As such, the book represents a welcome addition to recent accounts of global health security, infectious disease management, and disease prevention history.


Infusion of endothelin has been observed to increase hematocrit, and the peptide also stimulates release of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) both in vitro and in vivo. We studied the relation of these two actions of endothelin in anesthetized, bilaterally nephrectomized Sprague- Dawley rats. Infusion of endothelin (25 ng/kg/min) for 45 minutes produced a modest increase in blood pressure of 12% from a baseline of 99 ±5 mm Hg and an increase in hematocrit of 8.0±0.6%, reflecting a reduction in plasma volume of 13.1 ±0.9%. These changes each exceeded greatly those observed after 45 minutes of vehicle infusion. Plasma protein concentration, however, increased only by 4.2 ±0.6%, suggesting protein extravasation, which was confirmed by finding an endothelin-dependent increase in the accumulation of Evans blue dye in heart, skeletal muscle, and intestine, but not liver, lung, brain, or testis. Endothelin infusion increased plasma immunoreactive ANP concentration from 196±50 to 722±203 pg/ml (p<0.02), and a close correlation existed between the increase in plasma immunoreactive ANP and immunoreactive endothelin concentrations as a result of the infusion (r=0.84, p<0.01). Pretreatment of rats with rabbit anti-rat ANP antiserum did not affect baseline variables but led to an exaggerated increase in blood pressure (25.3±2.9%, p<0.002 versus endothelin alone). No change in hematocrit occurred. Thus, the increase in plasma immunoreactive ANP concentration resulting from endothelin infusion mediates the increase in hematocrit through an increase in vascular permeability to whole plasma. The exaggerated pressor effect of the infused endothelin in the presence of ANP antiserum suggests that ANP may modulate the vasoconstrictor actions of endothelin in vivo.


emitting at 125 MHz. Figure 7 shows the measured E plane radiation pattern for the three cases: the reference monopole of 60 cm (black curve), the monopole antenna of 7 cm with the NF matching circuit (red curve) and the monopole antenna of 7 cm without the NF matching circuit (blue curve). An average gain improvement of 20 dB is obtained for the miniaturized antenna with a Non-Foster (NF) matching circuit compared to the same antenna without matching circuit. Even if this this gain is smaller than the gain obtained with the reference monopole, this is a good realized gain for such an electrically small antenna with a factor ka 5 0.18 when considering the effect of antenna size on gain studied by Harrington [3].


Wnt-1 inducible signaling pathway proteins(WISP)constitute the CCN family with CYR61,CTGF and NOV.We used BLAST program at the NCBI to identify near matches in the common carp(Cyprinus carpio)genome database to each zebrafish(Danio rerio)WISP.WISP1a,WISP1b,WISP2 and WISP3 were identified respectively.ORF of the four isforms of WISP were cloned and sequenced in common carp.WISP1a was 1 089 bp encoding polypeptides of 362 amino acids with a calculated Mw of 41.2 ku and PI of 8.66.WISP1b was 1 077 bp encoding a polypeptide of 358 amino acids with a calculated Mw of 41.0 ku and PI of 8.42.WISP2 was 1 038 bp encoding polypeptides of 345 amino acids with a calculated Mw of 38.4 ku and PI of 8.22.WISP3 was 1 026 bp encoding polypeptides of 341 amino acids with a calculated Mw of 37.9 ku and PI of 9.10.They all have 5 exons and 4 introns.Phylogenetic relationship analysis indicated that WISP1,WISP2 and WISP3 were highly homologous and were clustered to their corresponding subgroup respectively.WISP1a,WISP1b and WISP2 all contained 4 conservative domains and WISP3 lost the second domain in common carp.RT-PCR analysis revealed WISP1a to be expressed in most common carp tissues,with the principal expression in skin and weakest expression in blood cells.WISP1b was predominantly expressed in testicle,brain,skin and ovary.WISP2 was highly observed in blood cells and gill.WISP3 was most strongly expressed in blood cells and also expressed in brain,liver,spleen,head kidney and not detected in other tissues.Quantitative real-time PCR were used to analyse the expression of WISP in common carp development,and the result indicated that WISP transcriptions are expressed highly at the initial stage except WISP3 and all lowest at 36 hpf and then increased before 6th d.


ABSTRACT The study examines perceptions of nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English toward accented speech and its relation with identity from the perspective of English as an international language (EIL). The data were collected from 51 Iranian EFL learners by means of questionnaires and interviews. The findings revealed the participants' considerable uncertainty concerning the relationship between accent and socioeconomic and educational status as well as their reluctance to display their L1 identity through L1-accented speech. Furthermore, the results indicated that the participants are highly appreciative of NS accent, hold negative stereotypes of NNS accents and judge NNSs unfavorably. They exhibited a marked tendency to sound similar to NSs, regarding them as the best model of English accent to follow. The participants' negative evaluations of NNSs' accents of English are evidence of the dominance of Inner Circle speakers' norms among the Expanding Circle speakers with implications for learning and teaching English as an international language.


cations of a renewed interest in nuclear energy that were seen at ENC 2002 have taken root. Finland is carrying forward the parliament's decision to build its fifth nuclear power plant; the choice of plant has been made, the contract—for a 1600-MWe European Pressurized water Reactor (EPR)—has been signed, and construction has begun. In France, following a lengthy national debate, the National Assembly sanctioned further nuclear construction, and Electricité de France has announced the site for its first new EPR station. Many other European countries have said that the nuclear option remains on the table, and most are following the United States in investing to extend the lives of their operating plants. At the time of ENC 2002, five eastern European countries with relatively significant nuclear programs were negotiating their joining the European Union (EU). In May 2004, these countries—the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Slovenia—formally joined the EU. All but Slovenia operate Soviet-designed reactors. In order to complete the negotiations, these countries agreed that the safety of their reactors would be brought up to Western standards. In the EU's view, however, the earliest Soviet-designed reactors could not be upgraded to an acceptable level and therefore would have to be closed. These reactors are Bulgaria's Kozloduy Units 1–4, Lithuania's Ignalina-1 and -2, and Slovakia's Bohunice-1 and -2. The agreements finally signed include closure dates for these units. Despite signing the agreements, all of these countries determined that the safety upgrades they had implemented at these plants should allow them to continue to operate, but EU representatives have refused to change their minds. Nevertheless, these eastern European countries have all made significant progress in improving safety and performance, and all are planning to build more nuclear plants. Following are reports on the status of the nuclear programs in both eastern and western European countries. The statistics accompanying each report are derived from the Nuclear News World List of Nuclear Power Plants (March 2005, p. 35), for the numbers of reactors, and the International Atomic Energy Agency's Power Reactor Information System, for the 2004 electricity production and unit capability factor.


High altitude air breakdown, manifested as "red sprites," is reported in close association with negative cloud‐to‐ground lightning (−CG) on at least two occasions above an unusual storm on August 29, 1998. Data from high speed photometry, low‐light‐level video, and receivers of lightning electromagnetic signatures in the frequency range 10 Hz to 20 kHz are used to establish the association and indicate that the causative −CG discharges effected unusually large vertical charge moment changes (ΔMQv) of up to 1550 C · km in 5 ms. The existence of sprites caused by −CG's, rather than the regularly associated +CG's, has immediate implications for sprite models and observations.


Education was historically valued in Sierra Leone as a possession that conveyed and expressed elite status, with the revered, authoritative teacher being the gatekeeper. The erosion of teachers' authority through government policies designed to universalize access to education has called into question the once-certain high status of the educated. With the future now ambiguous, students and teachers undertake "practices of uncertainty," engaging in symbolic boundary work to distinguish themselves from the uneducated but at the same time undertaking the same manual labor as the unschooled. They socially level the elite and concurrently seek entrée to their networks, and react to an uncertain future with contradictory practices. The work undertaken by students and teachers lies within and reinforces extant social values that emphasize the importance of both distinction and belonging, revealing education's enduring value in the social imaginary. This explains the tenacity of the idea of education even in a persistently desultory employment climate.


