Education info is an important content in education reformation.In order to accommodate to open studying, improve the preparation in experiment teaching, Internet-based education system model for college physical experiment is set up by means of character of the teaching of college physical experiment, a booking mechanism which is conditioned by preparation test is proposed.The algorithm and Experiment result of self-generating test papers which based on test-points and does not include same question is given for preparation test. A new method is proposed to improve the efficiency of preparation.


The Trenton (Middle Ordovician) is divided into three Prasopora zones: the lowermost has abundant P. simulatrix Ulrich; the middle has P. shawi n. sp., P. sardesoni n. sp. and P. sanfordi n. sp.; the uppermost has P. selwyni (Nicholson), P. occulata Foord, and P. affinis Foord. The zones are correlated with the Trenton of Minnesota. Monticules were absent from core specimens, so may be an artifact of weathering of surface specimens.


Abstract Foam concrete or light concrete has become increasingly recognizable in commercial and construction field. Foam concrete is not just light in its weight but also light in cost, as there is no coarse aggregate needed in its production. Application of foam concrete is limited due to the fact that it is not as strong as conventional concrete in terms of strength and rigidness. Therefore, this study is to investigate the potential of foam concrete incorporating with rubber powder of waste tire and admixture as an additive material to improve its strength and workability. Thus, the use of rubber powder in this study could enhance the strength by filling the voids in foam concrete. The amount of rubber powder added as additive in foam concrete is 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% respectively. The amount of plasticizers used is limited to less than 0.4% to the weight of cement. The mix design was set to achieve density of 1800kg/m3. The workability of foam concrete is decreasing as the percentage of rubber power was increasing. The foam concrete containing 5%of rubber powder has highest compressive strength with value of 20.6 MPa for 7 days water curing and 22.3 MPa for 28 days water curing. Significantly showing an increase of 1.7 MPa. The highest value of tensile strength for both air curing 7 and 28 days are 1.86 MPa and 1.97 MPa also held by 3% of rubber powder mix. As a conclusion the optimum rubber powder content to be used in foam concrete is 5% that gives the highest results in terms of workability and strength.


Expanding access to essential medicines has become one of the most visible challenges of global health delivery. Only a half-century ago, however, the role of medicines in international public health was far less obvious. Indeed, the original 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) barely mentioned medicines.1 How did access to drugs assume such a central role within global health efforts?


Costus speciosus (Koenig) Smith was found to contain abundant crude protein (4.43%), rich in all kinds of amino acids. It contains various vitamins, including thiamine, riboflavin, ascorbic acid and tocopherol, and carotene. It contain fibrin, soluble sugar, acid and pectin. Residues of heavy metals, chemical fertilizers and pesticides do not exceed the allowable levels of the national standard.


Coal seam is mined under special fufeng-nappe construct water in Xinji No.2 Coal Mine,and the coal seam 13-1 has especially complex hydrogeology condition.The mechanism of water-outrush of work face 1307,and water level abnormity falling in aquifer of limestone terrane far away from the nappe structure,are analyzed in the article,and the cogition to the hydrogeological boundary condition of 13-1 coal seam is enhanced.


The final session of our meeting is intended to be a change of pace with the express purpose of better focusing on the realistic aspects of the application of NDE in the field; practical problems and limitations, the requirements, potential and opportunities. Actually, Gerry Posakony did a good job of kicking off this end of the meeting subject last night with a discussion of his problem with the rather complex looking structures for which he has to develop operational inspection techniques. Disciplines Materials Science and Engineering This 11. bridge to reality is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cnde_yellowjackets_1976/ 42 USAF NDE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSITION D. M. Forney, Jr. Air Force Materials Laboratory WPAFB, Ohio 45433 The final session of our meeting is intended to be a change of pace with the express purpose of better focusing on the realistic aspects of the application of NDE in the field; practical problems and limitations, the requirements, potential and opportunities. Actually, Gerry Posakony did a good job of kicking off this end of the meeting su~ject last night with a discussion of his problem with the rather complex looking structures for which he has to develop operational inspection techniques. Assuring that the R and D community has a better understanding of the realities and range of field conditions, requirements and limitations, we feel is both helpful and important because it is this future market place into which new technology must be transitioned if the research is going to be profitable at all. Technology transfer is not an automatic, selfsustaining process nor is it a process where responsibilities are obvious or even accepted for that matter. On the one hand the scientific R and D community is involved, riqhtly so, in advancing the state of the art, worrying about fundamentals, bridging the gap between phenomena and the understanding of the nature and physics of things. They are a rather conservative group whose scope is usually limited, necessarily, to fundamental aspects and details of the problem, and their understanding or concern for field application requirements may not be brought into the picture or may not exist. On the other hand are the systems developers and users. They have schedules to keep, they have costs to keep down; they are not really interested in incurring risks that can go with the introduction of new technology. As a matter of fact, to hear them say it, new technology initially has a pretty poor track record. To sum it up they are suspicious, basically, of new technology and very conservative in its application. The question is: who is in the middle with the job of making transition occur? Generally speaking, the systems people just don't have the time or the inclination to reach backward very far and draw new technology in. Therefore, like it or not, the R and D community carries the bulk of the job-of technology transfer if it is to occur. Consequently, it is important that this group have a constantly updated view of the realities of field application; they must tilkP the initiative to qet the user interested in and supportive of the R and D program early, and eventually make plans to demonstrate new technology on real situation problems in order to interest the user market, which paradoxically,needs the new technology. Current USAF NDI Program * Until about ten years ago, NDI activities in the USA(were still somewhat narrow in scope, being concerned mainly with remedial diagnostic inspection of parts as necessary during the maintenance of aircraft at the local base level. Many NDI shops were operating somewhat independently with periodic support coming from individual aircraft manufacturers, all of which resulted in considerable variation in practice, accuracy and effectiveness. Major inspection and overhaul programs on aircraft were conducted at several major depots in the U.S. only as necessitated by specific repair requirements. Thus, these programs were called Inspection and Repair as Necessary (IRAN). In 1964, as part of an effort to improve and standardize maintenance engineering procedures and significantly reduce cost, a major deci5ion was made to place all USAF NDI activities under central management control and to incorporate the NDI function as a critical step in a new controlled maintenance process. This new role for NDI, and the details of its implementation, were formalized in 1966 in USAF Regulation 66-38 entitled, "Nondestruction Inspection Program," which established new NDI policies, including: * The terms "Nondestructive Testing" (NOT), "Nondestructive Inspection" (NDI) and "Nondestructive Evaluation" (NDE) are frequently used interchangeably and have sometimes been the cause of confusion. While no consensus has been reached, there is, in fact, increasing agreement that NOT shoulH refer to the development ~nd application of the nondestructive test methods themselves ... ("tools"). NDI should refer to the performance of inspections to established specifications or procedures using the NOT methods to detect anomalies ... ("functions"). NDE should refer to the broad examination of materials, components,or assemblies to define, classify and make qualitative, and eventually,quantitative measurements of anomalies in terms of size, shape, type, orientation, and hopefully materials strength and stress levels. The term NDI was initially chosen to describe the USAF inspection task within the maintenance function as established by AFR 66-38. The term NDE as used by the USAF, and in this paper, encompasses the entire subject including the research and. development activities.


