This work aims to draw attention to some issues that emerge from a reflection on the use of objects extremely present in the current social life, namely the cell phones. Our aim is to describe and analyze some of the overlapping phenomena in the new possibilities of conceiving and interpreting practices and social relations and at the same time bring to light reflections on the subjects that are built in this process while connected and connection dependent subjects.The ideas presented here have an essayistic nature and are intended to account for issues such as the formation of new body mappings which does not exclude the use and coupling of the cell phone to the users' bodies. We will seek to explain this process of dependence and subjection to the devices as a result of the spreading of subjectivity  by the flows of a connectivity chain which the cell phones and all of us, as users, belong.We expected to demonstrate how all this network does not escape the market axis and how cell phones are important elements of this process as they impact and reshape the contemporary lives management regimes, opening opportunities to think about control and subjectivity regimes that come into play.This fact highlights the need for further debate on points that are presented when the experience and fields of daily action seem entirely captured in order to involve ourselves in the capital reproduction process.


Gulf of Mexico, white shrimp, Litopenaeus setiferus, catch statistics have been collected by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service for over 50 years. Recent occurrences such as natural and manmade disasters have raised awareness for the need to publish these types of data. Here we report shrimp data collected from 1984 to 2011. These 28 years of catch history are the time series used in the most recent Gulf of Mexico white shrimp stock assessment. Fishing effort for this stock has fluctuated over the period reported, ranging from 54,675 to 162,952 days fished. Catch averaged 55.7 million pounds per year, increasing significantly over the times series. In addition, catch rates have been increasing in recent years, with CPUE levels ranging from 315 lb/day fished in 2002, to 1,175 lb/ day fished in 2008. The high CPUE's we have measured is one indication that the stock was not in decline during this time period. Consequently, we believe the decline in effort levels is due purely to economic factors. Current stock assessments are now using these baseline data to provide managers with further insights into the Gulf L. setiferus stocks.


Structural members which are subject to load at high temperature are, in general, not in a steady condition of applied stress and temperature. In this paper, as one of fundamental problems, the creep behaior under cyclic stress removal is discussed. If a specimen of metals is creeping under constant load, at high temperature and on the way, the load is removed, elastic strain and creep strain recovery which seems like elastic-after-effect occur. After the period of stress removal, when reloaded, creep recovery which is based on the recovery of work-hardning in each crystal, strain aging and precipitation in commercial materials, take place. When the cyceic stress removal is given creep curves, show the differences from steady load creep curve.As the a result of this experiment, creep curves of stress removal are shown upper or lower than steady load creep curves, but the difference between lower creep curve of stress removal and steady load curve is very small. So in this experiment, by considering creep recovery only, creep curve of stress removal can be estimated well. But as for cases when stress cycle or period of stress removal is changed, this result has some questions. As test temperature is rised, creep recovery is much remarkable. If stress amplitude is synchronized with temperature cycle, the influence of creep recovery is much striking. Experimental results may be summarized up as follows:(1) Under a high stress and high temperature, creep recovery is much remarkable.(2) In the eary stage of transient creep, creep recovery is much larger and therafter gradually decreases. In the stage of steady creep, creep recovery reaches almost constant value.(3) Strain increment in cyclic stress removal test is affected not only by creep recovery but also by precipitation, aging and phase change. etc.(4) In this experiment, this strain increment is well expressed by the following equation:Δe=a log (1+Ctr)Δe: strain increment, tr: rest timea, c: constant in constant strain, temperature and stress.


Rights: © 2007 American Physical Society (APS). This is the accepted version of the following article: Hakala, T. & Puska, Martti J. & Borisov, A. G. & Silkin, V. M. & Zabala, N. & Chulkov, E. V. 2007. Excited states of Na nanoislands on the Cu(111) surface. Physical Review B. Volume 75, Issue 16. 165419/1-12. ISSN 1550-235X (electronic). DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.75.165419, which has been published in final form at http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.75.165419.


Offset in computer aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) is a kind of important geometric operation, such as rapid prototyping technology, NC machining, the collision detection, etc. When offset distance d is greater than the minimum radius of curvature on the original surface, or part of the distance between parts of curved surface pieces, it causes self-intersection. Self-intersection makes distance between two models smaller than the offset distance r, leading to offset model local intersection or distortion. This paper proposes a method based on light projection algorithm to remove self-intersections and achieve good results. Firstly, set point coordinates on the original model as the light source locations and build the projection light according to adjacent plane vector weighted sum.Secondly, the projection light passes through the offset model. We extract the triangles on the outermost layer and load it into a list. Finally it is essential to filter the intersection points and construct triangle mesh. We use different discrete data models to do experiments and prove the validity and practicability of the algorithm.


With the rapid development of Internet and with the enlarging of information amount and the new applications of internet,there recently is a new need of the space,functions and security of IP protocol.However ,the previous IPv4 can not satisfy these needs.So IETF designed the latest IPv6 of IP protocol to satisfy the increasing requirement of Internet.The article deals a lot with the comparison between IPv4 and IPv6.


Successful law reform campaigns leave behind a rich history; a story of engagement between activists seeking legal change, opponents who attempt to maintain the status quo, legislators, and the judiciary. The repeal of the provisions of the Tasmanian Criminal Code which prohibited certain private, consensual sexual relations between adults, and which were aimed primarily at male samesex sexual acts, by the state legislature in May 1997, signaled the end of a particularly arduous campaign which lasted several years. What makes this struggle worthy of academic treatment, first, is the simple fact that the gay activist campaign was waged over a plurality of legal and political sites at the state, national, and international levels.


A voltage feedforward technology for buck DC/DC switch-mode power supply(SMPS) controller was described. In this technology,duty cycle of PWM signal changes quickly with input supply voltage by adjusting the center amplitude of the triangular wave This technology can be used to effectively suppress effect of the input supply voltage variation on the output voltage,thus improving its stability.


"We must not forget that almost all teaching is Multimedia" (Schramm, p.37). Today, the magnetism of multimedia is clearly oblivious via the use of streaming video, audio clips, and the Internet. Research has shown that the use of multimedia can aid in the comprehension and retention of student learning (Cronin & Myers, 1997; Large Behesti, Breulex & Renaud, 1996; Tennenbaum, 1998). As a result, more educators are utilizing Web-based multimedia materials to augment instruction online and in the classroom. This chapter provides a theoretical framework for transforming Student Centered Discussion (SCD), a traditional based pedagogy strategy, to a new multimedia pedagogy SCD strategy. The new multimedia SCD pedagogy represents a new way of teaching and learning. As a result, positive responses and feedback have been collected from students in their ability to interpret facts, compare and contract material, and make inferences based on recall of information previously presented or assigned in article readings. INTRODUCTION


As a famous doctor,Hua Tuo underwent a transformation from man to god and formed the cults of Hua Tuo in the history.During Ming and Qing Dynasties,the environment of Huai River and the native identify made Hua Tuo's Cults muster in the Basin of Huai River.As the native medicine God in the Basin of Huai River,the cults of Hua Tuo met people's various needs with its own functions.


A model for the photometric evolution of galaxies has been developed and has been applied to the problem of galaxy counts. The integrated colors of galaxies are calculated using the most recently computed evolutionary tracks from Maeder and collaborators complemented with evolutionary tracks derived by other authors. The asymptotic giant branch lifetime is left as a free parameter. A series of cosmological models using different values of the cosmological constant, lambda(sub 0), and the density parameter, omega(sub 0), have been computed. The universality hypothesis of the luminosity function of galaxies has been abandoned. The influence of galaxy merging on the counts has been considered in a simple manner by assuming that the number of strongly interacting galaxies in a comoving volume increases with redshift as a power law given by (1 + z)(exp 3.8). Taking a Schechter parametrization for the luminosity function of the different types of galaxies, we are able to reproduce the observations reasonably well. We have also considered models with a Gaussian distribution for the luminosity function of the brighter galaxies that provide a poorer fit to the observations. It is shown that galaxy count data are not yet able to make unambiguous cosmological statements since evolutionary assumptions are critical. In particular, an omega(sub 0) = 1, lambda(sub 0) = 0 cosmology is shown to be consistent with the data.


Purpose – Ageing of population means for society facing new challenges and one of the main challenges is how to ensure quality of life of elderly and prevent their exclusion from the society. This position of elderly is intrinsically linked to the welfare system and policies that are applied to prevent and tackle social exclusion of vulnerable individuals and groups. The focus is on Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, which are in research often piled in the same group. However, in the article the authors wish to also focus on differences between them. Design/methodology/approach – Social exclusion as a concept for observing vulnerability of elderly enables observation of vulnerabilities in various areas/dimensions at the same time, and also enables comparison of particular populations with other groups and enables determining their position within the society. In this article the authors observe social exclusion of the elderly in several areas: health and access to health care, poverty and mate...


Each year colleges and universities market criminology and criminal justice programs to potential applicants by suggesting these programs offer a uniquely tailored path for those seeking entry into a policing career. Despite such claims, little empirical research exists to suggest that degree content is a factor in influencing recruitment outcomes. In this paper, we present results from an ongoing, exploratory study into pre-recruitment education to show that program content—in this case, a criminology or criminal justice diploma or degree—has generally little influence on how police agencies evaluate a potential applicant. Drawing on interviews with thirty-two (n = 32) police recruiters and senior officers from police services across the province of Ontario in Canada, we show that, while many agencies prefer candidates with degrees, criminology and criminal justice degree holders are not privileged in the recruiting process over those applicants from other disciplines.


Through a study of Senior Management based on a theoretical framework and data collected by national institutions like the Colombian Ocean Commission, Directorate General Maritime, Navy and the National Technical Committee for Antarctic Affairs, he wants to show the importance for the State Colombia to develop scientific expeditions to Antarctica, the product of a process that began in Colombia in the year 1988 when approved the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 by the congress of the Republic and which formed the basis to realize the First Expedition Colombian to Antarctica (Expedition Caldas) developed aboard the ship of the Navy of Colombia ARC "July 20" between december 16, 2014 and march 24, 2015, as a condition for Colombia aspires to be classified as a Consultative Status with voice and vote in the decisions made in this Treaty.