Figuring innovation, correspondence innovation, and mass stockpiling innovation are a portion of the zones of nonstop improvement that reshape the way libraries get to, recover, store, control, and disperse data to clients. ICT has affected on each circle of scholarly library action particularly as the library gathering improvement techniques, library building and consortia. Data and Communication Technology (ICT) has conveyed uncommon changes and change to scholarly library and data administrations, customary LIS, for example, OPAC, client administrations, reference benefit, bibliographic administrations, current mindfulness administrations, record conveyance, interlibrary advance, varying media administrations, and client relations can be given all the more proficiently and viably utilizing ICT, as they offer advantageous time, put, cost viability, speedier and most-a la mode scattering and end clients contribution in the library and data administrations prepare. The effect of ICT portrayed on data benefits by changes in organization, substance and strategy for generation, and conveyance of data items.


Safety incentives have been employed for many years as a means of keeping worker injuries under control. There are many ways that incentives can be implemented, and little is known about which are most effective. This paper reports on the results of a study in which information was obtained on incentives. The safest firms are not necessarily those using safety incentives. Firms that use incentives with greater success tend to use incentives of low value, but give the awards on a frequent basis. They also emphasize the recognition that goes with the receipt of incentives, and they tend to award entire crews for safe performance, rather than individual workers.


It is argued that the large interconnectivity and the precision required in neural network models present novel opportunities for analog computing. Analog circuits for a wide variety of problems such as pattern matching, optimization, and learning have been proposed and a few have been built. Most of the circuits built so far are relatively small, exploratory designs. Circuits implementing several different neural algorithms, namely, template matching, associative memory, learning, and two-dimensional resistor networks inspired by the architecture of the retina are discussed. The most mature circuits are those for template matching, and chips performing this function are now being applied to pattern-recognition problems. Examples of analog implementation are examined.<<ETX>>


Church musicians' participation perceptions: Applications to community music Churches are important community enterprises that have the potential to benefit individuals' quality of life. Spirituality has been cited as a positive aspect related to healthy aging (Brunk, 1996; Gall, et al., 2005; Hembeck, 2007; Hylton, 1981; Kahn, 1997; Levkoff, Chee, & Noguchi, 2002; Manheimer, 2000) and Cutler and Danigelis (1993) found that membership in church-affiliated groups was related to life satisfaction. Community music studies have also cited perceptions of improved quality of life issues (Olson, 1997; Rohwer & Coffman, 2006) as well as musical enjoyment (Belz, 1994; Coffman & Adamek, 1999; Faivre-Ransom, 2001; Jutras, 2006; Pike, 2001). Studies specific to both music and spirituality have documented a perceived impact of music participation on spirituality for adult band instrumentalists (Kahn, 1997; Reed, 2008) and adult pianists (Jutras, 2006), however in one study, non-band members were found to have higher spirituality scores than band members (Rohwer & Coffman, 2006). Church music studies have documented the status of church choirs as informal music-making enterprises that happen in communities (Faivre-Ransom, 2001; Ihm, 1994; Peterson, 2001; Seago, 1993; Tipps, 1992; Titcomb, 2000; Zoschke, 1991) as well as documenting members' perceptions of issues related to participation, such as: (1) the trend for church singers to have high scores on self-perception of singing ability (Peterson, 2001), (2) the procedures used for learning new music, and the perception for singing to be for the purpose of worship more than performance (Titcomb, 2000), (3) the perceived enjoyment of moderate-level, instead of difficult music to prepare for Sunday services (Zoschke, 1991), and (4) the perception that leading congregational singing and singing anthems were primary functions of church choir participation (Ihm, 1994). In addition, music studies have noted reasons why members join and continue participation in music ensembles. Musical and social goals have been cited in numerous studies (Adderly, Kennedy & Bertz, 2003; Belz, 1994; Coffin, 2005; Coffman, 1996; Cooper, 1996; Darrough, 1990; Hylton 1981, Kennedy 2002; Pike, 2001; Rohwer, 2009; Rohwer & Rohwer, 2009; Seago, 1993). Studies have found pianists to rate social benefits low, and skill and personal benefits as high (Cooper, 1996; Jutras; 2006; Swenson, 2006), while choir members have rated social benefits highest (Kennedy, 2002; Rohwer & Rohwer, 2009) and adult band members cited musical and social benefits as equally enjoyable aspects of band participation (Coffman, 1996). Hence, these perceptions may have different weights based on ensemble type. As a specific community enterprise, there is a need to understand how issues related to joining and participating in an ensemble manifest themselves in church choir settings. Research has documented a basic link between community music and church choir, with church music experiences being the most common musical experiences of adult community choir participants prior to high school graduation (Tipps, 1992), and church choir involvement being an influential factor on later community music participation (Faivre-Ransom, 2001). It may be, however, that there are aspects of church music as community music that differ from common community music practice traditions. For instance, practitioner, opinion-based articles (Bell, 2006; Hawn, 2007; Hinson, 1998) have highlighted the idiosyncratic nature of the church choir, where there is limited time to prepare music for services each week, and where worship may be more important than music. And yet, there may be similarities in the needs and challenges of church choirs and other community ensembles, such as the spread of ability levels, as well as the variety of musical backgrounds and interests. While studies have documented the ubiquitous nature of church choirs as music-making activities in the community, there is a need for an investigation of how church choirs can serve as a model to understand more completely the gestalt concept of community music. …


WISE 2004 In this paper, we provide a sealed bid, multi-unit auction mechanism for pricing information goods bundles. With the digitization of various products and growth of the internet as a delivery system, there has been increased interest in developing methods to price information goods. The low marginal cost of production, the lack of capacity constraint on production and ease of bundling products affect the pricing and allocation strategies of firms selling information goods. Previous work on bundling information goods assumes ex-ante knowledge about either consumer valuations (or reservation prices) or their distributions. In this paper, we relax these assumptions and develop an incentive-compatible auction mechanism to determine bundle prices and allocation. Of course, when valuations or reservation prices are known ex-ante, one can solve a nonlinear optimization problem which will give a higher revenue than our incentive compatible mechanism. Conversely, even if valuations or reservation prices are unknown, one could use a fixed price strategy to price information goods bundles. We will compare our mechanism with other pricing options for information goods bundles.


Reaction of 4-chloro-3,6-diphenylpyridazine with potassium amide in liquid ammonia gives 4-amino-3,6-diphenylpyridazine and imino-4,4′-bis(3,6-diphenylpyridazine). Starting with 4-chloro-3,6-diphenylpyridazine-[5-13C], it was proved by quantitative 13CNMR measurements that both products are formed via the intermediacy of 4,5-didehydro-3,6-diphenylpyridazine.


In recent years, the opinion about the revaluation of RMB is growing and the trade protectionism is slowing increasing, which brings great pressure to our country. We always carry out the steady policy of RMB exchange rate, which,to some extent, is nearly fixed. The fixed exchange rate makes it impossible for the exchange rate policy to adjust the domestic ecnomic balance and international trade balance and it loses many benefits which must be obtained. By analyzing a series of possible econmic problems about the revaluation of RMB, the essay elaborates the benefits brought by the revaluation of RMB brings to our country and accounts for the necessity of the revaluation of RMB.


Gaining the technological sovereignty is one of the main goals that the Russian Government is pursuing today. Under these conditions, the importance of professionals, who are "specialists of the highest qualification level" as defined by the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, is growing. The information about dynamics, composition and specific features of the group of professionals in Russia is becoming more significant as well. However, professionals as a group are now poorly identified. Among the data on professionals available for a researcher, only two credible sources of information can be named – the employment statistics published by the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation and scientific publications devoted to them, and the date from The Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey – Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE). Only abovementioned sources provide data in which structure professionals are separately identified. Therefore, we assume that currently available information about professionals is insufficient, contradictory, and partly quite controversial. This is mainly due to methodological and methodical challenges of the definition of the term "professional". This article analyzes how the term "professional" is defined in Russian science and statistics. The author offers ways to overcome the vagueness associated with the use of the term "professional" by analyzing features of Russian institutional environment. In this article, the main approaches to the interpretation of the concept "professional" in social sciences are determined. The specific features of the classification of the term in the ISCO-08 and All-Russian Classification of Occupations are considered in the article. The solution proposed involves correcting the basic version of ISCO-08 in RLMS-HSE databases. The advantages of an adjusted version of ISCO-08 that can be used in research on socio-professional structure in general and with the focus on professionals are demonstrated in the article. The article also discusses how the share, composition, and characteristic features of the group of professionals change when the approach offered by the author is applied. The multidirectional dynamics in the share of professionals when different versions of ISCO-08 are used is demonstrated on the RLMS-HSE data from 2001–2021, and the conclusion is made about the specifics of the institutional environment in Russia which strongly affects the situation of this professional group.