Abstract Symbolic applications such as expert systems, theorem provers, and computer algebra exhibit dynamic, tree-structured behavior with respect to control and data structures. This is why it is difficult to parallelize a program and get it running efficiently on a parallel computer, especially one with distributed memory. This paper introduces a semi-automatic mapping environment providing a set of support tools, intended for application to large, real-life programs. Mapping can perform adaptive granularity control, dynamic load balancing, and scheduling on parallel programs with dynamic data and control behavior, providing a set of strategies for all components. A set of mapping rules are extracted, describing when which strategy is appropriate. The approach systematically selects and configures its strategies to suit the characteristics of the application and is thus superior to a universal heuristic.


As an important part of the modern generator excitation system, the power rectifier cabinet accommodates the silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs) whose junction temperature should be kept within limit at all times. For excitation systems of 1000MW steam turbine generator and 700WM hydro generator, the required output DC current for each rectifier cabinet can be as high as 4,000A, which raises challenge for cooling design. Meanwhile, under normal operation conditions, excessive cooling wastes energy and causes frequent change of air filter due to high volume cooling air flow. In order to optimize the cooling design, the heat transfer and cooling processes are simulated for a power rectifier cabinet with 6 SCRs and using forced air cooling. First the heat generated by the SCR is calculated as a function of the rectifier cabinet output current. 3D implicit unsteady k-ε turbulent model is used to simulate the air flow. The energy is coupled between the solid and the fluid (air) to reflect the heat transfer from the SCR to the heat sink and then to the cooling air. For given output current and inlet air velocity, the temperature of the SCRs, heat sinks and the cooling air is simulated; the air velocity at each location in the cabinet is also calculated. The simulation results showed good agreement with the experiment data which laid the foundation for future application of the simulation tool.


Communication between public administration and the public is a sensitive issue because there is an interaction of state and citizens. Therefore it is necessary professional conduct of civil servants, because they are the ones who represent the state. The aim of this work is to describe theoretically the problems of communication and evaluate the findings amde by empirical research.


The problem of iatrogenic carcinogenesis is treated with special reference to dermatological dispensings. The problem of arsenic as a drug, of cytostatic drugs, antimycotic drugs and external dispensings is discussed. The chance to induce cancer by medical treatment in dermatology is considered to be very low since arsenic has been eliminated.


In his famous book Seeing Dark Things: The Philosophy of Shadows (2008), Roy Sorensen put forward a 'blocking theory of shadows', a causal view on these entities according to which a shadow is an absence of light caused by blockage. This approach allows him to solve a quite famous riddle on shadows, 'the Yale puzzle', that was devised by Robert Fogelin in the late 1960s and that Sorensen presents in the form mentioned by Bas van Fraassen (1989). Istvan Aranyosi has recently criticized Sorensen's solution to the Yale puzzle, on the grounds that it does not resist another version of the riddle, that Aranyosi calls 'the Bilkent puzzle'. A new perspective on shadows, the 'Material Exstitution View', that allegedly permits to solve both puzzles, could be adopted as an alternative. In this paper I will show that Sorensen's blockage theory can actually handle both the Yale and the Bilkent puzzle, plus another one that I put forward ('the donut puzzle'), which instead is fatal to Aranyosi's position. As Sorensen puts it, nothing aside from the original blockage of light is needed. Keywords: Aranyosi, blockage theory, material exstitution view, shadow, Sorensen, Yale puzzle.


Ten patients with Sydenham's chorea, ages 7 to 15 years, were tested on two executive functioning tasks—the Tower of Hanoi and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST). Both tasks have demonstrated deficits in performance by other basal ganglia disorders (e.g., Huntington's chorea, Parkinson's disease). Deficits were observed during performance of the Tower of Hanoi, but not the WCST, relative to age‐ and sex‐matched controls. The results arc discussed in terms of frontostriatal circuits involved in maintaining and sequencing of spatially controlled motor moves and thought to be affected in Sydenham's chorea.