Axiomatic approach has demonstrated its power in mathematics. The main goal of this preprint is to show that axiomatic methods are also very efficient for computer science. It is possible to apply these methods to many problems in computer science. Here the main modes of computer functioning and program execution are described, formalized, and studied in an axiomatic context. The emphasis is on three principal modes: computation, decision, and acceptation. Now the prevalent mode for computers is computation. Problems of artificial intelligence involve decision mode, while communication functions of computer demand accepting mode. The main goal of this preprint is to study properties of these modes and relations between them. These problems are closely related to such fundamental concepts of computer science and technology as computability, decidability, and acceptability. In other words, we are concerned with the question what computers and software systems can do working in this or that mode. Consequently, results of this preprint allow one to achieve higher understanding of computations and in such a way, to find some basic properties of computers and their applications. Classes of algorithms, which model different kinds of computers and software, are compared with respect to their computing, accepting or deciding power. Operations with algorithms and machines are introduced. Examples show how to apply axiomatic results to different classes of algorithms and machines in order to enhance their performance.


Background: The relationship between early neurological recovery, time to recanalization and the salvage of hypoperfused, but not diffusion-restricted tissue was investigated. Methods: In 17 patients with acute middle cerebral artery occlusion, a multiparametric stroke MRI protocol was performed <6 h after symptom onset, as well as at day 2 and 7. Recanalization was monitored with transcranial Doppler or with conventional angiography (during local thrombolysis). Functional improvement was defined as a change of ≧4 points on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score. Results: In patients with functional improvement, 78% (median, range 66–95%) of the acute mean transit time (MTT) lesion escaped infarction compared with 28% (median, range –13 to 78%) in patients without neurological improvement (p < 0.01). Similarly, the percentage of tissue with a time-to-peak (TTP) delay of ≧2 s not progressing to infarction was 80 and 4% in the groups with and without improvement, respectively (p < 0.01). Neurological improvement was more frequent in patients with early (≤3 h after presentation) recanalization, due to the salvage of larger areas of initially hypoperfused tissue. Conclusions: The salvage of hypoperfused tissue is a major factor influencing early neurological improvement.


The reactions of RSnCl3 (1; R = 2-(phenylazo)phenyl) with FcCOOH or di-tert-butyl phosphate in refluxing THF afforded the monoorganodistannoxanes [(RSn)2(μ2-O)(μ2-FcCOO)2(η-FcCOO)2]·THF (2) and {(RSn)2(μ2-O)[(t-BuO)2PO2]2Cl2}·THF·2H2O (3). The molecular structure of 2 contains seven-coordinate tin centers in a distorted-pentagonal-bipyramidal geometry, while 3 contains six-coordinate tin centers in a distorted-octahedral geometry. In the dinuclear compounds 2 and 3 the two tin centers are bridged by a μ2-O unit, affording a rare Sn–O–Sn motif among monoorganostannoxanes. In addition, each tin is also intramolecularly coordinated to the nitrogen atom of the 2-phenylazophenyl substituent (N→Sn). Further, in 2, the two tin centers are bridged by two isobidentate ferrocenecarboxylate ligands; each tin center also is bound to a chelating ferrocenecarboxylate ligand. On the other hand, in 3, while the two tin centers are bridged by two isobidentate di-tert-butyl phosphate ligands, each tin center also has a ter...


This paper analyzes the change of brake torque during normal stop and emergency braking of elevator. Taking the permanent magnet synchronous elevator traction machine as an example, the mechanical characteristics of the brake wheel and brake shoe on the brake under emergency braking are analyzed. According to the finite element analysis and calculation results, the impact and stress of the elevator are the largest at the moment of emergency braking, reaching 270.3MPa, and the strain increases gradually. The analysis results can provide reference for the design and verification of brake wheel and brake shoe of elevator traction machine.


Abstract : The method that will be presented to you is used on Airbus products. The aim of this presentation is to give you an overview and some indications on the process and the associated tools that we have developed to ensure that the design of our products is coherent with the operators expectations in term of operational costs. The presentation will first show the evolution of the market and of the operators expectations that drove the emergence of the Integrated Logistic Support concept. This will be followed by a description of how we have adapted this concept in a very pragmatic procedure applicable to military transport as well as commercial aircraft design. The five steps of the procedure will then be detailed. An overview of the existing tools and of the environment in which this procedure is applied will follow.


Objective To investigate the effects of phototoxicity on human retinal pigment epithelial(RPE) cells after zinc tetra-sulfonated phthalocyanine(ZnPcS4) based photodynamic therapy(PDT). Methods The 2-4 generations of subcultured RPE cells were used in the study.Firstly,the cellular uptake of ZnPcS4 was quantified by UV-spectra after confluent RPE cells were exposed to various doses of ZnPcS4 for 1-6 hrs.Secondly,RPE cells were divided into four groups: the control group,the group of photosensitizer without irradiation,the PDT 1 group(irradiated with 50J/cm2) and PDT 2 group(irradiated with 100J/cm2)that were exposed to 10mg/ml ZnPcS4 before irradiation.After PDT,cell viability was evaluated by MTT,and reactive oxygen species(ROS) was assessed by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. Results It was also found that four hours after incubation were the optimal time point to irradiate the cells.The cellular viability reduction ratio of RPE cells in the PDT 1 and PDT 2 groups after ZnPcS4 based PDT was significantly higher.PDT results in a significant increase in ROS. Conclusions Intracellular ROS formation may play an important role in the mediating apoptotic processes of RPE cells induced by ZnPcS4 based PDT.It is an important precondition that in order to decrease damage on RPE we should avoid irradiating RPE cells at this period.


Land consolidation and reclamation is important way to supply arable land, and improve land fertility. The substations of the Nanjing land and resource bureau have practiced the projects bidding about land consolidation and reclamation since 2003, and achieved a good effective to strengthen the standard management, to ensue the implementation, and to guarantee the construct quality of the projects.


We introduce DropHead, a structured dropout method specifically designed for regularizing the multi-head attention mechanism which is a key component of transformer. In contrast to the conventional dropout mechanism which randomly drops units or connections, DropHead drops entire attention heads during training to prevent the multi-head attention model from being dominated by a small portion of attention heads. It can help reduce the risk of overfitting and allow the models to better benefit from the multi-head attention. Given the interaction between multi-headedness and training dynamics, we further propose a novel dropout rate scheduler to adjust the dropout rate of DropHead throughout training, which results in a better regularization effect. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed approach can improve transformer models by 0.9 BLEU score on WMT14 En-De translation task and around 1.0 accuracy for various text classification tasks.


Abstract Over the past 35 years, the chemical industry has largely changed its raw material base from coal to petroleum and natural gas. This has basically meant a shift from acetylene chemistry and coal tar chemistry to olefin chemistry (ethylene, propylene, isobutylene and butadiene) and petroleum-derived benzene, toluene, and xylenes. Methanol, ammonia, and hydrogen are still made from synthesis gas. However, synthesis gas is now made by methane reforming instead of coal gasification. These conversions have involved a vast expenditure of money, time, and effort, but the financial incentives have been huge and a great deal of new chemistry has been uncovered.


uni.cz Abstract. We construct a mapping with exponentially integrable distortion which attains a modulus of continuity by Onninen and Zhong, showing that it is sharp.


The dairy cattle improvement programme in Bangladesh aims to improve local cattle for milk production by incorporation of both tropical breeds (Red-Sindhi, Sahiwal) and temperate breeds (HolsteinFriesian and Jersey). The CCBS controls overall breeding programmes throughout the country, except for the Cooperative Dairy Production System. The productive and reproductive performances of different crossbreds have been studied by several researchers and they showed that the Holstein-Friesian crossbred performed comparatively better than others. An economic evaluation of dairy cattle in Bangladesh showed that the purebred and crossbred of temperate breeds had higher profit than other crosses but their survivability is lower than tropical breeds.


As the core equipment of smart grid, solid-state transformer (SST) needs to have good power quality regulation capability under grid side faults and load side faults. To ensure that the high-voltage side converter works at unity power factor and smooth DC voltage. At the same time, the three-phase output voltages need to have high steady-state accuracy and strong anti-interference capability. In this paper, an improved model predictive control scheme was proposed. First, a theoretical modeling analysis of the high and low voltage side of a solid-state transformer was performed. Then, power and voltage prediction models are developed for the high-voltage side converter and low-voltage side converter of the SST, respectively. Three voltage vectors are selected for prediction by the cost function, and the equivalent voltage vector in the two-phase stationary coordinate system is synthesized and modulated to control the converter. Finally, simulation was conducted to compare and analyze various operating conditions of SST under different control schemes. The control effect of solid-state transformer under improved model predictive control is better than traditional finite control set model predictive control and proportional integral control, which can better regulate power quality.


Numerical simulations were conducted to understand the effect of obstacle shape on flame acceleration and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) through an array of obstacles in a channel. The multidimensional, fully compressible reactive Navier-Stokes equations, coupled to a calibrated chemicaldiffusive model for combustion of a stoichiometric hydrogen-air mixture, were solved using a high-order algorithm with adaptive mesh refinement (AMR). While maintaining the same blockage ratio, the influence of obstacle shape on DDT was examined with circular, square, and triangular obstacles. The simulations show that the shape of the obstacle plays an important role in flame acceleration and detonation initiation. Squares create spaces between obstacles and walls, and these spaces provide a path that leads to the fastest flame acceleration and shortest detonation initiation time compared to circular and triangle obstacles. The presence of sharp angles on the triangular obstacles is favorable for flame stretching and convolution, and this facilitates flame acceleration and transition to detonation. The round, circular obstacles have the least effect on promoting flame acceleration and DDT. Although there are differences in flame acceleration and DDT among differently shaped obstacles, the basic mechanism for detonation initiation is similar in all of the cases studied and involves shock interactions with flame front.