Using X-ray diffraction methods (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, with microanalysis (SEM with EDS) and positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) the Al2O3, coatings obtained by microarc oxidation under different of deposition conditions were analyzed. It was shown by changing the electrolytic-plasma deposition parameters we can control the element composition of coatings, as well as physical and mechanical properties of coatings and surface morphology.


Filmmakers in south east NSW are working with a government arts body to boost production skills, find finance, and reach audiences. South East Arts (SEA) hosted two workshops in Bega to bring local film makers together as a beginning of a three year screen industry development strategy.


To develop and apply a method to measure in vivo electrical conductivity values using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in subjects with breast cancer.


Time-resolved second-harmonic generation was used to generate and detect coherent LO phonons in semiconductor heterojunctions. Three coherent LO/sub GaAs/, LO/sub GaAs-like/, and LO/sub AlAs-like/ phonons were launched by transiently screening the depletion field in the GaAs/Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/ interfacial region.


LOCATION - Rockley Beach, Christ Church, south coast, Barbados, West Indies. Opposite Rockley Beach on the south coast of the island. Conveniently close to shops, supermarkets, restaurants and night life. For more restaurants and great nightlife, the..


In this article, we develop a tracking model predictive control (MPC) scheme for nonlinear systems using the linearized dynamics at the current state as a prediction model. Under reasonable assumptions on the linearized dynamics, we prove that the proposed MPC scheme exponentially stabilizes the optimal reachable equilibrium w.r.t. a desired target setpoint. Our theoretical results rely on the fact that, close to the steady-state manifold, the prediction error of the linearization is small, and hence, we can slide along the steady-state manifold toward the optimal reachable equilibrium. The closed-loop stability properties mainly depend on a cost matrix, which allows us to trade off performance, robustness, and the size of the region of attraction. In an application to a nonlinear continuous stirred tank reactor, we show that the scheme, which only requires solving a convex quadratic program online, has comparable performance to a nonlinear MPC scheme while being computationally significantly more efficient. Furthermore, our results provide the basis for controlling nonlinear systems based on data-dependent linear prediction models, which we explore in our companion paper.


To formulate and evaluate bioadhesive gel incorporated Amoxicillin trihydrate loaded microspheres in order to sustain, localize and target drug action in periodontal pockets. Amoxicillin trihydrate was loaded in gelatine microspheres using glutaraldehyde cross linking. The microspheres were evaluated for % yield, % drug entrapment, particle size, drug release as well as by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Effect of drug: polymer ratio, stirring rate, glutaraldehyde amount, continuous phase amount on particle size and drug entrapment was also investigated. The microspheres were incorporated into gel and evaluated for pH, viscosity, bio adhesive strength and drug release. % yield, % drug entrapment and particle size of optimized batch (F8) microspheres were 94.2%, 94.3%, 80.1μm, respectively. SEM showed spherical geometry of microspheres. The pH, viscosity and bioadhesive strength of bioadhesive gel was 6.9, 4000cps, 6.5gm, respectively. Sustain release of Amoxicillin trihydrate over a 6hr period from the microspheres and gel was achieved. Bioadhesive gel loaded with microspheres of Amoxicillin trihydrate is a localized delivery system for the treatment of infection in periodontal pockets.


The pure perovskite structure composition La1-xSrxCoO3(LSC, x = 0. 10-0. 50) powders were synthesized with microwave irradiation technique, using corresponding nitrate or carbonate as raw materials. Results show that the La2O3 and SrCO3 are transparent to 2.45 GHz microwave , whereas Co304 behaves with a strong coupling and absorbability with this waveband.. The contents of SrCO3 in mixture play a great influence on the microwave coupling and absorbability of the mixture. In comparison with traditional solid-state reaction synthesis route, the reaction time is greatly reduced by microwave irradiation solid-state reaction technique. When the output power of microwave oven is 700-800 W, reaction time can less than or egual to 25 min, due to the reac-tants effectively absorb the microwave energy. The high efficiency is attributed to that the reactants couple directly with the microwave and absorbit.


Diabetes is a metabolic condition caused by either a lack of insulin production from the pancreas or insufficient utilization of insulin by the body. It is among the most prevalent diseases without a known cure, however, survival can be increased with timely detection. This study discussed the utilization of an ensemble learning method called extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm for analyzing the early-stage diabetes risk dataset. First, a predictive model is formulated using the XGBoost algorithm in classifying a positive or negative diabetes case. Second, a feature importance analysis is implemented to measure the relative importance of each input feature in the dataset. Lastly, an XGBoost decision tree structure is generated illustrating set conditions of a negative or positive diabetes case. Experimental result showed that the formulated predictive model (accuracy = 0.9903, kappa coefficient = 0.9797, f-score = 0.990) outperformed the methods discussed in previous literatures. The feature importance analysis revealed that the 'age' variable has the highest relative score for early-stage diabetes risk prediction. This result confirms previous findings that age often does influence diabetes, since increased insulin resistance and impaired pancreatic islet function is associated with aging. In the latter part of this paper, the XGBoost decision tree model provided 13 different decision rules for early-stage diabetes risk prediction.


Objective To investigate the inhibitory effects of aminoguanidine(AG),a selective inhibitor of inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS), on mice stomach cancer and its′mechanism. Methods The mice stomach cancer cell lines MFC were implanted subcutaneously in Kunming mice.Fifty mice were randomly divided into 5 groups: Control group (saline solution), MMC group (Mitomycin, twice a week 0 7 mg·kg -1 i p ),low dosage AG group (AG L, 50 mg·kg -1 ·d -1 i p ), high dosage AG group (AG H, 150 mg·kg -1 ·d -1 i p ) and combined treatment of both MMC and high dosage AG group(MMC+AG H).All drugs were given by intraperitoneal injection. Two weeks after implantation, the mice were sacrificed, and the tumor weight,inhibitory rates,intratumoral microvessel density (MVD),the positive rate of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and iNOS were evaluated,respectively. In addition,serum were collected and nitrite levels were tested using Greiss assay. Results Compared with the negative control group,the growth of the orthotopically implanted tumor was significantly inhibited due to the reduced weight and the inhibitory rates of tumor in AG H group and MMC+AG H group were 47 1% and 52 9%,respectively. The MVD was decreased significantly in MMC+AG H group and AG H group [(21 2±12 4)% and (8 8±2 6)%],compared with control group [(68 3±10 6)%] ( P 0 01). The positive rates of VEGF and iNOS in negative control group were (10 3±1 6)% and (11 3±1 3)%. However,they were (4 8±1 6)%,(3 8±0 9)% and (2 1±1 4)%,(2 4±1 1)% in AG H group and MMC+AG H group,respectively.Conclusion AG can significantly restrain the development of mice stomach cancer through inhibiting the expression of iNOS,VEGF and decreasing MVD. Combination treatment can improve the inhibitory effect.


Experimental performances of new low-power, reliable start-up CMOS RC and crystal oscillators are presented. The oscillators use a modified Fabre-Normand translinear current conveyor for realization of their negative impedance converter. Measurements show reliable oscillation start-up for power supply voltages that range from 1.5 V to 5 V with current consumption from 100 nA to 1.2 mA, respectively. Oscillation frequencies up to 55 MHz have been observed in circuits fabricated in a modest 2 /spl mu/m CMOS technology.


The writers attempted the quantitative determination of quartz in Iwaki clay and calcined lungs of silicosis patients by means of Geiger-counter X-ray spectrometer in two different ways. In the first place, they followed the technique proposed by Clark and Reynolds, with some modifications for the use of Geiger-counter X-ray spectrometer in order to make an accurate intensity measurements. In the second place, they adopted a method newly devised by themselves, in which the amounts of quartz (x%) were determined from the following equation; x=100⋅a⋅(IQ/IF)1/100{(IQ/IF)2-(IQ/IF)1}+a(IQ/IF)2(%)a: the amount of quartz further added to the original material.(IQ/IF)1: the intensity ratio between quartz and fluorite in a specimen in which constant amount of fluorite was added to the original material.(IQ/IF)2: the intenity ratio between quartz and fluorite in a specimen in which known amount of quartz (a%) and fluorite were added to the original material.Fair similarities were seen between the values obtained by these two methods.Geiger-counter X-ray spectrometer used for this study was constructed by the present writers' themselves.