Strategic news is published news with an implied agenda without explaining the truth. Nowadays, most media are more comfortable playing tug of war in their writing than telling the truth because of the news framing process. The process of generating strategic news is done by journalists and editors of a media organization by conducting the franchise process first to enable them to reach the target audience. Framing news is the cause for the reader's shift of understanding of news framed by the newspaper until the community's perception has been successfully changed. This study utilizes a qualitative method; three personality and media experts were interviewed to obtain relevant data regarding media agenda, framing and strategic news. The informants were from media conglomerates in Malaysia – Media Prima, Bernama TV and former Berita Harian Group Editor-inChief. The exploration of media practioner perspectives on news writing and framing allowed the researcher to delve into fundamental questions in journalism, specifically in the fragment of journalism ethics. The findings show that the framing of an issue was both deliberate and unintentional. Strategic news is the result of the interconnections between media agenda, ethics and journalism, editor responsibility and news framing, and manipulation by the media to advocate the success of the government's mission and vision. Keywords: Strategic news, news framing, journalism ethics, media organizations, Malaysia.


We are interested in a coherent atom mirror (specular atomic reflections in vacuum). A resonant dielectric waveguide structure is placed upon the prism so that a large energy is confined into the waveguide which is placed between two mediums of low index medium. The incident laser beam is resonantly coupled to a waveguide mode, through the gap, by frustrated total internal reflection. We obtain a large amplitude evanescent wave in the vacuum above the waveguide. We study the influence of the thickness of the gap and the losses inside the waveguide.


8218 Background: Nearly 2/3 of MCC patients (pts) are over 70 years (y) old (Yancik, Cancer, 2002). O, I, F, and L are the mainstay of MCC treatment (Grothey, JCO, 2004). Chronotherapy (CT) enhances tolerability and/or activity of these drugs (Levi, Cancer 2003). Methods: This study assessed the relevance of a combined Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA, Balducci, Oncology, 2000) and drug dose adjustment, at baseline, for improving outcome of 35 MCC pts ≥ 70 y receiving high dose CT. Dose adjustments are based on CGA result as well as on tolerability of prior O, I, F-containing regimens, if it existed. Treatment consisted of either 4-day chrono FLO q 2 weeks (w) through a multichannel pump (Melodie, Aguettant, F) (15 pts, starting doses: F, 2800, L, 1200, O, 80 mg/m2/c) or 5-day chrono IFLO through Melodie q 3 w (20 pts, starting dose: I, 180; F, 2800; L, 1200; O, 80 mg/m2/c). A CGA was performed at baseline for 24 pts (69%). Results: Median age: 74 years (70–85); Female/Male: 15/20; number of organs...


The invention discloses an attendance system for a company. The attendance system comprises an ERP (enterprise resource planning) database which is stored with facial image, fingerprint data and corresponding identification information of each staff in the company, and an attendance device which is a face identification device or a mobile terminal which has an attendance function, wherein the face identification device is arranged on a doorway of the company and comprises a facial image acquiring unit, a first infrared sensing unit for sensing temperature of a face area and a second infrared sensing temperature for sensing the temperature of the ambient environment; a plurality of mobile terminals having the attendance function can be provided, each mobile terminal comprises a positioning unit, a fingerprint acquiring unit and a wireless communication unit. The face identification device in the system not only can accurately identify faces but also can distinguish that whether the facial image is from a real face or other images; furthermore, with the adoption of the mobile terminals in the system, the attendance can be performed whenever and wherever possible, and therefore, the attendance of all staffs in the company can be managed effectively.


Abstract Background Lessons learned and experiences gained ask for enhancing the response even during a crisis. We present the application of the in-action review (IAR) of Dutch ports and airports, based on methods developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC). Methods We performed two separate IARs among Dutch airports (5/5) and ports (15/16) respectively. 1) A questionnaire among participants was used to decide upon most urgent matters to discuss during a 4-hour online meeting. 2) a 4-hour, interactive, online meeting was held among local representatives of points of entry, regional public health professionals, safety professionals, the national institute of public health and the ministry of health. Best practices, lessons, barriers and actions on different topics were first prepared in small groups, and discussed and finalized in plenary sessions. Follow-up of actions was performed during the consecutive 6 weeks at the moment of writing. A questionnaire among participants evaluated satisfaction and impact of the IAR among participants. Results Main items for the online meetings were the implementation of measures, and regional and supra-regional collaboration. Most urgent actions formulated were a better integration of local needs into national policy making, and enhancing contacts among different points of entry. Implemented actions include the integration of local public health authorities involved at airports into an existing meeting structure at the national level; and an inter-port meeting structure that was developed leading to 3-weekly meetings to discuss upcoming challenges and exchange practices and advice. Conclusions This is to our best knowledge the first time that an in-action review has been performed specifically for the point of entry setting. Performing IARs, online with operational partners led to quick wins and a better network during the COVID-19 pandemic.


with the increasing number of all kinds of trauma patients and operations and the increasing severity of aging of population, surgical site infection (SSI) and wounds were more and more, which bring great pressure and burden to medical staff and patients. This article focuses on risk factors, prevention, and treatment strategies related to SSI and wounds, especially its common treatment, hope to be paied high attention.