As a
new way of leadership, coaching leadership behavior is receiving more and more
attention from experts and scholars. Although studies have shown that coaching
leadership behavior significantly improves employee performance, there are few
studies on how coaching leadership behavior affects and under what
circumstances it can affect the in-role performance of employees. Based on the
social information-processing theory, this paper discusses the impact of
coaching leadership behavior on the in-role performance of employees and its
internal mechanism—the mediating role of role ambiguity and the social
alertness. Through the investigation and analysis of 224 employees, the
coaching leadership behavior has a significant positive impact on the in-role performance of employees; the employee
role ambiguity has played a partial intermediary role in this process;
In addition, the social astuteness of employees is positively moderating the
relationship between coaching leadership behavior and employee role ambiguity, the
higher employee's social astuteness, the stronger the weakening effect of
coaching leadership behavior on employee role ambiguity, and the mediating
effect of role ambiguity on role performance is enhanced.


The field of basic pain research has had an ongoing need to develop better ways of assessing pain in animals, especially ''spontaneous'' or ongoing pain as opposed to tactile or thermal hypersensitivity (1–7). It has been argued that the lack of adequate behavioral assays for spontaneous pain is a key factor in the failure to develop new drugs for pain treatment, in spite of enormous advances in the understanding of basic mechanisms and the identification of molecular targets. The headache field in particular for many years suffered from the severe limitation of having no behavioral assay whatsoever. One exception was the finding of Malick et al. of a moderate decrease in feeding behavior over a six-hour period following chemical stimulation of the dura in awake rats (8). However, this finding was not pursued further as a behavioral assay, in part because of the relatively long observation time required. A major breakthrough for basic headache research came when Oshinsky and Gomonchareonsiri showed that chemical stimulation of the dura induced facial allodynia in awake rats, providing for the first time an acutely measureable behavioral correlate, albeit indirect, of ''headache'' in animals (9). However, the problem still remained of finding a behavioral correlate of ongoing or ''spontaneous'' headache pain, as opposed to the allodynia that can sometimes be an accompaniment to headache (10). This issue of Cephalalgia reports a finding that represents a further breakthrough for the study of headache: a new observation of a change in ''spontaneous''/ ongoing behavior following chemical stimulation of the dura in chronically prepared awake rats (11). This observation was made possible by exceptionally careful surgical implantation of the extradural cannula and acclimation of the rats to the observation environment, and second-by-second video analysis of ongoing behavior over a 45-minute observation period, made during the awake period of the animal's circadian cycle. The core finding is a suppression of the exploratory behavior that normally occurs in control animals when placed into the observation chamber, and a concomitant increase in the amount of ''resting' behavior or quiet wakefulness. This observation might not in itself sound very remarkable. However, it is potentially of great significance as an example of the more general phenomenon of the suppression of an innate behavior/locomotor activity by pain. Such suppression is now being recognized as a new, powerful approach for assessing ''spontaneous''/ongoing pain, which has been put forth by Andrews and others who are at the forefront of developing new methods for the study of pain behavior in animals (6,7,12–15). This observation of a suppression of exploratory behavior has further significance in view of the long-standing idea that visceral pain is associated with a distinct response pattern, consisting of behavioral as well as autonomic quiescence and withdrawal, in contrast to the arousal and escape behavior evoked by superficial pain (16–19). Future studies could test the hypothesis that this suppression of exploratory behavior or other innate behaviors is greater following stimulation of deep rather than superficial tissues. This finding of Melo-Carillo and Lopez-Avila is in a sense more direct than that of Oshinsky and Gomonchareonsiri in that it is potentially a behavioral correlate of the headache itself, not merely the allodynia that can sometimes accompany headache. It may also prove to be a more sensitive assay, in that allodynia is present only in a subset of migraine attacks, whereas headache pain is (by definition) present in all attacks. The dural stimulus also induced a brief initial period of ipsilateral facial ''grooming'' or rubbing that


The most common type of pancreatic cancers (PC) originates from the ductal cells of the exocrine gland and belongs to the family of adenocarcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract (1-3).


To identify nitrobenzanthrones (NBAs) such as 3-nitro-7 H -benz[ de ]anthracene-7-one (3-NBA) on the basis of their electronic spectral data, we have synthesized 1-, 2-, 3-, 9-, and 10-NBAs and measured their absorption and emission spectra. The first strong absorption band of the NBAs appeared in the region 350-440 nm; the band of 10-NBA was red-shifted by about 20 nm. The molar absorptivities of 3- and 9-NBA were about two times as large as those of the others. The fluorescence spectra of the NBAs varied more largely with the position of the nitro group compared to the absorption spectra. The quantum yields of fluorescence were very small, ranging from ∼10 m 2 for 2- and 10-NBA to ∼10 m 4 for 1- and 3-NBA. 3-NBA exhibited a characteristic spectrum with two broad bands at 450 and 530 nm. On excitation causing an n ~ * transition in the NBAs, their fluorescence intensities increased by a factor of 10. Phosphorescence was observed at 77 K for all compounds though that of 1-NBA was very weak. These results give the promise of characterizing individual isomers of NBAs on the basis of their spectroscopic data.


We proved that in J-Noetherian Bezout domain which is not a ring of stable range 1 exists a nonunit adequate element (element of almost stable range 1


 A better regulated globalisation and fairer international competition would also contribute to this goal. At the level of the European Union (EU), further economic integration should go hand in hand with a greater convergence of social standards, notably through establishing social key principles and rights. In its relations with the rest of the world, the EU must strengthen multilateral cooperation and seek to obtain greater reciprocity from trade partners that are less open than the Union. Such cooperation should be increased most notably as regards taxation so as to avoid unfair competition while preserving the right of every State to choose the level of redistribution compatible with its social preferences. Annual average growth in real income per capita, by income decile


In this work, the microstructure evolution of Ti–45Al–8.5Nb–(W, B, Y) alloy at different cooling rates in mushy zone is investigated. The microstructures including segregation behavior, solidification route, and lamellar colony size as well as microstructural homogeneity are analyzed. The results show that with the decrease of cooling rate, the solidification routes change from β solidification to partial peritectic solidification due to Al enrichment in residual liquid. The variation of solidification paths results in a non‐uniform microstructure that coarse lamellar colonies form in interdendritic regions and fine lamellar colonies form in dendrite cores. The average lamellar colony size increases significantly with decreasing cooling rate. The microstructure is the most inhomogeneous at the cooling rate of 10 °C min–1. The average lamellar colony size and microstructure homogeneity are controlled by the volume fraction of peritectic α phase.


We proposed and experimentally demonstrated a low-complexity generation and reception scheme for guard-band orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (GB-OFDM) in intensity-modulation and direct-detection (IMDD) transmission systems. The image spectra that arise in the 2nd Nyquist zone from a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) operating in radio-frequency mode is exploited to efficiently generate GB-OFDM signal. In the receiver, the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) undersampling technique is applied to recover the baseband OFDM signal. The sampling rate of DAC/ADC is reduced and no electrical mixer and oscillators are required for up/down-conversions. Moreover, the same digital signal processing algorithms as the baseband OFDM can be applied to the proposed GB-OFDM. The proposed GB-OFDM scheme is experimentally investigated in a real-time short-reach IMDD system. The results exhibit that the receiver sensitivity in terms of the received optical power of the proposed real-time 16/64QAM-encoded GB-OFDM system over 50 km standard single-mode fiber can be improved by 7.5/3.5 dB at the bit error rate of 3.8e-3, compared to the baseband OFDM.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating roles of four aspects of work and family interface (WFI: work-to-family conflict, WFC; family-to-work conflict, FWC; work-to-family enrichment, WFE; and family-to-work enrichment, FWE) in a Chinese context in Taiwan. Included in the integral model are demands and resources from the work and family domains as antecedents, and role satisfaction and burnout as consequences. Design/methodology/approach – Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 499 full-time working Chinese parents in Taiwan. Findings – Structural equation modeling results showed that antecedents had cross-domain and within-domain effects on all aspects of the WFI; and conflict and enrichment also had cross-domain and within-domain effects on job satisfaction and family satisfaction, while influences from the work domain (WFC and WFE) had a significant impact on burnout. Overall, the partial mediation model was supported, showing that antecedent variables having b...