Irradiation of trans-2-cinnamylphenol (2a) in hexane, under argon, led to the cis isomer 2b, 2-benzyl 2,3-dihyrobenzofuran (3), and 2-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzopyran (4). The presence of oxygen produced a marked decrease of the 2b yield, with a parallel enhancement of the pathway leading to 3 and 4. In benzene, the cyclization process was enhanced, together with the 3:4 ratio. The latter was less favored in the presence of photosensitizers with lower singlet energies, such as toluene, methyl benzoate, or p-dichlorobenzene. In the acetone-photosensitized reaction, a clean and efficient isomerization to 2b took place


D‐Amino acid oxidase (DAO) catalyzes oxidative deamination of D‐amino acids. Since D‐amino acids are considered to be rare in eukaryotes, physiological function of this enzyme has been enigmatic for a long time. Mutant mice lacking DAO were found, and their strain was established. The urine of the mutant mice contained large amounts of D‐amino acids. D‐Amino acids were also present in their organs and blood. The origin of these D‐amino acids was pursued. The results indicate that one of the physiological functions of DAO is the metabolism of D‐amino acids of internal and external origin. A large amount of D‐serine is shown to exist in the brain of mammals. It binds to the coagonist‐binding site of N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) subtype of glutamate receptors and enhances the neurotransmission. DAO metabolizes this D‐serine and, therefore, modulates neurotransmission. Mutant mice displayed phenotypes resulting from the enhanced NMDA receptor function. Recent studies have shown that DAO is associated with schizophrenia. Mutant mice were resistant to the drugs which act on NMDA receptors and elicit schizophrenia‐like symptoms. Recently, mutant rats lacking DAO have also been found. They were free from D‐serine‐induced nephrotoxicity, indicating involvement of DAO in this toxicity. The mutant mice and rats lacking DAO would be useful for the elucidation of the physiological functions of DAO and the etiology of neuronal diseases associated with DAO.


Recently numerous numerical experiments on realistic calculation have shown that the conjugate A-orthogonal residual squared (CORS) method is often competitive with other popular methods. However, the CORS method, like the CGS method, shows irregular convergence, especially appears large intermediate residual norm, which may lead to worse approximate solutions and slower convergence rate. In this paper, we present a new product-type method for solving complex non-Hermitian linear systems based on the biconjugate A-orthogonal residual (BiCOR) method, where one of the polynomials is a BiCOR polynomial, and the other is a BiCOR polynomial with the same degree corresponding to different initial residual. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


. In a graph story the vertices enter a graph one at a time and each vertex persists in the graph for a fixed amount of time ω , called viewing window. At any time, the user can see only the drawing of the graph induced by the vertices in the viewing window and this determines a sequence of drawings. For readability, we require that all the drawings of the sequence are planar. For preserving the user's mental map we require that when a vertex or an edge is drawn, it has the same drawing for its entire life. We study the problem of drawing the entire sequence by mapping the vertices only to ω + k given points, where k is as small as possible. We show that: ( i ) The problem does not depend on the specific set of points but only on its size; ( ii ) the problem is NP -hard and is FPT when parameterized by ω + k ; ( iii ) there are families of graph stories that can be drawn with k = 0 for any ω , while for k = 0 and small values of ω there are families of graph stories that can be drawn and others that cannot; ( iv ) there are families of graph stories that cannot be drawn for any fixed k and families of graph stories that require at least a certain k .


The article presents valuation models that can be used to derive the value of vary real properties. The valuation of real properties plays a major role in the real estate asset management for example when the real property is being sold (Reinert, 2019). The traditional models were studied, and it was found that the income capitalization method is the most popularly used formula when appraising the commercial spaces as they generate income—the potential income that the real property will generate in the future is estimated income. It was found that the income capitalization approach has its shortcomings. The capitalization rates that are used in the approach are full of assumptions that are subjective to the appraiser that is making the method biased. The methods also do not also incorporate the flexibility of the real property that the managers make. Flexibility in the real estate comes from the ability of the management to alter the nature of the real property project as the future unfolds. Real option approach has been introduced as a new method as it is more accurate because it incorporates the flexibility of the use of the property. The usage of real options in real estate, especially on vacant land can be traced back to 1965 (Sebehela, 2012). It seems that most appraisers are not and/or not skilled in using real options. The article proposes that the real options approach should be the one used when valuing commercial


Purpose of the paper : This literature review aims to extend the knowledge about family involvement-firm performance relationship; Methodology : The article offers a systematic review of studies and applies the technique of meta-analysis to establish a quantitative generalization of the effects of familiarity on performance; Results : The analysis highlights that family involvement-firm performance relationship is not significant and that a deep eterogeneity among studies exisists; Limits : The paper does not consider all possible variables, which can explain the methodological heterogeneity among studies; Implications : Results suggest the need to look for mediating and/or moderating variables able to explain the family involvement-performance relationship; Originality of the paper : the article attempts to summarize statistically the conflicting results of empirical studies trying to provide an answer to the question of Villalonga and Amit (2006): Does familiarity create or destroy value?


s: August 22-27, 1993, Paris, France. Seattle: lASP Publications. 1993:294-295. 49. LeResche L, Saunders K, Von Korff MR, Barlow W, Dworkin SF. Use of exogenous hormones and risk of temporomandibular disorder pain. Pain 1997;69:153-160. 50. Brynhildsen JO, Bjors E, Skarsgard C, Hammar ML. Is hormone replacetnent therapy a risk factor for low back pain among postmenopausal women? Spine 1998; 23:809-813, 51. Wreje U, Isacsson D, Aberg H. Oral contraceptives and back pain in women in a Swedish community. Inl J Epidemiol 1997;26:71-.74. 52. Gooikasian P. Cyclic changes in pain perception: An ROC analysis. Percept Psychophys 19S0;27:499-504, 53. Gooikasian P. An ROC analysis of pain teactions in dys. menorrheic and non dysmenottheic women. Percept Psychophy; !983;34:381-386. 54. Fillingim RB, Maixner W, Girdler SS, Light KC, Hatris MB, Sheps DS, Mason GA. Ischémie but nor thermal pain sensitivity varies a c toss the menstrual cycle. Psychos o m Med 1997;59:512-520. 55. Giamberardino MA, Berkley KJ, lezïi S, De Bigontina P, Vecchiet L. Pain threshold variations in somatic wall tissues as a function of menstrual cycle, segmental site and tissue depth in non-dysmenorrheic women, dysmenorrheic women and men. Pain 1997;71:187-197. Joumal of Otofacial Pain 181


models of interacting populations. They tried to obtain salient properties of popula tions which are rather insensitive to initial conditions and details of assumptions. In their 'statistical mechanical' treatment of population dynamics, they regarded LVM as a first principle. However, in Lotka-Volterra type model parameters specifying the dynamical system are given in terms of groups and not in terms of individuals. Namely, the growth rate of population of each species called Mal thusian parameter is given in terms of the intraspecific and interspecific interaction, and not in terms of the trait of each individual of a species, such as viability, fecundity, motility, and social behaviors such as helping or attacking towards neigh bors. In this sense their treatment is not fully statistical mechanical, but rather


The Harmonic Resonance Magneto v1.8 outputs a variety of tones based on a predetermined scale programmed onto an Arduino board. The user has the opportunity to intervene and tune this sound output using the 5 control knobs. At certain points during this period of experimentation the resonance on top of the water 'clicks' into sound formations - visualized. The resulting generative patterns sometimes, with fine tuning, result in square 'clusters'.


Measurements of the Zener relaxation in single crystals of Cu-18at.%Au and Cu3Au are presented. In the 18at.% alloy only one internal friction peak is observed at low frequencies (of the order of 1 Hz). This peak is only slightly wider than a Debye's peak. An additional hump appears at intermediate frequencies (of the order of 60 Hz). The Zener peak in the Cu 3 Au alloy is accompanied by an additional maximum produced by the order-disorder transition. A measurement of the derivative of the damping with respect to the frequency through the use of a pendulum with variable moment of inertia shows that non-linear effects are present in the Zener relaxation in both alloys.