This study comprised an investigation of eight strains of Gram-negative psychrophilic bacteria with respect to their growth and protease production at 5


Polycrystalline gold–nickel thin films are deposited on silicon (111) wafers by evaporation in a vacuum of 2 × 10−6 mbar. Concentration profiles of heat‐treated specimens are obtained by Auger electron depth profiling. The heat treatments are carried out in a vacuum furnace of 4 × 10−6 mbar in the temperature interval 473–773 K. The grain boundary diffusion coefficient is determined, using a modified Wipple model, to be (3 × 10−4 cm2 s−1) exp (−0.94 eV kT−1). It is concluded that interdiffusion in the investigated system is characterized by type B kinetics, and that grain boundary diffusion plays a dominant role in the mass transport process of such films. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare soft tissue cancer that most often affects children and young adults but can occur at any age. Of the three types of Rhabdomyosarcoma, Embryonal, Alveolar, and Anaplastic, we focus on Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS). Patients with ARMS have a chromosomal translocation that results in the production of a fusion protein, PAX3‐FOXO1. Although there are other translocations present in ARMS patients, PAX3‐FOXO1 is the most common and is liked with a more aggressive disease phenotype. A search of an updated ChIP‐seq screen of 3881 PAX3‐FOXO1 putative binding sites revealed that 36% contained both a PAX3 paired domain and FOXO1 recognition sequence within close proximity. With the knowledge that protein‐protein interactions involving FOXO1 have been shown to contribute to DNA targeting, we then examined the regions surrounding these dual motifs for the presence of common transcription factor binding sites. A number of common recognition sites, including those for MYOD, AP4R, and NEUR were overrepresented as compared to the expected distribution of these sequences in the genome. We are currently examining the contribution of these and other transcription factors to PAX3‐FOXO1 DNA‐binding through several in vitro assays. Identification of PAX3‐FOXO1 binding partners will give more detail about the mechanism of PAX3‐FOXO1 targeting and gene activation.


This study intended to describe the effectiveness of the GEM-CL learning model selaras Bakar Batu cultural practice on chapter heat and temperature. This type of research was quasi-experiment with pretest and post-test control group design. The study population was all students of class XI IPA SMAN 1 Jayapura. The sampling technique used was simple random sampling. The selected classes were XI IPA-3 as an experimental class and class XI IPA-5 as a control class. Data collection instruments were tests based on higher-order thinking skills and questionnaires to collect students' responses. Data analysis was done by t-test, N-gain, and effect size for data collecting from test data while data from questionnaires were analyzed by descriptive qualitative analysis. It was concluded that the model is effective to apply in physics learning to preserve students' conceptual understanding and improve students' higher-order thinking skills. Further study on GEM-CL to other cultural practices and physics chapter in Indonesia would would strengthen this learning model.


Infinite-horizon optimal control of constrained piecewise affine (PWA) systems has been approximately addressed by hybrid model predictive control (MPC), which, however, has computational limitations, both in offline design and online implementation. In this paper, we consider an alternative approach based on approximate dynamic programming (ADP), an important class of methods in reinforcement learning. We accommodate non-convex union-of-polyhedra state constraints and linear input constraints into ADP by designing PWA penalty functions. PWA function approximation is used, which allows for a mixed-integer encoding to implement ADP. The main advantage of the proposed ADP method is its online computational efficiency. Particularly, we propose two control policies, which lead to solving a smaller-scale mixed-integer linear program than conventional hybrid MPC, or a single convex quadratic program, depending on whether the policy is implicitly determined online or explicitly computed offline. We characterize the stability and safety properties of the closed-loop systems, as well as the sub-optimality of the proposed policies, by quantifying the approximation errors of value functions and policies. We also develop an offline mixed-integer linear programming-based method to certify the reliability of the proposed method. Simulation results on an inverted pendulum with elastic walls and on an adaptive cruise control problem validate the control performance in terms of constraint satisfaction and CPU time.


The multi-media teaching as a new and modern teaching methods have gradually major colleges and universities widely used up,especially suitable for the teaching of college English courses.Practice has proved that in the process of English teaching,the widespread use of multimedia is indeed a great help to stimulate students' interest in learning to create a good learning environment,but there are drawbacks can not be ignored,article attempts to analyze the College English Teaching and disadvantages,so that a clear understanding of the real function of multimedia-a secondary means of teaching,which can moderate and proper use of multimedia teaching.


PETRULEVIEIUS J. F. 2003. Phylogenetic and biogeographical remarks on Thyridates (Mecoptera: Bittacidae), with the first fossil record of the taxon. Acta zoologica cra- coviensia, 46(suppl.- Fossil Insects): 257-265. Abstract. Until now, Thyridates was considered an American genus. In this work seven African species of Bittacus are transferred to Thyridates: T. stanleyi (BYERS, 1968), T. erythrostigma (BYERS, 1975), T. weelei (ESBEN-PETERSEN, 1913), T. nebulosus (KLUG, 1838), T. testaceous (KLUG, 1838), T. oreinus (NAVAS, 1914), and T. chevalieri (NAVAS, 1908). A new species of Thyridates from the late Paleocene of Argentina is de- scribed. The geographic relationships between species of the genus suggest the idea of a Gondwanan origin of this group before separation of Africa and South America in the Lower Cretaceous.