1. Lowrie EG, Lew NL: Death risk in hemodialysis patients: the predictive value of commonly measured variables and an evaluation of death rate differences between facilities.AmJKidneyDis 15:458–482, 1990 2. Shinzato T, Nakai S, Akiba T, Yamazaki C, Sasaki R, Kitaoka T, Kubo K, Shinoda T, Kurokawa K, Marumo F, Sato T, Maeda K: Survival in longterm haemodialysis patients: results from the annual survey of the Japanese Society forDialysis Therapy.Nephrol Dial Transplant 12:884–888, 1997 3. Gotch FA, Sargent JA: A mechanistic analysis of the National Cooperative Dialysis Study (NCDS).Kidney Int 28:526–534, 1985 4. Eknoyan G, Beck GJ, Cheung AK, et al.: Effect of dialysis dose and membrane flux in maintenance hemodialysis. N Engl J Med 347:2010–2019, 2002 5. PaniaguaR,AmatoD,VoneshE, et al.: Effects of increased peritoneal clearances on mortality rates in peritoneal dialysis: ADEMEX, a prospective, randomized, controlled trial. JAmSocNephrol 13:1307–1320, 2002 6. Eloot S, Van Biesen W, Dhondt A, Van de Wynkele H, Glorieux G, Verdonck P, Vanholder R: The impact on the removal of uremic retention solutes of modifying only hemodialysis duration. Kidney Int 73:765–770, 2008 7. Lowrie EG,Li Z, OfsthunN,Lazarus JM: Body size, dialysis dose anddeath risk relationships among hemodialysis patients. Kidney Int 62:1891–1897, 2002 8. VanholderR, Baurmeister U, Brunet P, CohenG,GlorieuxG, Jankowski J: A bench to bedside view of uremic toxins. J Am Soc Nephrol 19:863–870, 2008 9. Delmez JA, Yan G, Bailey J, et al.: Cerebrovascular disease in maintenance hemodialysis patients: results of theHEMOStudy.Am JKidneyDis 47:131– 138, 2006 10. Krane V, Krieter DH, OlschewskiM, et al.: Dialyzer membrane characteristics and outcome of patients with type 2 diabetes onmaintenance hemodialysis.AmJKidneyDis 49:267–275, 2007 11. Canaud B, Bragg-Gresham JL, Marshall MR, et al.: Mortality risk for patients receiving hemodiafiltration versus hemodialysis: European results from theDOPPS.Kidney Int 69:2087–2093, 2006 12. Leypoldt JK, Cheung AK, Deeter RB: Rebound kinetics of beta2-microglobulin after hemodialysis.Kidney Int 56:1571–1577, 1999 13. Eloot S,TorremansA,De SmetR, et al.: Kinetic behavior of urea is different from that of other water-soluble compounds: the case of the guanidino compounds.Kidney Int 67:1566–1575, 2005 14. Eloot S, Torremans A, De Smet R, et al.: Complex compartmental behavior of small water-soluble uremic retention solutes: evaluation by direct measurements in plasma and erythrocytes. Am J Kidney Dis 50:279– 288, 2007 15. Ward RA, Schmidt B, Hullin J, Hillebrand GF, Samtleben W: A comparison of on-line hemodiafiltration and high-flux hemodialysis: a prospective clinical study. J AmSocNephrol 11:2344–2350, 2000 16. Cheung AK, Rocco MV, Yan G, et al.: Serum beta-2 microglobulin levels predict mortality in dialysis patients: results of the HEMO study. J Am Soc Nephrol 17:546–555, 2006 17. Cheung AK, Greene T, Leypoldt JK, et al.: Association between serum 2-microglobulin level and infectious mortality in hemodialysis patients. Clin J AmSocNephrol 3:69–77, 2008 18. Wilson AM, Kimura E, Harada RK, et al.: Beta2-microglobulin as a biomarker in peripheral arterial disease: proteomic profiling and clinical studies. Circulation 116:1396–1403, 2007 19. Saijo Y, Utsugi M, Yoshioka E, et al.: Relationship of beta2-microglobulin to arterial stiffness in Japanese subjects.Hypertens Res 28:505–511, 2005 20. Revillard JP, Vincent C, Clot J, Sany J: beta 2-Microglobulin and beta 2-microglobulin-binding proteins in inflammatory diseases.Eur JRheumatol Inflamm 5:398–405, 1982 21. Locatelli F, Hannedouche T, Jacobson S, et al.: The effect of membrane permeability onESRD: design of a prospective randomisedmulticentre trial. JNephrol 12:85–88, 1999 22. Vanholder R, De Smet R, Glorieux G, et al.: Review on uremic toxins: classification, concentration, and interindividual variability. Kidney Int 63:1934–1943, 2003 23. Jankowski V, Karadogan S, Vanholder R, et al.: Paracrine stimulation of vascular smooth muscle proliferation by diadenosine polyphosphates released fromproximal tubule epithelial cells.Kidney Int 71:994–1000, 2007 24. Jankowski V, Tolle M, Vanholder R, et al.: Uridine adenosine tetraphosphate: a novel endotheliumderived vasoconstrictive factor. Nat Med 11:223–227, 2005 25. Jankowski J, Schluter H, Henning L, et al.: The AN69 hemofiltration membrane has a decreasing effect on the intracellular diadenosine pentaphosphate concentration of platelets.Kidney Blood Press Res 26:50–54, 2003 26. Vanholder R,Glorieux G, Lameire N: New insights in uremic toxicity.Contrib Nephrol 149:315–324, 2005 27. Bammens B, Evenepoel P, Keuleers H, Verbeke K, Vanrenterghem Y: Free serum concentrations of the protein-bound retention solute p-cresol predict mortality in hemodialysis patients.Kidney Int 69:1081–1087, 2006 28. Lesaffer G, De Smet R, D'Heuvaert T, et al.: Comparative kinetics of the uremic toxin p-cresol versus creatinine in rats with and without renal failure. Kidney Int 64:1365–1373, 2003


This course guide was specifically created for Western Art History I. Here are some of the key resources for this course.


A scaling analysis of the relative viscosity of two-phase liquid-liquid emulsions is presented. According to the analysis, the relative viscosity of two oil-in-water emulsions at the same oil concentration and particle Reynolds number is the same, even if the emulsions differ greatly in droplet size. Experimental results are presented to confirm the validity of the proposed scaling relations.


After an expansionary monetary policy shock employment increases and unemployment falls. In standard New Keynesian models the fall in aggregate unemployment does not a¤ect employed workers at all. However, Lüchinger, Meier and Stutzer (2010) found that the risk of unemployment negatively a¤ects utility of employed workers: An increases in aggregate unemployment decreases workers'subjective wellbeing, which can be explained by an increased risk of becoming unemployed. I take account of this e¤ect in an otherwise standard New Keynesian open economy model with unemployment as in Galí (2010) and …nd two important results with respect to expansionary monetary policy shocks: First, the usual wealth e¤ect in New Keynesian models of a declining labor force, which is at odds with the data as highlighted by Christiano, Trabandt and Walentin (2010), is shut down. Second, the welfare e¤ects of such shocks improve considerably, modifying the standard results of the open economy literature that set o¤ with Obstfeld and Rogo¤'s (1995) redux model. Keywords: Open economy macroeconomics, monetary policy, unemployment JEL classi…cation: E24, E52, F32, F41 Address: Freie Universität Berlin, Boltzmannstr. 20, 14195 Berlin, Germany, tel: +49-30-54632, email: firstname.lastname@example.com. A large part of the work on this paper was done during a visit to the National Centre of Econometric Research (NCER) at the School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. I gratefully acknowledge the support and hospitality of my hosts, in particular Uwe Dulleck, and the support granted by the DAAD. I thank my discussant Gernot Müller and other participants of the Konstanz Seminar 2011 where I presented an earlier version of the paper for valuable comments and suggestions. I also thank Dominic Quint, Mathias Paustian, Wolfgang Strehl, Mathias Trabandt, Alexander Wul¤, and in particular Simon Lüchinger, for their comments and suggestions. Any errors, of course, are my own responsiblility.


The unprecedented growth of Internet of Things (IoT) is leading to its increased usage in various domains, such as manufacturing, health, and smart cities. A majority of IoT applications are autonomic, i.e., they operate under minimal/no human intervention, and make decisions/actuations based on machine-to-machine communication and data analytics. A key challenge in the development of such applications is the ability to measure their quality while they are working in a diverse and heterogeneous IoT ecosystem. In this article, we propose an agent-based IoT-Quality Watch (IoT-QWatch) framework that provides the ability to measure IoT quality metrics at each stage of the autonomic IoT application life cycle running in the IoT ecosystem. We envision that IoT-QWatch will enable the development of a new generation of quality-aware autonomic IoT applications that are able to be resilient to the heterogeneous and uncertain nature of IoT ecosystems. We present architectural details and implementation of IoT-QWatch, and corresponding models used to measure IoT quality metrics at different stages. We conduct extensive experiments using a real-world IoT test bed from the domain of manufacturing to validate the efficacy of IoT-QWatch. Experimental outcomes provide promising results in realizing IoT-QWatch in real-world deployment, while the framework itself offers significant extensibility to include new models for measuring IoT quality metrics.


Objective To study the immune function of erythrocyte and NK cell activity in patients with hepatic carcinoma.Methods The RBC and WBC immune adhesive function,T lymphocyte subsets,NK cell activity in 53 case of liver cancer were measured and compared with 38 cases of normal control group.Results The results showed the RBC and WBC immune adhesive function,T lymphocyte subsets and NK cell activity were significantly decreased when compared with control group.(first assayed P0.05,second assayed P0.01).Conclusion It is suggested that erythrocyte and leukocyte immune function,T lymphocyte subsets and NK cell activity were all decreased in patients with hepatic carcinoma.NK cell activity is colsely related to the immune function.


The search for lead-free alternatives to Pb(Zr,Ti)O_3 (PZT) piezoelectric ceramics has become a major topic in functional materials research due to legislation in many countries that restricts the use of lead alloys and compounds in commercial products. This article examines both the necessity for regulation and the impacts those regulations have created in the context of piezoelectric materials. It reviews the toxicity of lead, describes current legislation to control the spread of lead in the environment, and attempts to define the risks associated with the manufacture, use, and disposal of lead-based piezoelectric materials. The consequences of current legislation, both intended and unintended, are examined.


Tracking target with coordinated turn (CT) motion is highly dependent on the models and algorithms. First, the widely used models are compared in this paper—coordinated turn (CT) model with known turn rate, augmented coordinated turn (ACT) model with Cartesian velocity, ACT model with polar velocity, CT model using a kinematic constraint, and maneuver centered circular motion model. Then, in the single model tracking framework, the tracking algorithms for the last four models are compared and the suggestions on the choice of models for different practical target tracking problems are given. Finally, in the multiple models (MM) framework, the algorithm based on expectation maximization (EM) algorithm is derived, including both the batch form and the recursive form. Compared with the widely used interacting multiple model (IMM) algorithm, the EM algorithm shows its effectiveness.


There has been a fundamental shift from ever more complex single cores to single chip multi-core (CMP) designs. Along with this opportunity come major challenges; notably the sheer size of the CMP design space. An integrated suite of tools is needed that provides life-cycle support from early prototyping to final design. Here we present ArchFP, a floorplanning tool targeted towards prototyping of pre-RTL CMP design concepts. As such, it is complementary to traditional floorplanners that are more appropriate later in the design cycle.


The reaction differs from the previously known decarboxylative trifluoromethylation protocols as water is involved as a reagent in the reaction.