High flux hemodialysis has largely replaced low flux hemodialysis in developed countries. Clinical trials, in particular the Hemo and the MPO studies, conducted many years ago, showed that the survival benefit was mainly for patients on long term hemodialysis for the first one and for high risk patients with low albumin level (less than 40g/dl) for the latter. Moreover, the effect on hematopoiesis or mineral balance is not unequivocally established in the literature. In Lebanon, following the recommendations of the ministry of health, we switched patients undergoing hemodialysis at our center from low to high flux starting April 2019. We aimed in this study to assess the effect of this switch on hemoglobin level, dose of ESA used, mineral metabolism parameters and nutritional parameters.

 This is an observational pre-post study where each patient is his own control. Subjects included are adults on chronic hemodialysis for more than 6 months at Hotel Dieu de France University Hospital. Patients who needed transfusion for bleeding, admission to the hospital or parathyroidectomy during the study period were excluded from the study. Demographic parameters, medical history and laboratory values were extracted from the patients' files.
 Paired t- test was used to compare values obtained in the 6 months on low flux compared to the 6 months on high flux hemodialysis.

 Seventy four patients received sequentially both techniques (45 males and 29 females). Mean age was 66 years, mean dialysis vintage 65 months, diabetic and vascular diseases were the most frequent causes of ESRD found in 27 and 15% of the cases. Hemoglobin level significantly increased from 11 +/- 0.82 to 11.26 +/- 0.67 mg/dl (p=0.04) with a non-significant trend towards a lower ESA dose: 11620 UI/week (+/-2275 UI) in the first period versus 10860 UI/week (+/-2609 UI) during the second period (p=0.15). Ferritin levels were higher in the second part of the study (416 v/s 476 ng/ml) which may have contributed to the increase in hemoglobin. Phosphorus level decreased from 1.55 to 1.48 mmol/l (p=0.008) at the same doses of binders and practically stable levels of calcium and PTH. Most interestingly, albumin level increased from 38 to 40.3 g/dl (p<0.001). Finally urea reduction ratio increased from 73.1% to 74.5% with a p value of 0.001.

 Assuring quality ultrapure water is still a challenge in many developing countries. Lack of firm evidence on beneficial effect in terms of mortality may delay sanitary authorities from imposing high flux hemodialysis. In our study, switching from low to high flux hemodialysis showed positive impact on phosphorus levels but most interestingly increased albumin levels a major predictor of mortality in hemodialysis patients.


One of the classic approaches to controlling power networks, as large-scale systems, has been the use of a centralized control architecture. This approach is currently used less frequently due to its computational complexity. Another possible approach is the use of a decentralized control architecture. However, this approach can lead to unacceptable global performance of the system due to the lack of knowledge about the available interactions among subsystems. A third approach is the application of a cooperatively distributed architecture. On the other hand, one technique that has proved to be quite efficient for the control of power system frequency is model predictive control (MPC). In this paper, the performance of cooperatively distributed MPC is compared with that of the centralized MPC and the classical automatic generation control methods. The main contribution of this paper is that the load variations are applied to the system in the form of consecutive pulses. Additionally, the disturbance levels considered here have higher values. Moreover, the range of control input variations is reduced; therefore, the constraints are chosen more strictly. Finally, the total error of the system is determined, and the discussed methods are evaluated by the newly defined indices. According to simulation results, a feasible cooperation-based MPC method leads to relatively desired performance and computational speed and so can be an appropriate practical option for controlling power systems.


The patient whose investigations are shown below had cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C and multiple hepatocellular carcinomas. He was treated with 10 courses of arterial infusion chemotherapy using cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil. After the last course of chemotherapy, the patient's esophageal varices increased in size (Fig. 1). One week later, he had hematemesis as a result of bleeding varices and was treated by endoscopic injection sclerotherapy. The episodes of bleeding continued despite several further courses of endoscopic therapy. He subsequently died from liver failure. At autopsy, he had several tumors within the liver and tumor invasion of the intrahepatic portal veins. Histological evaluation revealed moderately to poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinomas and tumor thrombi in esophageal varices (Fig. 2). At autopsy, only a minority of patients with hepatocellular cancer have tumors restricted to the liver. The majority have metastases, particularly metastases in the lungs, abdominal lymph nodes and in contiguous areas in the upper abdomen. It is also common for hepatocellular cancers to invade the hepatic vasculature. For example, tumors are often found in intrahepatic portal veins and this extends into the main trunk of the portal vein in approximately onethird of patients. Invasion of the main trunk of the hepatic vein may be less frequent but spread to the inferior vena cava and right atrium has been described. In the present patient, it seems likely that tumor thrombi in esophageal varices resulted from retrograde flow within the portal vein. This would permit tumor thrombi to pass from the portal vein into the left gastric vein and become lodged in esophageal varices. Other explanations such as the systemic spread of neoplastic cells to esophageal varices seem unlikely. Whether difficulties with endoscopic control of bleeding were related to tumor thrombi in esophageal varices or to high portal pressures remains unclear.


This long chapter offers a new interpretation of the principal Christian and Muslim polities in Spain, as well as the relationships between them; it argues that the overarching frameworks of the period - feudalism or reconquest, convivencia or instability - fail to do justice to the complex nature of medieval Iberian politics and society. The chapter also reviews the scholarly literature on topics as diverse as convivencia, governmental structures and the economic basis of rule.


Raman spectra of rutile crystals under hydrostatic pressures to 80 kbar and non-hydrostatic stresses to 155 kbar are reported. Spectral changes near 35 kbar, previously interpreted in terms of a transformation to TiO2 II, are shown to represent an intermediate case between the spectra of a very anharmonic material at low pressures and a relatively harmonic material at pressures greater than 50 kbar.


In order to solve the problems with the traditional wood powder mesh detection methods, based on advanced digital image processing technology and analysis of morphological features of wood powder particles, a mesh detection method based on edge detection of morphology and maximum Feret diameter is put forward. In this method, image HIS color space conversion is conducted first, a target is extracted based on S component, edge extraction is conducted using a multi-scale morphologicaledgedetection operator,only the diameter in the direction with maximum Feret is retained according to particle morphological features and finally mesh detection is realized through unit conversion. The particle-size analysis experimental resultshowsthatthismethodfeatureshighdetectionaccuracyandsuitableforpromotioninproduction.


International, national, regional, and local newspapers; ethnic and alternative press; newswires, tv & radio transcripts. international, national, regional, historic Appalachian region; historic African-American newspapers


We consider a nonstationary array of conductors, connected by resistances that fluctuate with time. The charge transfer between a particular pair of conductors is supposed to be dominated by "electrical breakdowns" -- the moments when the corresponding resistance is close to zero. An amount of charge, transferred during a particular breakdown, is controlled by the condition of minimum for the electrostatic energy of the system. We find the conductivity, relaxation rate, and fluctuations for such a system within the "classical approximation", valid, if the typical transferred charge is large compared to $e$. We discuss possible realizations of the model for colloidal systems and arrays of polymer-linked grains.


In this paper we discuss the existence and non-existence of weak solutions to parametric fractional equations involving the square root of the Laplacian $A_{1/2}$ in a smooth bounded domain $\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^n$ ($n\geq 2$) and with zero Dirichlet boundary conditions. Namely, our simple model is the following equation \begin{equation*} \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} A_{1/2}u=\lambda f(u) & \mbox{ in } \Omega\\ u=0 & \mbox{ on } \partial\Omega. \end{array}\right. \end{equation*} The existence of at least two non-trivial $L^{\infty}$-bounded weak solutions is established for large value of the parameter $\lambda$ requiring that the nonlinear term $f$ is continuous, superlinear at zero and sublinear at infinity. Our approach is based on variational arguments and a suitable variant of the Caffarelli-Silvestre extension method.