Although transgenic animals have been successfully cloned, the process is still inefficient. One of the limitations is the use of somatic donor cells that have a limited lifespan. If a genetic modification is made, the selection process must be initiated and completed rapidly or the cells will undergo senescence. Identification of a stem cell that would proliferate rapidly and not undergo senescence would prove to be very valuable. Here we report attempts at cloning by using porcine skin-derived sphere stem cells to determine if they are a suitable donor cell type. Skin-derived stem cells were isolated from fetal skin and express the neural progenitor marker NES, as well as genes that may be critical for pluripotency such as POU5F1 and STAT3. The skin-derived stem cells proliferate rapidly in vitro and retain a normal karyotype after long-term culture. In the present study, skin-derived stem cells were cultured and frozen in liquid nitrogen from passage 1 to passage 8. To investigate the developmental potential of the skin-derived stem cells, we performed nuclear transfer (NT) and compared their preimplantation developmental efficiency to that of the embryos derived from in vitro fertilization (IVF). Cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) were aspirated from antral follicles of ovaries from prepubertal gilts. Approximately, groups of 50-70 COCs were matured in vitro in 500 µL TCM-199 per culture well for 40–44 h at 38.5°C, in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air. The donor cells were thawed and cultured one day before NT; skin-derived stem cells were pipetted vigorously in PBS-EDTA to isolate individual cells. For IVF, cryopreserved ejaculated spermatozoa were thawed and washed and then resuspended with fertilization medium (mTBM). The MII oocytes were co-incubated with sperm for 6 h, and then transferred to PZM3 and cultured. For NT and IVF, respectively, the percent cleavage at 48 h in PZM3 was 64.9 ± 8.2% (169/208) and 62.1 ± 3.1% (94/184) (P > 0.05), the percent blastocysts after 6 days was 21.5 ± 5.8% (53/208) and 25.2 ± 3.4% (46/184) (P > 0.05), and the number of nuclei per blastocyst was 28.5 ± 1.9 (NT, maximum was 58) and 16.8 ± 4.0 (IVF, maximum was 31) (P < 0.05). To determine development post-implantation, some cloned embryos were cultured in PZM3 for 15.5 h and an average of 112 cloned embryos were transferred to the oviducts of four naturally cycling gilts on Day 0–1 of standing estrus. Three of the animals were pregnant: one of them farrowed two male piglets on August 14th, with the other two due on September 8th and 9th. Future studies will involve performing NT and ET on skin-derived stem cells from a higher passage number to determine if they would be suitable for genetic modification prior to NT.


Recent years have witnessed the great breakthrough of deep reinforcement learning (DRL) in various perfect and imperfect information games. Among these games, DouDizhu, a popular card game in China, is very challenging due to the imperfect information, large state and action space as well as elements of collaboration. Recently, a DouDizhu AI system called DouZero has been proposed. Trained using traditional Monte Carlo method with deep neural networks and self-play procedure without the abstraction of human prior knowledge, DouZero has achieved the best performance among all the existing DouDizhu AI programs. In this work, we propose to enhance DouZero by introducing opponent modeling into DouZero. Besides, we propose a novel coach network to further boost the performance of DouZero and accelerate its training process. With the integration of the above two techniques into DouZero, our DouDizhu AI system achieves better performance and ranks top in the Botzone leaderboard among more than 400 AI agents, including DouZero.


T HE recent article by Lauritsen and Lauritsen 1 describing a "radiation meter for disaster use" is a timely and valuable contribution. These authors call attention to the serious danger to body and mind of civilians who have no training or knowledge of radioactivity and are totally unprepared to meet the dangers of an attack by an atomic bomb or other military use of radioactive materials. They describe a small, relatively simple radiation meter based upon the principle of ionization in air, and calibrated in fractions of one roentgen; they suggest wide distribution of such an instrument for general use in the event of disaster.


ABSTRACT:  The Small Business Work Opportunity Act of 2007 enacted significant changes in tax return preparer penalties. This study uses an experiment to examine the effectiveness of the revised preparer penalty provisions at reducing tax preparer aggressiveness. Specifically, we examine the impact of two significant components of the changes to the preparer penalty provisions—penalty amount and reporting standard required to avoid penalty imposition—on tax preparers' recommendation and signing decisions involving an aggressive tax position. We find that the increase in penalty amount has no effect on tax preparers' recommendation decisions, but does affect their signing decisions. A higher reporting standard significantly reduces both tax preparers' willingness to recommend an aggressive position and to sign a tax return containing an aggressive position. Data Availability: Data used in this study are available from the first author upon request.


ABSTRACT This article presents Webster's Natural Personality Enhancement (N.P.E.) Model, and describes the theoretical framework with reference to the development of a residential treatment home for conduct disordered adolescents. N.P.E. is a two-stage therapeutic program which includes clearly-defined psychological principles and treatment techniques. Stage One of the N.P.E. Model, "Creating a safe environment," involves the following seven components: respect, expectations, the consequence of no consequences, confusion, interference, tolerance, and emotional awareness training (E.A.T.). Stage Two of the Model, the intervention techniques, explains the four-phase treatment process, including the concepts of suggestibility and love language. This therapeutic program appears to produce sufficient environmental stability to meet the intense and varied needs of children with conduct disorder tendencies.


Abstract Background Radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy is prevalent in the treatment of Graves' disease. Adverse effects in pediatrics are not well-described. Case presentation A 13-year-old female underwent RAI therapy for Graves' disease. Eight days later, she developed facial pain and forehead burning. She was diagnosed with sinusitis and started on pseudoephedrine with resolution in 24 h. Conclusions She endured prolonged discomfort due to an under-recognized adverse effect of RAI. Studies identify the nose as a site of RAI accumulation and smaller nasal passages may predispose children to sinusitis. We report the first pediatric case of sinusitis following RAI. With the increasing use of RAI to treat Graves' disease, clinicians must recognize this adverse effect.


In order to explore the expression of NOS after exercise training of different load,adopting the treadmill training,this study built up a model of aerobic training and high intensity fatigue training and explored the expression of nNOS,eNOS and iNOS based on the immuno-histochemistry technology.The results of this study indicated that activity of nNOS and iNOS of training groups were higher than control group and activity of eNOS of aerobic exercise rat were higher than control group and high intensity training rats.It can be concluded that there was very clear relationship between the expression and training load.


Boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) and graphene have similar crystal structure and slight lattice mismatch; therefore potentially superb for graphene electronics. BNNS also provides relatively smooth surface, free from dangling bonds, as a result improve the physical properties of graphene in case of graphene placed on BNNS. However, it is challenging to produce large scale BNNS. In this presentation, we will demonstrate how we successfully synthesized large assembly of overlapping BNNS (50×50 μm) using low pressure tube furnace CVD technique. Graphene samples were prepared with hot filament CVD (HFCVD) technique. The electrical properties of graphene e.g. sheet resistance, charge transport properties and thermal conductivity are investigated by placing graphene on BNNS (G/BNNS). The physical properties of 2D stacked materials G/BNNS will be demonstrated on the basis of sheet resistance measurements, thermal conductivity, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopic investigations, respectively.


The algorithmic complexity approach to cosmology is discussed. Emphasis is given to the time evolution of the complexity of the Universe. In certain limits, the complexity increases and is not bounded from above, as was implicitly suggested by earlier research. There is no need of arbitrary choices'' in the later stages of the Universe in order to explain a great number of independent physical parameters. Even if, for instance, by some finitistic condition, one could impose conservation of complexity, this measure is intractable and thus hardly useful for an operationalization.


A new non-linear system identification approach is proposed, which combines wavelet theory and NARX(non-linear auto-regressive with exogeneous inputs) model properly. The approach utilizes efficient approximation power of wavelet (multi-dimensional wavelet) function to remove the complicated process of model structure determinetion. It constructs a rather general framework of identification without depending on a priori information of the system. The Recursive Least Square (RLS) algorithm can be used to estimate the parameters of the new identification model, which is feasible to realize on-line identification. The results of two simulation examples illustrate effectiveness of the new identification approach.


The article presents a description and evaluation of a three year case study of three youngsters with moderate mental disability from a group home for minors...


Abstract We prove that all continuous convolution semigroups of probability distributions on an arbitrary Lie group are injective. Let { μ t ,  t >0} be a continuous convolution semigroup of probability distributions on a Lie group G . For each t >0, we set T t f ( x )=∫ G f ( xy )  μ t ( dy ) for a bounded continuous function f . We show that T t f =0 holds if and only if f =0. This fact will be applied in proving the unique divisibleness of the convolution product for a certain distribution. We show that ν  *  ξ = ν  *  ξ ′ implies ξ = ξ ′, provided that ν is an infinitely divisible distribution on a simply connected nilpotent Lie group.


The "LED-version" of the electron gun An electron source for operation in ambient pressure environments based on silicon field emitter arrays M. Bachmann, F. Düsberg, A. Pahlke, S. Edler, A. Schels, F. Herdl, M. Hausladen, P. Buchner, and R. Schreiner Higher emission density, faster switching, lower power consumption and a reduced thermal load are only a few of the advantages that field emission (FE) based electron sources offer compared to thermionic cathodes. Many applications await field emitter arrays (FEA) acting as electron guns, once their manufacturing process succeeds simply and reliable methods for comparability and evaluation of different field emitter types are established. An easy fabrication scheme for FEAs and an universal performance test are presented here.


This thesis is driven by the question of how computers can generate poetry, and how that poetry can be evaluated. We survey existing work on computer-generated poetry and interdisciplinary work on how to evaluate this type of computer-generated creative product. We perform experiments illuminating issues in evaluation which are specific to poetry. Finally, we produce and evaluate three versions of our own generative poetry system, TwitSong, which generates poetry based on the news, evaluates the desired qualities of the lines that it chooses, and, in its final form, can make targeted and goal-directed edits to its own work. While TwitSong does not turn out to produce poetry comparable to that of a human, it represents an advancement on the state of the art in its genre of computer-generated poetry, particularly in its ability to edit for qualities like topicality and emotion.


In view of the problem in the development of the Chinese rural consumption market under the financial crisis,by the method of the statistical analysis,the consumption market opposite points in different regions of Chinese rural area are indicated and every kind of modes of the rural consumer market structure in different regions are described.Practice shows this reaserch is advantageous for making Chinese countryside consumer market development strategy to deal with the financial crisis.


A guide for research on American culture, language and linguistics, business and economics. Jie's choice of things to listen, read, watch online.


Photolysis of phenanthrene-based methylenecyclopropane derivatives have previously been shown to generate alkylidenecarbenes, which readily rearrange to form alkynes. In this work, we show that photolysis of an analogous cyclic alkylidenecarbene precursor at ambient temperature forms cyclohexyne via the putative cyclopentylidenecarbene, and can be trapped by dienes via a Diels-Alder reaction. Cyclohexyne and other strained cycloalkynes are of much interest to theoreticians and experimentalists alike. Results of coupled-cluster and DFT calculations on the potential energy surface of cyclopentylidenecarbene and the corresponding strained cyclohexyne are also presented. The photochemical generation of cyclopentylidenecarbene, and thus cyclohexyne, from a hydrocarbon precursor that is readily synthesized and conveniently handled is a first, and will likely facilitate further structural studies using matrix isolation spectroscopy and kinetic investigations by ultrafast laser flash photolysis.