The dynamics of the wind and shock structure formed by the wind collision in early-type binary systems is examined by means of a 2D hydrodynamics code, which self-consistently accounts for radiative cooling, and represents a significant improvement over previous attempts to model these systems. The X-ray luminosity and spectra of the shock-heated region, accounting for wind attenuation and the influence of different abundances on the resultant level and spectra of X-ray emission are calculated. A variety of dynamical instabilities that are found to dominate the intershock region is examined. These instabilities are found to be particularly important when postshock material is able to cool. These instabilities disrupt the postshock flow and add a time variability of order 10 percent to the X-ray luminosity. The X-ray spectrum of these systems is found to vary with the nuclear abundances of winds. These theoretical models are used to study several massive binary systems, in particular V444 Cyg and HD 193793.


Many maintenance-scheduling methods have been proposed using conventional mathematical programming methods or heuristic techniques. Heuristic approaches provide the most primitive solution based on trial-and-error approaches. Mathematical optimization based techniques are completely distinct from classical programming and trial-and-error heuristic methods. These techniques have been proposed to solve small maintenance scheduling problems. In this paper we explain the difference between both methods in solving generator maintenance scheduling (GMS) problem.


Sensitive adsorptive waves of cadmium(Ⅱ) and cobalt(Ⅱ) dimethylglyoxime NH 4Cl sodium citrate system in the medium of acetate with pH value of 5.0 were studied in the presence of zinc, and the oscillopolarographic method for the rapid and simultaneous determination of trace cadmium and cobalt in zinc electrolyte solution was developed. The peak potentials are at -0.79 and -0.93 V, respectively; the linear ranges of the determinations (0.005~5 mg·L -1 for Cd and 0.000 1~0.1 mg·L -1 for Co), and the detection limits (4.0×10 -8 mol·L -1 for Cd and 8.1×10 -10 mol·L -1 for Co) were determined. The method has directly been used in the rapid and simultaneous determination of the trace cadmium and cobalt in zinc electrolyte liquid mixture with satisfactory results. The method has the advantage of determining the trace cadmium and cobalt in zinc electrolyte solution directly and simultaneous without any pretreatment. The components of the electroactivity complex, the quality of the polarographic wave and the mechanisms of the electrode processes have also been studied. Both the coordination rates of cadmium and cobalt to dimethylglyoxime are 1∶2. The complexes, Cd(DMG) 2 and Co(DMG) 2 all appear to have intense adsorbability, and the former has more intense adsorbability than the latter. The peak currents result mainly from the reductions of the central ions Cd(Ⅱ) and Co(Ⅱ) in the complexes into Cd and Co. Both the polarographic waves are complex adsorption waves.


Stock price movement direction prediction is regarded as one of the most difficult and challenging tasks in the real world. An accurate prediction can yield profit to the investors and protect them from financial risk. In this study, we propose three variants of the evolving spiking neural networks (eSNNs) for the stock trend prediction: eSNN model using technical stock indicators (SIs) as input variables - SI-eSNN; a parallel implementation of the SI-eSNN model on a GPU machine - Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA)-SI-eSNN; and finally, a model for incremental learning using a sliding window (SW) of data - SW-eSNN. We also propose logistic distribution in place of Gaussian distribution in characterizing the receptive fields. The models are applied on nine large-scale benchmark stock indices of different countries. We considered classification accuracy and area under ROC curve (AUC) to measure the performance of the models in terms of predicting UP or DOWN movements on their daily prices. Our experimental results show that the eSNN model and its parallel implementation achieve a high accuracy of 80%-90% of predicting stock movements from 1 day to 1 month ahead forecasts, which is a significant improvement when compared with the use of traditional AI methods. Also, the performance of eSNN model with logistic receptive fields is compared with that of a deep learning architecture: long short-term memory (LSTM) network. The comparative analysis shows that the proposed model outperformed LSTM in the case of four stock indices out of nine in terms of accuracy. The CUDA-SI-eSNN model performs three to five times faster than the sequential eSNN model. The window-based eSNN model, SW-eSNN, achieved around 75% accuracy on average across all indexes. As eSNN can be considered as one specific implementation of a comprehensive SNN architecture called NeuCube, future development of improved models is also discussed. The results are promising for a future development of automated trading systems.


The central nervous system effects of a convulsant barbiturate, sodium 5-ethyl-5-(1,3-dimethylbutyl) barbiturate, were compared with the actions of pentobarbital in cats. Depending upon the dose, the convulsant barbiturate has both stimulant and depressant properties.

Under special conditions the convulsant barbiturate was shown to increase the mean convulsant dose of a timed intravenous infusion of pentylenetetrazole. Comparable amounts of pentobarbital were much more effective in increasing the mean convulsant dose of pentylenetetrazole. The depressant actions of the convulsant barbiturate appear to be real and not secondary to the stimulant effects.

The low to medium-voltage, medium to fast-frequency pattern observed in the EEG with the convulsant barbiturate was still present in three of five mesencephalic preparations verified by autopsy to be complete transections. In the remaining two preparations the convulsant barbiturate reduced the frequency of spindle bursts and prolonged the interval between bursts in a manner similar to that of pentobarbital.

The convulsant barbiturate enhanced the crossed-extensor reflex elicited by electrical stimulation of the contralateral sciatic nerve while pentobarbital depressed this response. However, prior abolition of the crossed-extensor reflex by pentobarbital was not antagonized by small doses of the convulsant barbiturate. Simple observations of an intact animal given the convulsant barbiturate offer no clue to primary depressant effects. Such depressant properties are observed only with a more precise neuropharmacological analysis.


We prove the existence of steady two-dimensional ideal vortex flows occupying the first quadrant and containing a bounded vortex; this is done by solving a constrained variational problem. Kinetic energy is maximized subject to the vorticity, being a rearrangement of a prescribed function and subject to a linear constraint.


As the growing publications on Memory Studies mobilize a variety of disciplines (Erll, 2008) it interests as much geographers of culture as those who study town planning and territorial development. Indeed, as collective memory steads in "commemorative sites" (Nora, 1974), it is also present in the decision of planners.How this dimension can be harmonized with strategic analysis, which is a foundation of urban studies? This article proposes a theoretical point of view and shows the importance of the urban narrative. The capacity of communities to build a local narrative joining the past, the memory and the project, as it will be shown in the second part of the article, is examined in a study of a municipality confronted with the project of the Grand Paris.A cognitive and a strategic hypothesis about city planning policyTerritory's organization, location of amenities, construction and allocation of housing, transportation, treatment of neighborhoods and protecting the environment are classic subjects in a city planning policy. Although strongly supported by legal instruments, city planning policy is also seems to be based on implicit rules about the collective modus operandi and agreements between elected officials, technicians and users that allow for a analysis of "government of the city" (Gaudin, 1999). Theories have been developed to describe these different processes in the wake of Max Weber's groundbreaking research. In 1922, Weber described "conflicts of legitimacy" between social groups and professionals who wanted to gain total control over what he called the "urban political economy". By showing that a political logic existed in cities, Max Weber largely contributed to the debates of his time about the administrative and political autonomy of cities within the framework of the German state.On another scale, we know, since Jones (1970), that public decision-making articulates the fit between the formulation and legitimization of solutions in a complex manner. As such, the first sequence, which involves putting an issue on the "agenda" (which can be done by institutional agents, experts or non-profit groups), influences the second sequence, which is based on the actual solution. A decision is thus a collective process in which each actor has limited vision and thus partial rationality. This principle underpins the study of systems of action that depends on a plethora of interacting public and private actors; it justifies research into public action networks (that is, private/public, non-hierarchical coordination between organizations that are familiar with each other)which can constitute growth coalitions in cities that mobilize local political and economic elites (Logan and Molotch, 1997). Such multi-level public action configurations have flourished in the current context of the decline of the Welfare State; this has most affected local municipalities and NGOs (Atkinson and Coleman, 1989). But public actor networks which inevitably require regulation are also dependent on the use of legal and material resources, knowledge and representations of their territories. The notion of a "public policy referential" is meant to bring together values, representations, arguments and public policy projects (Muller, 1990). To better understand them, we need to combine a cognitive approach and a strategic approach.The cognitive approach, which consists in inventorying the "stock of knowledge" of the actors, is connected to the collective memory (Berger and Luckman, 1966) : what the actors know, what they remember. It defines itself in opposition with the history as a social wave, which realizes the memories of the group. It gives it cohesion and identity (Halbwachs, 1925). In the city, the collective memory reflects the recognition of the social groups and their capacity to appropriate their territory. It constitutes an important stake, in particular in the context of the post fordist city and globalization, strengthening the economy of leisure, exchanges and migrations, identical mechanisms and attractiveness of cities (Florida, 2003). …


This paper makes researches on the permitted ruin probability of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission towards PC insurance industry.Based on the current regulation rules of the Chinese insurance industry and released data,Copula method and Quasi Monte Carlo simulation are applied to estimate the permitted ruin probability.The estimaed probabliity is 1.28%.This value can serve as a benchmark for the China solvency regulation reform.Furthermore,the relationship between the policy coefficients and the permitted ruin probability is analyzed by simulated samples.


Objective To observe the dynamic change of serous creatine kinase BB(CK-BB) in acute viral encephalitis(AVE).Methods To get 40 patient serous(each 2 ml) in health person(normal compared group) and get each 4 mL vein blood in the patients with AVE to separate serous after attacking 1,3,7 day.to examine the change of CK-BB in serous by Tan's way.Results The living character of patient group is higher than normal compared group.The living character of CK-BB in third day was higher than 7 day and 1 st day(p0.05);The CK-BB content in patients of developing state of illness in third day after attacking were higher than the patients of stable state of illness(p0.05);The CK-BB in many focus patients(p0.05).Conclusion The content of CK-BB in the serous of patients with AVE is use as one of the targets and is one of the targets to observe the development and change of state of illness of AVE,and is one of the targets to observe serious and prognosis.