Contents Notes on contributors Acknowledgements Preface Avrom Udovitch Introduction Arnold E. Franklin, Roxani Eleni Margariti, Marina Rustow and Uriel Simonsohn The Bibliography of Mark R. Cohen I. Community How Mediterranean Was Goitein's Mediterranean Society? Norman A. Stillman Ashabuna al-tujjar-Our Associates, the Merchants: Non-Jewish Business Partners of the Cairo Geniza's India Traders Roxani Eleni Margariti Pilgrimage and Charity in the Geniza Society Miriam Frenkel Poor Relief in Ottoman Jewish Communities Yaron Ayalon "What Sort of Sermon is This?": Leadership, Resistance and Gender in a Communal Conflict Oded Zinger Why Did Medieval Northern French Jewry (Sarfat) Disappear? Ivan G. Marcus II. Conversion Are Geonic Responsa a Reliable Source for the Study of Jewish Conversion to Islam? A Comparative Analysis of Legal Sources Uriel Simonsohn What's in a Name? 'Abd Allah b. Ishaq ibn al-Shana'a al-Muslimani al-Isra'ili and Conversion to Islam in Medieval Cordoba David J. Wasserstein Jews among the Grandees of Ottoman Egypt Jane Hathaway Remembrance and Oblivion of Religious Persecutions: On Sanctifying the Name of God (Qiddush ha-Shem) in Christian and Islamic Countries during the Middle Ages Menahem Ben-Sasson III. Law and Society The Muhammadan Stipulations: Dhimmi Versions of the Pact of 'Umar Phillip I. Ackerman-Lieberman Jews in Shari'a Courts: A Family Dispute from the Cairo Geniza Jessica M. Marglin Perception of Piracy in Islamic Shari'a Hassan S. Khalilieh Jew and Serf in Medieval France Revisited William Chester Jordan Cleanliness and Convivencia: Jewish Bathing Culture in Medieval Spain Olivia Remie Constable + IV. Letter Writing and Diplomatics Friendship and Hierarchy: Rhetorical Stances in Geniza Mercantile Letters Jessica L. Goldberg More than Words on a Page: Letters as Substitutes for an Absent Writer Arnold E. Franklin The Diplomatics of Leadership: Administrative Documents in Hebrew Script from the Geniza Marina Rustow Financial Troubles: A Mamluk Petition Petra M. Sijpesteijn V. Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic Literature "'Az milifnei vereishit": The Suffering Messiah in the Seventh Century Martha Himmelfarb A Panegyric Qasida by Judah Halevi, Its Antecedent by Solomon Ibn Gabirol, and Its Afterlife Raymond P. Scheindlin Hebrew Vestiges in Sa'adya's Tafsir Sasson Somekh Epilogue Natalie Zemon Davis Index


Oncotype DX recurrence score (RS) is a clinically validated assay, which predicts the likelihood of disease recurrence in oestrogen receptor‐positive/HER2‐negative (ER+/HER2−) breast cancer (BC). In this study we aimed to compare the performance of Oncotype DX against the conventional clinicopathological parameters using a large BC cohort diagnosed in a single institution.


Based on production rule, the establishment of knowledge base was discussed in this paper. The reticular fault tree in blackboard model was designed. The presentation form of rule conflict was discussed and the arithmetic for conflict detecting and resolution was given. Based on the knowledge base, an aircraft fault diagnosis expert system was realized.


Teachers of first‐year medical students identified possible reasons for poor performance. This exposed several beliefs about students. These beliefs were tested by comparing student attitudes with their exam performance. The findings question most of the teachers' beliefs. There does appear to be a link between exam performance and two factors: style of study and external commitments, such that the more knowledgeable students were about the type of study expected the better they performed, and the more they were affected by external commitments, the worse they did. However, other beliefs, such that students are more likely to fail because they live at home or are motivated by something other than a desire to 'do good', were not found to be true.


The initial evaluation index system of civil aviation flight cadets' competency was established by using Nvivo 11.0 software through qualitative analysis. The competency evaluation index system of civil aviation flight cadets was determined by using questionnaire surveys and SPSS 26.0 software, which includes four dimensions: core quality, ethical discipline, psychological quality and leadership, and other 23 indexes. The competency model was constructed by using AMOS 23.0 software through factor analysis and structural equation model, and the weight coefficient of each index at all levels was finally determined. The results showed that self-confidence and optimism, attention distribution, and situational awareness are the three most important indicators affecting the competency of civil aviation flight cadets. Therefore, the model can provide references for the scientific evaluation of civil aviation flight cadets' competence and provide support for airlines and colleges to train flight cadets.


This paper presents experimental verification and results for a novel process of creating an optimized virtual array for a Multi-Input, Multi-Output (MIMO) antenna array. MIMO radars utilize the concept of a virtual array to increased range and angular resolution as compared to non-MIMO phased array radars. There exist certain linear phased array antenna geometries where the MIMO virtual array can become overrepresented. Generation of an optimized MIMO antenna virtual array can be accomplished using full virtualization, the process of creating separate virtual arrays. Experimental results are shown to match with the theoretical prediction of SNR improvement.


This research aimed to know about the mechanism of productive loan granting along 2017 in PT Bank Sulutgo Branch of Marisa. By using the method of descriptive qualitative, the analysis technic of this research were observation, interview, and documentation. By calculated data presentages, the result of this research shows that in Januari until July, productive loan realitation was not reach the target whereas in August until December, realitation of productive loan was reach and pass by the targets. The lowest percentage was 11,31% which recorded in July and the highest percentage was in October which reach until 138,06%. The uncomplete documents as the one of administration requirements and error system was the faced problems of productive loan realitation.


Sound velocity, density and viscosity values have been measured at 303 K in the three binary systems of toluene + methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol. From these data, acoustical parameters such as adiabatic compressibility, free length, free volume and internal pressure have been estimated using the standard relations. The results are interpreted in terms of molecular interaction between the components of the mixtures. Observed excess value in all the mixture indicates that the molecular symmetry existing in the system is highly disturbed by the non-polar toluene molecules and dipole–dipole type interactions exist in the systems.


The vacuum deposition of refractory metals is of interest in the fabrication of metal-gate field-effect transistors and charge-coupled devices. Due to this interest a detailed study of characteristics of e-beam-deposited metals has been conducted and previously unreported nonuniformities observed. The experimental procedures are described, and the implications of and theories for the observed nonuniformities discussed. A self-accelerated, magnetically focused e-beam gun was used to deposit all films at an acceleration voltage of 19 kV. A previous study of e-beam-deposited tantalum films reported a similar nonuniformity caused by reflected high-energy electrons charging the substrates to a high negative voltage during deposition: this voltage accelerates positive tantalum ions toward the substrate causing sputtering. In the present study many metals commonly used in electron devices were deposited; in all cases the negative charging was detected. However, the nonuniformities were detected only in the refra...


This paper suggests the use of parametric cable models instead of the primary cable parameter tables currently in use. Distribution: ETSI STC TM6 working group members Status: For information and decision This contribution has been prepared to assist ETSI Standards Committee STC TM6. This document is offered as a basis for discussions and is not a binding proposal of FTW. FTW specifically reserves the right to add to, amend or withdraw the statements contained herein. ETSI STC TM6 TD 32 2(8) Turino, Italy 021t32 4-8 February, 2002


Generally, a natural river discharge is highly regulated by the hydraulic structures, and the regulated flow is substantially different from natural inflow characteristics for the use of water resources planning. The natural inflow data are necessarily required for hydrologic analysis and water resources planning. This study aimed to develop an integrated model for more reliable simulation of daily dam inflow. First, a piecewise Kernel-Pareto distribution was used for rainfall simulation model, which can more effectively reproduce the low order moments (e.g. mean and median) as well as the extremes. Second, a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo scheme was applied for the SAC-SMA rainfall-runoff model that is able to quantitatively assess uncertainties associated with model parameters. It was confirmed that the proposed modeling scheme is capable of reproducing the underlying statistical properties of discharge, and can be further used to provide a set of plausible scenarios for water budget analysis in water resources planning.


Steven B. Greenspan, OD, PhD, is an assistant professor of optometry at Illinois College of Optometry, 3241 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60616. ONE OF THE MOST commonly cited characteristics of learning-disabled children is the prominence and frequency of perceptual-motor reversal confusions occurring in the reading and writing of these children. In fact, Samuel T. Orton long ago proposed the term &dquo;strephosymbolia&dquo; (&dquo;twisted symbols&dquo;), referring to reversal confusions, as a synonym for dyslexia. 1


resulted in extensive, duplicative investment. Lo says a balance will have to be struck. However, even were this to be a desired solution, its feasibility is open to doubt, for it involves power relations between various interested parties going beyond economic reasoning. Lo mentions workers' participation in SOEs' 'nexus of control.' Many students of Chinese labour politics will dispute this. This does not only concern the interpretation of LMEs' past success, but also proposals for future SOE reform. Finally, the book defends state ownership and certain non-market institutions against privatization and full marketization, but some socialists may legitimately consider that to be an insufficient or even, in some ways, deficient (for instance, local authorities' bureaucratic interests being one such non-market institution) socialist economic agenda.