Objective To investigate the significance of expression of ERCC1 gene in cisplatin resistance of chemotherapy for primary epithelial ovarian cancer (PEOC). Methods The expression of ERCC1 was analyzed retrospectively by tissue microarray (8×5) technology and immunohistochemistry in 56 patients with PEOC and in 38 controls with normal ovarian tissue. The association of the expression of ERCC1 in the cancer with cisplatin resistance,and with the clinical pathology of FIGO staging,type,cell differentiation,age,and location was analyzed. Results The positive expression of ERCC1 in 38 normal ovarian tissue was seen in 17 cases (44.74%); in 56 cancer patients,it was 31 cases (55.36%),no significant difference was noted (χ2=1.022,P0.05). In PEOC,the expression of ERCC1 was not markedly correlated with FIGO staging,pathologic type,cell differdntiation,age,location and incidence (P0.05).The positive ERCC1 expression rate in drug-resistent group was 76.67%,much higher than 30.77% in drug-sensitive group (χ2=11.87,P0.05). Conclusion The expression of ERCC1 is related to cisplatin resistance in PEOC.


Urban villages (kampongs) in developing countries have become urban morphological phenomena and their organic growth does not have adequate land use planning. This paper aims to discuss aspects of microclimate in urban environments. We explored the morphological aspects of urban villages which have implications for the formation of microclimates and have an effect on changes in urban climate. Nine village locations in Bandung were taken as research samples, namely: Sukajadi, Tamansari, Sukapada, Cigondewah Kidul, Cigondewah Rahayu, Cicendo, Babakan Ciamis, and Cihaurgeulis. The results of detailed and specific discussions in the aspects of mass and shape of buildings, the distance between buildings, the height of buildings, and the availability of green open spaces found a significant influence on the physical aspects of morphology in microclimates, mainly through weather parameters such as average radiation temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. Key-words: Urban Climate Alteration, Bandung Urban Village, Microclimate


Introduction Fatty esteramines, or esterquats, are biodegradable raw materials for cationic surfactants (Puchta et al.• 1991) and are commonly incorporated into household and toiletry products as well as corrosion inhibitors. They can be synthesized from fatty acids and alkanolamines via a rapid but energy intensive chemical process (Antonio et al., 1991), or, a milder, hence energysaving, enzyme-based pathway (Idris et al .• 1995). The latter approach, being more selective, also results in less byproducts, so reducing the off-colours and odours, which frequently require extensive downstream refining procedures. Therefore, the aim of this project was to develop and optimize such a process with lipase as the biocatalyst for the substrate pair comprising oleic acid and triethanolamine.


In order to explore the growth mode and influencing factors of China's cultural goods exports, this paper adopts the method of marginal decomposition to the field of cultural trade for the first time. Using the data from the product level, the exports of China's cultural goods to the whole world and to the main partners are respectively decomposed into extensive margin and intensive margin. The results indicate that although the growth mode of cultural exports is superior to other goods trade in China, but in recent years, this growth is mainly attributed to the intensive margin, especially the quantity margin, and the contribution of extensive margin is comparatively smaller, which deserves our great attention. Based on this, an empirical analysis based on the modified gravity model is given to test the influencing factors of the dual margins. It finds that the China's cultural trade is remarkably affected by the importers' economic size and exotic shock mainly through the intensive margin, however, China's economic size has an significant impact on cultural trade mainly through the extensive margin.


Conventional delayless subband filters use LMS or NLMS algorithm for coefficient adaptations in subband domain. It is known that. Kalman filter (KF) algorithm shows better convergence than the conventional LMS/NLMS algorithm but with the cost paid in computational complexity. In this work, we show that introducing parallel Kalman filters (PKFs) in the subband domain performance can be made better both in terms of ERLE and computational complexity than that of the LMS/NLMS algorithms.


As product reviews in the internet are helpful for the decision of online shopping,and the classification accuracy of sentiment analysis is one of important problems.Recently,ensemble learning has been proved to be an effective method of enhancing the classification accuracy.Bagging and Boosting have been applied into the sentiment analysis,while Random Subspace is paid less attention to.In this paper,an new method,RS-SVM,was proposed for sentiment analysis based on the characteristic of high dimension of product review's dataset.RS-SVM uses the state-of-the-art SVM as base learner and Random Subspace as ensemble method in order to enhance the accuracy of sentiment analysis.Lastly,experiments based on movie reviews' dataset were conducted to verify the effectiveness of RS-SVM.Experimental results reveal that RS-SVM gets the best classification results compared with other methods.


The subject of research was investigation of the accuracy in determining the 99mTc activity injected in a container simulating a single organ. Data acquisition as made with different width and range of energy windows described in the article. The activities of 99mTc were determined with an error ranging from 7% to 27%. The most probable source of errors are scattered photons.


This paper seeks to facilitate discussion among trade teachers of mathematics, secondary school teacher of mathematics, and mathematics education lecturers about the issues in teaching mathematics in trade courses. It outlines a responsive process for facilitating change to the teaching of mathematics in trade courses. The main themes are: (1) the need to be aware of recent research into teaching and learning of mathematics; (2) the need to refine the specific requirements of various trade programs; (3) the need to address questions concerning content and teaching methods before using screening tests and setting up remedial programs and; (4) the need for continuing liaison among TAFE, State education departments, mathematics educators and industry.