AbstractA new, high-resolution, hydrodynamic model that encompasses the urban coastal waters of New Jersey along the Hudson River Waterfront opposite New York City, New York, has been developed and validated for simulating inundation during Hurricane Sandy. A 3.1-m-resolution square model grid combined with a high-resolution lidar elevation dataset permits a street-by-street focus to inundation modeling. The waterfront inundation model is a triple-nested Stevens Institute Estuarine and Coastal Ocean Hydrodynamic Model (sECOM) application; sECOM is a successor model to the Princeton Ocean Model family of models. Robust flooding and drying of land in the model physics provides for the dynamic prediction of flood elevations and velocities across land features during inundation events. The inundation model was forced by water levels from the extensively validated New York Harbor Observing and Prediction System (NYHOPS) hindcast of that hurricane.Validation against 56 watermarks and 16 edgemarks provided via t...


Irradiation of the charge-transfer (CT) absorption bands of tetra cyanoethylene (TCNE)–toluene systems gave 3-phenylpropane-1,1,2,2-tetracarbonitrile. TCNE-xylene systems gave a similar addition product on both irradiation of the CT bands and heating under reflux. These reactions proceed through electron-transfer followed by proton-transfer. TCNE reacts with methanol thermally in the presence of NN-dimethyl-p-toluidine to yield dicyanoketen dimethylacetal which alkylates the toluidine to give eventually NNN-trimethyl-p-toluidinium 2,2-dicyano-1-methoxyethenolate. m-Toluidine reacted similarly and the corresponding toluidinium salt was obtained in addition to a tricyanovinylated product. Irradiation of NN-dimethyl-p-toluidine with TCNE in methanol gave a diphenyl derivative together with N-cyanomethyl-N-methyl-p-toluidine through radical reactions of the thermal reaction products, NNN-trimethyl-p-toluidinium salts.


Rice flour is a naturally abundant and renewable biodegradable and biocompatible material. Nevertheless, fabrication of rice flour-based functional nanostructures has been challenging due to the difficulties in fine-tuning solution parameters. The present work shows a successful synthesis of rice-flour based nanofibers containing PVA by simply allowing rice flour and PVA to solubilize in alkaline conditions prior to electrospinning. Rice flour/PVA blend nanofibers at the rice flour weight content of 25% led to an optimal condition with reinforced hydrogen bonding between the two polymers. The interaction induced good processability and fiber formation with well-defined morphology. In addition, rice flour functioning as a nucleating agent promoted the crystallization of small PVA crystals resulting in an improvement of tensile strength and Young's modulus with respect to PVA nanofibers. This is for the first time showing not only the transformation of rice flour via a water-based system into mechanically robust nanofibers, but also the role of rice flour in inducing crystalline phase in semi-crystalline polymers in blends. The finding is important to bring in unprecedented practical applications for rice flour such as disposable nanofilters, tissue engineering scaffolds, wound dressings, etc.


: More than a half of Latvia's territory is covered with forests, and forest sector is important for the national economy. Despite the high economic importance of timber resources, forest utilization in Latvia is moderately intensive, as long rotation cycle (70-100 years for most widespread tree species) is used and strict environmental regulations are in force. Meanwhile, due to the climate change and growing demand for renewable resources, intensification of forest management is ongoing and expected to continue. Studies on the interactions between forest, soil and water are of high importance to ensure sustainably intensified forestry. Forest felling, transportation of logs, collection of slash, stump extraction, drainage system establishment and maintenance, forest road construction, beaver population management, use of water protection structures and riparian bufferzones are apparent components of forestry that may exacerbate, change or improve quality of water, soil and stands, and as such, require research and practical application of relevant protection measures.


G E N E R A L N O T E S . . . . . . . . . 142 MECHANISM OF THE COCHLEA A Restatement of the Resonance Theory of Hearing By GEORGE WILKINSON, M.B., F.R.C.S., Lecturer on Diseases of the Ear, Nose, and Throat, Sheffield University, and ALBERT A. GRAY, M.D., F.R.S.E., Lecturer on Diseases of the Ear, Glasgow University. Illustrated. 8vo. 12s. 6d. net. The Journal of Laryngology and Otology.—"The book as a whole reflects the greatest credit on the authors, and will be a source of pride to British otologists." Discovery.—" We would recommend all those who are interested, professionally or otherwise, in the mechanism of the ear, to read this book. It is the most important single contribution to the subject since Helmholtz first enunciated his theory." The Lancet.—" The.book deserves the attention of all interested in the subject." MACMILLAN & CO., LTD., LONDON, W.C. 2.


Medical statisticians seldom directly make life and death decisions. Though I wouldn't like to have direct responsibility for making the decision to give a penicillin injection to a child with a purpuric rash in the community, I am conscious of the effect that my work may have on clinical decisions for such children. I felt a heavy responsibility when I conducted the statistical analysis of this paper.1

In most datasets that I analyse, the main issue is to quantify if the effect observed is due to chance. The question is rarely about the direction of the main effect; instead it is more about the size of the effect and the precision with which it has been estimated. But on this occasion one key statistical decision determined whether the best estimate of the effect of parenteral penicillin given before admission to hospital was a modest benefit or substantial harm (table), and the statistician involved in the previous paper from the United Kingdom (on which current clinical policy is based) had taken the opposite view.2

View this table:

Estimated …


A pressure ulcer (PU) is defined as 'localised injury to the skin and/or underlying tissue usually over a bony prominence, as a result of pressure, or pressure in combination with shear. Among those conditions associated with pressure ulcers are neurovascular disease, orthopaedic or neurologic injury, chronic deconditioning, malnutrition and cardiovascular disease. Pressure ulcers are especially morbid after spinal cord injury, leading to high rates of hospitalization and longer hospital stays. Pressure ulcers pose significant physical and psychological challenges for individuals. Economic challenges also arise when pressure ulcers develop, particularly in the area of resource allocation.


Abstract A model of heat and moisture transfer based on partial differential equations was developed to establish a functional design platform for predicting safety and health of firefighter in fire-fighting and emergency rescue. This model consisted of heat and moisture transfer in clothing, Pennes bio-heat transfer and Henriques burn integral equations. The clothing model was based on the traditional heat transfer model, but considered the effects of phase change, absorption/desorption and moisture transfer on heat exchange in the clothing. The experimental results were used to validate the predictive precision of the model, indicating that the skin temperature obtained from the model presented a good consistency with the experiment. The design platform was used to predict the minimum exposure time of firefighter for avoiding the skin burn injuries. Besides, the design platform was the preliminary evaluation tool of functional development on firefighting protective clothing, which could be used to represent heat and moisture transfer and carry out parameter study for providing suitable instructions for developing new products.


Abstract : This study is an analysis of the US Air Force's air interdiction doctrine and its relationship to the US Army's AirLand Battle doctrine. In the United States military, each service is responsible for developing its own doctrine. The US Army has promulgated its doctrine and called it AirLand Battle. AirLand Battle relies extensively on air support for success. The US Air Force has developed its own doctrine with seemingly little regard for the Army's AirLand Battle doctrine. This study analyzes the Air Force's doctrine as it relates to air interdiction. The Normandy campaign of World War II is used as an historical example of successful air interdiction in support of operational level Army forces. The study concludes that the US Army and US Air Force doctrines are compatible. However, the doctrines as implemented do not provide support that is flexible enough for AirLand Battle. The air and ground commanders must work together to insure operational success on the AirLand battlefield. Mission type orders to air force commanders, instead of target nominations, are essential to insure that air combat power is used to its maximum potential. Operational level Army and Air Force headquarters need to be co-located to insure synchronization. Rather than having an Army element represent the land component commander at the Air Force headquarters, the joint staff should make the recommendations effecting allocation of both air and ground assets. Although the doctrines are supportive, this study concludes that there is much work to be done to make the doctrines work in harmony to insure operational level success on future battlefields. (Author)


6 voices in 10 minutes: Psychosocial aspects and the elderly Cognitive impairment Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), cognitive dysfunction (CD) and dementia (DA) are chronic pathologies of high prevalence in people aged over 65 years. Patients with T2D and CD perform less diabetes self-care; they make greater use of the health system and have more dependency. Systematic reviews and meta-analysis studies which included more than 25 original papers and more than 2 million patients estimated a relative risk increase for every type of dementia in diabetic patients of 1.73 (95% confidence interval 1.65—1.82).


BACKGROUND
After establishment of a cell culture, inhomogenous growth and cell selection takes place at early passages. Reproducing the same confluence state among experiments might be difficult.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Here we used cDNA arrays to compare the global gene expression pattern of two oral cancer cell lines at 80%, 100% and super-confluence stages. Also, the stability of the global gene expression pattern during culture was assessed in two cell lines at passages 10 and 53 (early and late passage). An intraclass correlation coefficient test was used for comparisons.

RESULTS
The consistency between the different confluence states was almost perfect (> 0.8) and substantial (0.6-0.8). Also the consistency between early and late passages was almost perfect in the cell lines used.

CONCLUSION
Our results indicate that neither the state of confluence nor passage have significant effects on the global gene expression profile, despite the variability in expression levels of individual genes.


In a PBS medium of pH 9.0,fluorescence of methylene blue was quenched by reaction with glucose and intensity of fluorescence quenching of methylene blue was enhanced obviously by usingβ-cyclodextrin/Methylene blue as fluorescent probe.Linear relationship between values of intensity of fluorescence quenching and mass concentration of glucose was kept in the range of 0.02-26mg·L-1,with detection limit(3S/N)of 0.002mg· L-1.Based on these facts,a fluorospectrophotometric method for the determination of glucose withβ-cyclodextrin/ methylene blue as fluorescent probe was proposed.Its maximum excitation wavelength was 660nm,and the maximum emission wavelength was 678nm.Values of recovery found by standard addition method were in the range of 97.4%-101%,and values of RSD′s(n=5)less than 2.5%.