Although the concept of persistence in chlamydial infections has been recognized for about 80 30 years, there is still very little known about the mechanism by which this occurs. In this review, 31 we will revisit an old paradigm, long known to chlamydiologists and veterinarians that in 32 virtually all hosts of chlamydiae, including mammals and birds, chlamydiae reside in the 33 gastrointestinal tract for long periods of time in the absence of clinical disease. Thus, if 34 gastrointestinal infection occurs in most hosts, then it is very likely that gastrointestinal infection 35 occurs in humans as well. We will demonstrate that gastrointestinal infection does indeed occur 36 in humans and propose that this anatomical site is the source of persistent infection in humans. 37 The data in ruminants and animal models demonstrate that chlamydiae are unable to be cleared 38 from the gut by the immune system so they can remain indefinitely with continual shedding in 39 feces. Clearly, many women become reinfected from an untreated partner; however, we propose 40 that women, cured of genital infection, remain at risk for auto-inoculation from the lower 41 gastrointestinal tract. Moreover, there are substantial data demonstrating treatment failure of 42 chlamydial infections, particularly with azithromycin. New data in the mouse model have shown 43 that azithromycin is far less effective against chlamydial gastrointestinal infection than genital 44 infections. Therefore, it is possible that women, cured of genital infection by antibiotics, remain 45 infected in the gastrointestinal tract and can become reinfected by auto-inoculation from that site.


In 1992, Factory Mutual Research Corporation (FMRC) and the National Research Council Canada (NRCC) initiated a joint research project on upward flame spread in which NRCC set-up and conducted upward flame spread tests using a large-scale radiant panel facility. The test procedure, developed as part of the joint research project, is described and the results obtained using plywood specimens are discussed. The University of Kentucky team was invited to join this project and to provide their expertise on automated infrared temperature measurements. The identical materials were also tested using a bench-scale fire test apparatus to provide input for the FMRC upward Flame Spread and Growth (FSG) model. An overview of the FSG model and the small-scale tests is provided in this paper. Simulations for both the small-scale and full-scale tests with plywood specimens are provided and comparisons made with the experimental results.


Abstract Laser excitation and intensity-dependent third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) absorption properties of 2-amino 5-nitropyridinium dihydrogen phosphate (2A5NPDP) in both pulsed (532 nm, 5 ns, 100 µJ) and continuous wave (532 nm, 50 mW) regime were studied by Z-scan experiment. Under CW laser excitation, 2A5NPDP exhibits saturable absorption (SA) ascribed to be of thermo-optic origin. Interestingly the sample show reverse saturable absorption (RSA) due to genuine two-photon absorption (2PA) process under nano pulsed laser excitation. Earlier thermodynamic properties such as thermal conductivity (51 W/m.K), specific heat capacity (3894 J/Kg.K) and thermal diffusivity (7.5 × 10−6 m2/s) were estimated theoretically from the DSC curves. Thus 2A5NPDP with excellent thermal stability and high NLO coefficients can be utilized as an energy-absorbing optical limiter and saturable absorber under nano pulsed and CW green laser excitation.


The use of biomimetic approaches towards the production of non-solid yet functional architectures holds potential for the emergence of novel device concepts. Gels, in particular those obtained via self-assembly of π-conjugated molecules, are dynamic materials possessing unique (opto)electronic properties. Their adaptive nature imparts unprecedented responsivity to various stimuli. Hitherto, a viable device platform to electrically probe in-situ a sol-gel transition is still lacking. Here we describe the fabrication of a sub-micron electrodic cavity, which enables low-voltage electrical operation of π-gels. Thanks to the in situ supramolecular self-assembly of the π-gelator occurring within the cavity, we conceived a novel gel-based memristor whose sol-gel transition is reversible and can be controlled via heating and DC bias. This work opens perspectives towards the fabrication of a novel generation of non-solid multiresponsive devices. INTRODUCTION π-gels are generated through a gelation process of πconjugated systems occurring out of equilibrium via nucleation-governed growth. Upon nucleation, π-conjugated molecules form one-dimensional (1D) supramolecular structures which further assemble into a 3D fibrillar network. The encapsulation of the solvent within the molecular network determines the formation of a gel phase. The high degree of order at the supramolecular level can bestow π-gels a semiconducting character resulting from the tight π-π stacking which determines a certain degree of charge delocalization within the network. Such efficient charge and exciton transport across 3D networks is a prerequisite for the realization of gel-based optoelectronic applications like organic solar cells, field-effect transistors (OFETs), etc. Despite a variety of π-gels have been already produced using different conjugated molecules (called π-gelators), their integration in real devices, towards major technological breakthroughs, still represents a major challenge. Although the supramolecular architectures of the π-gelator are formed in liquid, their electrical characterization is typically carried out once they are integrated into real devices as dry films. While such devices based on aerogels make it possible to study the capacity of dry π-gelator networks to transport charge carriers, the non-fluid nature of the active material limits the full exploitation of the unique properties of the gel. The in situ generation of fresh π-gels into functional electronic devices would be extremely attractive as it would allow (i) the exploitation of non-dry systems as electroactive components; (ii) the use of electric field or current flow to assist supramolecular self-assembly by promoting growth and alignment of 1D nanostructures as optimal architectures for charge and exciton transport; (iii) the optimization of the interfaces with the device electrodes; (iv) the utilization of the adaptive nature of gels and their capacity to respond to a multitude of external stimuli such chemicals, temperature, mechanical pressure, illumination and so on, to ultimately realize multifunctional devices. Finally, the soft nature of gels is of paramount importance towards the emergence of the next generation of healable, adaptive and flexible electronic devices. Usually, (nano)fiber aggregates forming a gel possess a diameter at the order of tens of nanometers and a length not exceeding a few microns. As a result, to fully exploit the unique single fiber properties as well as to minimize the effect of inter-fibers connections and associated drop in charge transport, an ideal gel-based device should rely on interelectrodic gaps shorter or comparable to the fiber length. Moreover, it is desirable that the electric field lines penetrate the bulk phase rather than concentrating at the surface or interface like in the case of dye-sensitized solar cells and ionic liquid gated devices. Hence, a major challenge facing π-gel electronics consists in exploiting a controlled electric field in a novel device configuration to tune the in situ supramolecular self-assembly. To address this challenge and make full use of supramolecular structures in non-dry phase, here we have used cold-welding to form a novel electrodic cavity with a macroscopic lateral size and a sub-micron channel length. The latter enables lowvoltage (<5 V) devices operation combined with the facile use of thermal stimuli to trigger reversible sol-gel transitions and memristor behavior upon direct current (DC) bias. To the best of our knowledge, such an electronic device based on fresh πgel has never been reported. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In our proof-of-concept, we exploit a prototypical p-type conjugated polymer, i.e. poly(3-hexylthiophene) – P3HT as a model semiconducting system. Such polymer has been widely used as active component in OFETs and bulk heterojunction solar cells as hole-transporting material. At room temperature, regioregular (rr) P3HT in xylene is known to form a gel consisting of self-assembled fiber-like networks. Such gel can also be obtained in toluene leading to a highly viscous phase which does not flow under gravity (Figure 1a; 25 mg/ml in toluene). During the gelation, polythiophene chains coil up


We thank Ahad et al. (1) for expanding on our recent study (2) by providing additional information that aids in explaining the missing emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR). They argue that evaporative releases from tailings ponds are likely not a major source of PAHs in the AOSR. Their rationale is twofold: first, that measured concentrations of PAHs in tailings ponds are too low compared with our modeled concentrations, and further, that recent studies suggest upgraders and blowing dust from open mine faces are major sources of PAHs.


The key aims and objectives behind the setting up of Intentional Innovation Communities are discussed. The need is for a different approach to innovation in order to take advantage of the socio-economic position and particular national peculiarities/


Silica gels were synthesized from TMOS and MTMS in different proportions changing the ionic liquid concentration. EMIMac have significant influence in the gelation processe. The textural characterizations showed an effect of these concentrations on the corresponding aerogels: pore size distributions and effectives surfaces. The structure of the aerogels was measured with a SAXS apparatus and was typical of acid catalyzed aerogels. Conductivity measurements, operated on the ionogels, were carried out using an original electrical 4 electrodes set up which allowed us to study the ionic conductivity at the pore scale. The results obtained showed that one can model the electrical temporal response of the EMIMAc silica ionogel with a RLC series circuit.