The ability to precisely control molecular weight and molecular weight distributions, as well as gain sequence and architecture control in polymer synthesis is of considerable importance and has greatly impacted the advancement of science and technology. Indeed, the development of controlled living polymerization methods has profoundly changed polymer research with strategies, such as nitroxidemediated radical polymerization (NMP), atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), and reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT), allowing the facile synthesis of well-defined polymers that are diverse in both their structure and function. Recently there has been an effort to dramatically increase the scope of living radical polymerization through the development of strategies to regulate the activation and deactivation steps by using an external stimulus. Arguably, the most successful strategy that controls both the initiation and growth steps has been the recent work of Matyjaszewski and co-workers who exploited the unique aspects of electrochemistry to control the ratio of activator to deactivator in ATRP. By selective targeting of redox-active catalytic species, the polymerization reaction could be turned "on" and "off" by adjusting parameters such as applied current, potential, and total charge passed. As with traditional radical polymerization, the most robust and widely used form of regulation is through photopolymerization, which is a pervasive procedure in both academia and industry. The ability to develop a photocontrolled living radical polymerization would, therefore, represent a significant breakthrough. Interestingly, one of the earliest attempts to develop a living radical polymerization involved iniferter polymerization using a dithiocarbamate under UV irradiation. However, the procedure was intrinsically limited and poor control and broad molecular weight distributions were obtained. Subsequently, photoinitiation of ATRP, NMP, and RAFT polymerizations have been developed, though in all cases only the initiation step was photocontrolled and all subsequent growth steps could not be photoregulated. As a result, the development of a highly responsive photocontrolled living radical procedure, which affords control over the chain growth process, is both a major opportunity as well as challenge for the future of living polymerizations. The key to addressing this challenge was recent work by the research groups of Macmillan, Yoon, Stephenson, and others who have exploited the power of photoredox catalysts for organic transformations that are mediated by visible light. We envisaged that the unique properties of these photoredox catalysts would allow for the development of a highly responsive photocontrolled living radical polymerization. Our proposed mechanism for this process is shown in Scheme 1. The fac-[Ir(ppy)3] (1, Figure 1), a com-


One of the problems with growing peanuts is the lack of soil fertility. This is caused by a lack of nutrients in the soil. the effort is to add NPK fertilizer to the soil. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different fertilization methods and doses of compound fertilizers. The survey was conducted from February to April 2022 in Takerharjo Village, Solokuro District, Lamongan Regency. This study used a Randomized Block Design (RAK) with two treatment factors namely. Kinds of fertilization, namely. Tugal, Run circle, Kocor. Apply compound fertilizer 200, 250 and 300 kg/ha. Parameters observed included plant height, number of leaves, number of flowers, weight of wet pods, weight of pods per hectare, weight of seeds per plant, and weight of wet stover. So it can be concluded that the combination of circle array treatment and the dose of NPK Mutiara 250 kg/ha has the best effect.


The effect of a chromium (Cr) transition layer on the hot-salt corrosion behavior of an AlSi alloy coating was studied. Hot-salt corrosion experiments were performed at 650 °C and corrosion kinetic curves were plotted. The weight gain of the AlSi-coated samples increased to 0.89 mg/cm2 at 100 h and then decreased steadily to 0.77 mg/cm2 at 200 h. The weight of the AlSi-coated samples with the addition of a Cr transition layer increased immediately to 0.79 mg/cm2 at 20 h and then gradually increased to 0.85 mg/cm2 at 200 h. This Cr diffusion promoted the preferential creation of an Al2O3 layer, which effectively hindered the upward diffusion of Fe and also resulted in the production of a Cr2O3-SiO2 layer, which impeded the multi-scale salt mixture's penetration. The Cr diffusion also caused a notable seal-healing effect, which healed the micro-pores. These oxidation and degradation reactions were considerably repressed by the high barrier properties of these oxide layers and the dense surface, resulting in the increased hot-salt corrosion resistance of the AlSi alloy coating. The current findings provide a feasible strategy for the design of a diffusion barrier layer of a thermal protective coating on martensitic stainless steel.


The potential impact of globalization on inflation has drawn the attention of many policymakers and academics in recent years. Needless to say, the link between those two phenomena has many dimensions. Thus, some authors have pointed to some channels through which globalization may have a permanent impact on inflation. Those channels include a reduction in the inflation bias due to the increased degree of competition associated with globalization (Rogoff 2003), as well as the possibility of "opportunistic disinflations" in the face of favorable movements in international prices (Orphanides and Wilcox 2002). Yet, much of the recent debate has focused on the implications of globalization for the short-run dynamics of inflation and, in particular, on the findings in Borio and Filardo (2007). Using data for sixteen OECD countries, those authors find a shrinking role for the domestic output gap in estimated inflation equations, combined with


Procaine has been used to stimulate plant growth and it has been noted that it also promotes growth of microorganisms. The effect of procaine hydrochloride concentration on the growth rates of several species of microalgae and cyanobacteria was studied under both photoautotropic and heterotrophic growth conditions. Procaine hydrochloride was added to cultures at concentrations over the range 0.01–1000 mg L−1.


The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and challenges of its foreign technical and capital flow need to be appraised after many years of the establishment of the NEPAD initiative and the role out of its African development agenda. The NEPAD's strategies for implementation of projects and programmes within the foreign technical and capital flow expectations were considered important in taking the initiative forward. NEPAD sought both technical and capital flow support from the international community especially the United Nations agencies and the G8 countries - the United States of America, Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Italy and Russian Federation and many other development partners. But the high expectations of accelerated implementation of the NEPAD projects and programmes based on the G8 promises dropped following the low pace of fulfilling those promises in spite the perceived acceptance of the NEPAD initiative by the international community. As an Africa's own agenda towards fast-tracking development, little or no impact has been recorded within the foreign technical and capital flow component of the NEPAD initiative. In the NEPAD 2012 business plan, it was also eluded that redemption of these pledged remains a huge challenge for the organization hence the need for this appraisal.


Composite adsorbent materials containing calcium alginate, clinoptilolite, and coal-derived humic acid were prepared. Humic acid (HA), clinoptilolite (CL), alginate (AL), alginate-entrapped humic acid (AL/HA), clinoptilolite (AL/CL), and humic acid/clinoptilolite (AL/HA/CL) samples were characterized. The effectiveness of the samples as adsorbents for the removal of cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) were studied in a series of batch-adsorption experiments. For the AL, AL/HA, AL/CL, and AL/HA/CL adsorbents, uptake versus time data were evaluated using two kinetic models, a linear and a non-linear pseudo-first-order and a pseudo-second-order model. The data for each metal ion on all adsorbents showed good correspondence with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin–Radushkevich, and Temkin isotherm models. The results show that a non-linear method seems more appropriate for obtaining isotherm parameters. The non-linear Freundlich and Langmuir models for Pb and Hg produced a best fit with high R 2 value (0.99). For HA adsorbent, the equilibrium data for Cd removal better fit to the non-linear Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm.


The field of communication is large and varied. There are different types and levels of communication. Mass communication allows for mass media: books, newspapers, magazines, recorded sound/music, film, radio, television, video games, and the internet. Scholars have identified a handful of common functions of the media. The chief function of media is that of entertainment – providing diversion. Though it varies from country to country, people are spending much more time with the media than at any time in history, often spending more time with media than sleeping. This chapter discusses a number of concepts and terms related to contemporary mass media: globalization, digitalization, convergence, consolidation, fragmentation, personalization, and (hyper) commercialization.


The aim of the present work is the development of a computer-assisted diagnosis system for lung nodule classification into benign or malignant. Lung cancer is the world's deadliest type of cancer with a 5-year overall survival rate of only 10 to 15 %. A relatively poor early stage diagnosis is the main cause of dead when defining the odds for the success of the patient's survival rate and the primary reason for this lies on the difficulty in the diagnosis process, where for early detecting and characterizing these pathologies, the radiologists must be capable of performing an exhaustive search throughout the scans. This procedure is very time consuming and often physically demanding, that may lead to errors. Biomedical engineers have, therefore, the objective of providing Computer-aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems in order to aid and assist radiologists in the diagnostic process. CAD systems involve computer based algorithms designed to process images using image analysis and machine learning techniques. In the present work, an automatic CAD system for lung nodule classification in CT images is presented. This system determines the malignancy of a nodule using information retrieved solely from the region around the nodules and was designed in two ways: 1) A system that provides a lung nodule classification similar to the radiologists. 2) A system that provides a lung nodule classification similar to a real biopsy, surgery exam or follow up during several years. For this purpose, some studies were performed to optimize the system, namely, an analysis of the Lung Image Database Consortium and Image Database Resource Initiative (LIDC-IDRI) database, in what concerns the agreement of the radiologists' segmentations and intensity ranges of the images and the development of a novel lung nodule segmentation algorithm. The agreement study showed that the segmentations of radiologists differ greatly from each other, indicating a low agreement, and the range of intensities between nodules is similar. The novel lung nodule segmentation algorithm presented good results when compared with the radiologists' segmentations. Finally, the two systems were implemented and optimized by using a set of optimal features and different classifiers. The results showed good performance for both when used for classification in similar data.


[Comment on Aichberger et al, page 3031][1]In this issue of Blood , Aichberger and colleagues identify the antiapoptotic protein Mcl-1 as a novel therapeutic target in mastocytosis and show that inhibition of Mcl-1 potentiates the effects of KIT tyrosine inhibitors on survival of leukemic mast cell


Objective To study a simple and effect way of correcting prominent mandibular angle by using intraoral approach.Methods 76 patients with various degrees of prominent mandibular angle were divided into two groups randomly.37 cases were treated with oscillating saw in A group;39 cases were treated with right angle bur in B group.All cases were performed through intraoral approach.Results Compared with A group,patients in B group had lessbleeding and complication during operation and postoperative.The overwith of the lower face was effectively correctedin all cases.The cosmetic results determined by both patients and surgeons were followed up 6 to 12 monthspostoperative.Conclusion Osteotomy with right angle bur or oscillating saw by intraoral approach can achieve asatisfactory result,but the former is simpler and less complication than the latter.


This work analyzes the contribution of an Information Systems (IS) to the implementation of credit monitoring as a new integrated process to prevent non-performing loans in a small bank. The study focuses on the process of active monitoring of the entire credit portfolio, aimed at guiding the best migration between risk classes. This is understood as a set of integrated activities, in which the quality of information becomes a major determinant of the outcome. Such tools support risk management in the decision-making process and aiding performance evaluation. The purpose of this work is to highlight the possibility of an IS to support this new integrated process of credit monitoring, providing increasingly reliable data, availability on demand and real-time information.


Recent studies show that prepubertal obesity is associated with increased risk of hypertension in children. Moreover, previous reports have demonstrated that there is a link between the renin‐angiotensin system and obesity‐related hypertension via angiotensin II (Ang II) metabolism. However, to our knowledge, studies examining AngII metabolism during the development of hypertension associated with prepubertal obesity are limited. Therefore, the current study examined whether there are sex differences in arterial pressure and AngII metabolism in lean Dahl salt‐sensitive (SS) and obese SS leptin receptor mutant (SSLepRmutant) rats. Four week‐old female and male lean SS and obese SSLepRmutant rats (n=5 rats per group) were implanted with telemetry transmitters to measure MAP until the rats reached 8 weeks of age. Over the course of the study, we did not detect any differences MAP between female and male SS rats (115±2 and 120±2 mmHg, respectively). MAP was similar in male SSLepRmutant rats compared to their wild‐type littermates (118±6 mmHg). However, we observed a marked increase in MAP in female SSLepRmutant rats compared to the other groups (144±7 mmHg; p<0.05 vs. all groups). At the end of the study, plasma was collected and analyzed for AngII metabolites (AngII, Ang(1‐7), AngIII, AngIV, Ang(1‐5) and Ang(1‐9); via mass spectrometry). Interestingly, we did not observe any sex or strain differences in plasma AngII levels between lean SS and obese SSLepRmutant rats. Additionally, similar results were seen when measuring the plasma levels of Ang(1‐7), AngIV, and Ang(1‐5). However, AngIII and Ang(1‐9) levels were more than two‐fold higher in female obese SSLepRmutant rats versus their lean SS littermates and male obese SSLepRmutant counterparts (p<0.05 vs. all groups). Overall, these data indicate that the elevations in arterial pressure in female obese SSLepRmutant rats is associated with alterations in angiotensin metabolism with increases in plasma levels of AngIII and Ang(1‐9). Additionally, further studies are needed to investigate the roles of AngIII and Ang(1‐9) and their signaling pathways in the early development of hypertension in female obese SSLepRmutant rats prior to puberty.


The rules international organizations (IOs) make deviate considerably from the traditional sources of international law in Article 38 of the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) Statute and the ways those are understood: as generated, enforced, and interpreted by states based on their consent. As this panel demonstrates, IO "rules" take various forms—e.g., guidelines, recommendations, and standards—and are promulgated by not only traditional interstate organizations but public/private hybrids, transnational networks involving agencies inside states, private associations of industry or other experts, or subsidiary committees of the parties (COPs) or meetings of the parties (MOPs). These rules enjoy varying degrees of authoritativeness, often purport to have some impact on state and non-state actors, and depart, sometimes quite openly, from reliance on state consent. And even when IOs turn to the traditional sources—treaties, custom, general principles—these take untraditional forms that blur distinctions between binding and non-binding law. Whether these governance efforts are described as systems of "global administrative law," "global constitutionalism," or "transnational legal orders" or as new forms of "international public law," they are certainly different from your grandmother's public international law. Like "soft" law before it, these governance efforts have drawn the ire of legal positivists who ask, with some justice, what is meant by "law" if everyone (public, private, and in-between) is a potential "lawmaker" and no one can be certain about whether their efforts entail legal responsibility and, if so, for whom.


Five pyrethroids residues in tea including fenpropathrin,lambda-cyhalothrin,deltamethrin,fenvalerate and permethrin were determined by high performance liquid chromatography with ultrasonic extraction.With extraction reagents of n-hexane/acetone(30/70,V/V) for 60min,and then cleaning up with florisil solid phase extraction,five pyrethroids were well separated and detected by using menthol/water (78.5/21.5,V/V) as mobile phase.Under the optimum conditions,good linearities of five pyrethroids were obtained in the ranges of 0.5—50mg/L with detection limits of 0.1—0.15mg/L.By analyzing of the spiked tea sample,the recoveries of tea with different level content pyrethroids were between 71.4% and 104.4%,and relative standard deviation(n=5) were less than 10.0%.


A novel block copolymer of poly[N-isopropyl acrylamide]-co-polyurethane was designed, synthesized, and applied as controlled release fertilizer coating. Structural confirmation of the copolymer was performed using FTIR and 1H-NMR spectra and elemental analysis. The coating process consists essentially of immersing urea granules in molten polymer and removing the coated urea from the melt by centrifugal action. The morphology of the coated urea was studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The polymer coat of the urea granules was found to swell in water forming pores and enabling the release of urea. The urea released from the granule, monitored using a mass spectroscopy technique, was found to be governed by pH of the aqueous medium. The study anticipates development of a beneficiary fertilizer coat in terms of improving controlled release over a period of time which can be tailored by soil temperature, pH and moisture. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 3236–3243, 2010


The geopolitical history of the Mediterranean is discontinuous, oscillating between periods rather mare nostrum that benefit the living standards of the people by reciprocal enrichment permitted by the exchange, and other pond rather clausum during dark times not conducive to improvement of living conditions and even with recessive effects. Thus, this "sea between lands" according to its etymology, performed duties door or barrier between its coastal nations.


The concept of the machine circulates in the work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari in highly abstracted terms, yet they frequently maintained that it was not to be understood as a metaphor. This paper draws on the example of the film Forbidden Planet to explore the potential for cinematic representation to convey the terms under which Deleuze and Guattari ask us to imagine the machinic complex.


The permaculture community is a grassroots initiative that challenges current mainstream practices. Such grassroots initiatives are seen as promising incubators of learning processes that can guide transformations. However, there is ambivalence between the wish of grassroots initiatives to reach people and reoccurring claims of insularity. We use the concept of Communities of Practice to answer important questions concerning community dynamics and learning processes: How are individual perspectives turned into a joint endeavour? How do the community and its respective relation to its members affect the interactions with external actors? Drawing on qualitative data from twelve semi-structured interviews with teachers from Germany's biggest education body on permaculture, the Permakultur Akademie, our goal was to gain insights into the community's self-organisation and learning interfaces. Findings suggest that the German permaculture community displays key characteristics of a Community of Practice with developed shared values as well as education and organisational structures, while being embedded in an international community. At the time of the research, internal challenges were the absence of a common strategy that effectively linked individuals to coordinated activities. The results led to implications for a more diverse use of the concept to inform actions and several questions for future research.


Several synthetic routes to silicon polycarbonate copolymers utilizing aryl-terminated siloxanes have been examined. Anhydride capped siloxanes with varying polydimethylsiloxane units were prepared by the acid equilibration of 1,3-bis(4,4′-phthalicanhydride)tetramethyldisiloxane. These siloxanes were then imidized with aminophenol to the corresponding phenol capped siloxane. Reaction of these materials with 4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol (BPA) and phosgene (interfacially and non-interfacially) produced silicone polycarbonate copolymers. Similar copolymers were obtained by reaction with bis-chloroformate derivatives of 4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol (monomer and oligomers). The different synthetic routes significantly affect the thermal and mechanical properties as well as the composition of the new polymers. Materials synthesized by the bis-chloroformate route exhibit good hydrolytic and melt stabilities. Those made interfacially underwent phase separation in the melt.


The Vickers hardness numbers (VHNs) of annealed and recrystallized vanadium and V-(0-15)Cr-(0-5)Ti-(0-1)Si alloys were determined at 25{degrees}C. The relationship between the VHN and the tensile strength of these materials previously reported by Loomis et al. are presented in this report. These results show that the VHN, yield strength (YS), and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of V-(0-15)Cr-5Ti alloys at 25{degrees}C have a similar dependence on Cr concentration and that the VHN, YS, and UTS of V-(0-20)Ti alloys at 25{degrees}C have a similar dependence on Ti concentration. On the basis of these results and the small size of the test specimen, it is recommended that the Vickers hardness test be utilized in the vanadium alloy development program to determine the effects of thermal-mechanical treatment, impurities (i.e., O, N, C, H, and Si), and irradiation on tensile properties of vanadium-base alloys.


Hepatolithiasis is characterized by its intractablity and frequent recurrence that requires multiple operative and non-operative interventions. To clarify the optimal treatment modalities and their effectiveness, a total of 648 patients with hepatolithiasis and who had treated at Seoul National University Hospital between January 1981 and December 2005 were analyzed according to the different time periods. Hepatectomy as a primary treatment of hepatolithiasis has gradually increased and become the major treatment modality in the recent 10 years, while choledocholithotomy and drainage procedures have decreased. New treatment modalities such as percutaneous choledochoscopic stone removal (PTCS) and laparoscopic liver resection were instituted during the past decades. Over the last 25 years, both advances in the operative stone clearance rate and the success rate of postoperative lithotripsy have resulted in an improved final stone clearance rate, and this has been progressive from 79.0% in the first period to 91.3% in the fifth period. In the last 10 years, the final clearance rate of hepatectomy, choledocholithotomy, drainage procedures and PTCS was 97.1%, 82.0%, 78.8% and 85.7%, respectively, and the rate of performing repeated hepatectomy, choledocholithotomy, drainage procedures and PTCS was 11.2%, 26.2%, 9.1% and 28.6% respectively. Hepatolithiasisassociated cholangiocarcinomas were found in 24 (4.7%) patients (1991-2005, n=512), and 5 of them were diagnosed after 5 years of follow-up. Histopathologic examinations of the resected livers showed various degrees of pathologies from proliferative cholangitis and hyperplasia through dysplasia and cholangiocarcinoma. Therefore, a suspicion of malignancy and long term follow-up are needed for managing the patients who suffer with hepatolithiasis.