In order to evaluate the accumulation of high phosphorus and the distribution on macrophytes part, the experiment was conducted by arranged vegetated and unvegetated treatment in a greenhouse experiment. Reactor containing 5L of phosphorus solution (50 or 500 mg/L), 4 kg of sediment and plants (Phragmites australis or Eichhornia crassipes) were prepared. The studied concentrations tried to stimulate an accumulation of Total Phosphorus (TP) in plants. Water were sampled every 5 days during 30 days of experiments while sediment and plant samples (roots, submerged leaves and aerial leaves) were collected at the beginning and at end of this study. Relative growth rate (RGR) of plants was determined considering initial and final plant height. As results, more than 60% of TP was removed by P. australis and E. crassipes from the water. Both P. australis and E. crassipes has great capability to accumulated TP in their tissues, submerged part of leaves accumulated highest TP than other part, due to directly contact with water. RGR was positive suggested both plant able to tolerance TP in high concentration. P. australis was accumulated higher TP than E. crassipes. Therefore P. australis is suitable for phytoremediation practice, being capable to tolerate high TP concentration.


In this paper, four different non-linear filters, Kuwahara, Mean shift, Bilateral and SNN, in terms of noise immunity and edge preserving are compared. At first two types of noise (Salt and Pepper, Gaussian) are added to the images. Experimental results show that the mean shift can inhibit noisy edges, facilitated the detection for weak edges and have better result in images with non-uniform illumination compared with traditional methods such as: Canny, Sobel, Prewitt, Roberts. PSNR is also use for comparison four smoothing filters, the results show mean shift filter is better than another filters.


The authors advanced the method,technical system and technical route of establishing GIS system of evaluation of forest ecological benefit mainly according to the original data by forest resource investigation,satellite remote-sensing and measurement in Litang County in western Sichuan Province.


A study on inheritance of resistance to bacterial speck disease was carried out by conventional crossing between two resistant and three susceptible varieties of tomato. Resistance in F1, F2 or BC1 was identified by inoculations with bacterial of PST. All the Ft progeny is resistant to the disease. The resistance of F2 progeny was statistically consistent with the ratio of 3 to 1, and the BC1 progeny was accord with the ratio of 1 to 1. The results showed that a single dominant gene controlled the resistance in the two tomato varieties, Hong Zhen Zhu and Mei Wei Ying Tao.


The invention relates to a card transfer device (C) of printed circuit or the like. It comprises supports (10) essentially consist of uprights (12 and 14) mutually orthogonal. holding elements (16) adapted to receive the edge of the cards are arranged on the uprights. The upright (12) forms an angle (a) with the horizontal such that the other edge of the card (C) engages in the retaining elements (16) of the second post (14) by gravity. This ensures a good positioning of the cards, while achieving a gripping surface of the very small card.


The invention discloses a infectivity bronchitis attenuated vaccine strain LDT3-A strain, and discloses application and application effect thereof in preventing and curing chicken infectivity bronchitis. The microorganism accession number of the attenuated vaccine strain is CGMCC-2902. The attenuated vaccine strain of the present invention has good safety and good immunization protection effect to the chicken infectivity bronchitis. The attenuated strain can be prepared into single vaccine or combined vaccine for preventing or curing infectivity bronchitis virus.


This paper demonstrates the problems faced in implementation of Telemedicine project at third world countries like Pakistan. We also have proposed solutions to those problems and security model for that implementation. The proposed model can be adopted to implement telemedicine setup at rural areas for the embellishment of proper health care for needy patients at rural areas of Sindh. To reach those needy a pilot project "Telemedicine Centers at Tando Muhammad Khan and Tando Alahyar Districts" was launched by Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) Jamshoro. This pilot project was fermented by LUMHS Jamshoro with collaboration of Higher Education Commission and Government of Sindh. In this study deficiencies in implementation of telemedicine project are highlighted. Our proposed model described here is combination of real-time store and forward technology from base unit and mobile unit. From mobile unit vital biosignals i.e 3-12 lead ECG, Temperature, IBP, NIBP, SPO2 and still images of patients are transferred from remote site to base unit or consultation site. At consultant site or base unit patient data is stored in HIMS (Hospital Information and Management System) for future references.


Studies of radioiron absorption were performed on two groups of adult male germfree and open animal room rats which had been raised under special conditions. The latter were housed in germfree type isolators and shielded from further external bacterial exposure from weanling to adult life. Both groups were given a 5 day course of neomycin treatment and 1 day later radioiron was administered by intragastric instillation. Both groups showed an increase in radioiron absorption and total serum iron level over controls at death 7 days following intragastric instillation. Our findings suggest that the neomycin effect on iron absorption is a complex one which may operate in the absence of living bacteria.


Improved survival after heart transplantation (HTx) has drawn attention to socioeconomic disparities in the longterm outcomes of this life-saving procedure. In the United States, patients' use of public health insurance (Medicaid and Medicare) predicts worse long-term survival after HTx compared with patients with private insurance. Negative influences of public health insurance use have been attributed to several mechanisms, including limitations on access to posttransplant care and limited coverage of immunosuppression therapy, which increases the risk of rejecting the transplanted organ, leading to graft dysfunction and death. Although insurance status disparities in post-transplant survival have been demonstrated using patients' insurance type at transplantation, it is unclear how trajectories of change in insurance coverage influence outcomes of HTx. In the general population, insurance discontinuity and churn (repeated transitions between public and private insurance) have been linked to reduced access to care and adverse health outcomes. Among transplant recipients, changes in insurance coverage may similarly compromise access to post-transplant care and compliance with medical treatment, leading to increased mortality risk. We test the hypothesis that trajectories of discontinuous insurance coverage predict worse long-term survival after HTx using available data from a national transplant registry. Our secondary aim is to examine whether private-to-public and public-to-private insurance transitions after HTx are associated with overall post-transplant survival.


Previous studies suggested that providing anticoagulation management services by pharmacist improved anticoagulation control in outpatients who uses warfarin. However, few studies evaluated hospitalized patients. Purpose of this study is to assess the impact of additional pharmacistmanaged care to usual care in inpatient treating with warfarin. This study was a quasiexperimental study. Patients in intervention group were monitored by a clinical pharmacist who recommended warfarin dose, screened and managed drug therapeutic problems related to warfarin therapy, suggested monitoring plan and provided patient education. Results of intervention group were compared to historical control (usual care). A total of 92 patients were included (49 cases in control group and 43 patients in intervention group) . Baseline data were not significantly different between two groups. Percentage of patients with international normalized ratio (INR) in target at first followedup visit in the intervention group was more than those in the control group (60.47% vs. 30.61%, p = 0.015). In control group, one patient had bleeding during admission and 4 patients readmitted due to adverse effect of supratherapeutic warfarin level. On the contrary, there was no adverse event found in the intervention group. The results of this study suggest that coordination with clinical pharmacists and physicians improved quality of treatment among inpatients receiving warfarin and reduced complications of warfarin use.


An experiment to measure parity violation in the photodisintegration of deuterium near threshold is in preparation. The sensitivity to parity violation in the np system is similar to the sensitivity in the measurement of Lobashov et al. who reported a γ‐ray circular polarization value of −(1.3±0.45)×10−6 for the 1H(n,γ)2H reaction at thermal energies. This value is much larger than theoretical calculations (∼5×10−8). Details of the planned (γ,d) experiment are discussed and the present status indicated.


The Schooling and Identity of Asian Girls FARZANA SHAIN Stoke-on-Trent, Trentham Books, 2002 160 pp., £15.99 (pbk) ISBN 1-85856181-7 Asian girls are not often the subject of mainstream texts and research on issues such as youth, identities and schooling—so this book makes a welcome addition. Indeed, research on femininities continues to be somewhat eclipsed by the ongoing 'boys in crisis' debate, in which the primary focus of academic and policy attention has been directed at boys' 'underachievement' and associated social and behavioural problems. Equally, issues of 'race', religion and ethnicity have been historically sidelined within mainstream sociological and educational research and therefore The Schooling and Identities of Asian Girls makes for a refreshing change. Despite the relative academic silence regarding Asian identities, recent world events have propelled Asian (but particularly Muslim) identities, into the British media spotlight. Since the high-profile Salman Rushdie controversy of the early 1990s, through to the British and American governments' declaration of the 'war on terrorism' after September 11th 2001, Muslim identities and associated issues of citizenship, nationality, belonging and identity are now all hot topics for debate.