Noise emissions from wind turbines are one of the main issues that the wind energy industry must deal with nowadays. Strict noise regulations often prevent wind turbines to operate at maximum power conditions, causing large losses of power production and, hence, of revenue. Several noise reduction measures have been proposed so far, but the use of trailing-edge serrations and permeable inserts seem to be the two most promising approaches, showing broadband noise reductions of several decibels. This paper considers the noise reductions (with respect to the baseline blade) observed in previous wind-tunnel measurements featuring these two measures, and scales and synthetically applies them to an experimental recording of a full-scale Vestas V90-2.0 MW wind turbine in operational conditions. The calculated results are then auralized for the observer location used for noise certification in the IEC 61400-11 standard. State-of-the-art sound quality metrics (loudness, tonality, sharpness, roughness and fluctuating strength) are then applied to these simulated sound signals to better understand the achieved reduction in noise annoyance experienced by humans. Reductions in the maximum A-weighted sound pressure level (Lp,A,max) of about 2.4 and 1.2 dBA are observed for the serrations and permeable inserts, respectively. In general, trailing-edge serrations seem to reduce the calculated annoyance experienced (17% lower than the baseline) more efficiently than the permeable inserts (just 2% lower)


Biological water treatment has been used for more than a century. The processes involved, however, have not been optimally utilized, since knowledge about their character and significance has been insufficient. As conventional water purification techniques developed, the use of biological processes remained in the background until a few decades ago. However, at the moment several biological treatment methods are in use to remove iron and manganese from groundwater, and the future looks promising. The same methods can be used to improve numerous other water quality parameters, e.g. to oxidize reduced nitrogen compounds into nitrates. Biological removal of nitrate, too, will be a future water treatment method.


The main security problems, typical for the Internet of Things (IoT), as well as the purpose of gaining unauthorized access to the IoT, are considered in this paper. Common characteristics of the most widespread botnets are provided. A method to detect compromised IoT devices included into a botnet is proposed. The method is based on a model of logistic regression. The article describes a developed model of logistic regression which allows to estimate the probability that a device initiating a connection is running a bot. A list of network protocols, used to gain unauthorized access to a device and to receive instructions from common and control (C&C) server, is provided too.


Molecular dynamics simulation approach has been used to investigate the phase transitions from aluminophosphate AlPO 4 -H 3 . Derived from AlPO 4 -H 3 , several hypothetical models of its high-temperature phases are designed through removing the bridged water molecules and changing the up-down connected sequences of T-sites in the 4-membered rings. Full geometry optimizations are performed to obtain structural parameters for the models that are compared to the reported data, and their structure features and thermodynamic stabilities have been discussed. The simulation study suggests that AlPO 4 -H 3 is energetically favored to transform to AlPO 4 -C, and then to AlPO 4 -D as well as to other novel hypothetical 3D open-frameworks.


Number of Papers published in peer-reviewed journals: Number of Papers published in non peer-reviewed journals: Final Report: Low-Loss Materials for Josephson Qubits Report Title I review progress at UCSB on understanding the physics of decoherence in superconducting qubits. Although many decoherence mechanisms were studied and fixed in the last 5 years, the most important ones are two-level state defects in amorphous dielectrics, nonequilibrium quasiparticles generated from stray infrared light, and radiation to slotline modes. With improved design, the performance of integrated circuit transmons using the Xmon design are now close to world record performance: these devices have the advantage of retaining coherence when scaled up to 9 qubits. (a) Papers published in peer-reviewed journals (N/A for none) Enter List of papers submitted or published that acknowledge ARO support from the start of the project to the date of this printing. List the papers, including journal references, in the following categories: (b) Papers published in non-peer-reviewed journals (N/A for none) (c) Presentations Received Paper


Security schemes of pairwise key establishment,which enable sensors to communicate with each other securely,play a fundamental role in research on security issue in wireless sensor networks.A general framework for key predistribution named H2(Hierarchical Hypercube) is presented,based on the idea of key distribution center and polynomial pool schemes.Theoretic analysis and experimental figures show that the new algorithm has better security performance and provides higher possibilities for sensors to establish pairwise key,compared with previous related works such as polynomial and polynomial pool-based pairwise key predistribution algorithms.


The current trend towards the use of technologies for learning focuses on the web 2.0 associated applications, which encourage young children to social interaction, as well as to knowing words and short sentences in English as a foreign language. The profusion and easy access to tools and channels for video production and sharing, such as YouTube Kids Channel, emerge as an example of such applications. The study aims to know the effect of Kids YouTube channels in building English communication skills in children. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, the researchers used one-shot survey design as the instrument given to the participants. Based on the questionnaires of parents' beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors towards YouTube Kids Channel, it is known that the selected channel can improve young children's communication skills, particularly in enriching their English vocabulary. YouTube is believed to be an effective medium that can improve young children's communication skills despite the control of parents. The audio-visual aspects of the YouTube channel have a significant role in it. During the pre-school years, children acquire the language and communication skills necessary to express their needs, thoughts, and feelings in social interactions, and they learn to respond appropriately to others. Through effective communication, they also learn to be socially competent individuals, building respectful, positive interactions and relationships with others.


【Abstract】This paper expatiates the principle of secondary Bootloader and uses Complex Programmable Logic Device(CPLD) for logic decoding. It controls the pagination of Flash space to complete the second address mapping. The linker command options are used to create boot table and the secondary Bootloader for large-scale program code is designed. Test results indicate that this method can complete the secondary Bootloader for codes with 2 MB or larger scale and lay a good foundation for software development of large-scale embedded systems.


We present here some aspects of the Project "Science Education Field: Memories of researchers in Brazil" development. The project was designed to contribute to rescue some factors considered determinant to the constitution of the Science Education field in Brazil, through working with researchers memories, expressed in discourses present in individual interviews taken among these researchers. We intend to answer to questions like: The beginning of the research in Science Education in Brazil is due to what? The methodology of research was that of qualitative nature and it privileged the interviewees discourse analysis in its French line, according published by Pêcheux (1990) and Orlandi (1999). We describe here the interviews, the approaches and preliminary conclusions.


[%metadata%] Keep in mind there is no cure for paedophilia News and views of Molested and Abused Catholics on the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse


Using administrative data from the state of Georgia, this paper finds that, on average, across all firms, employing undocumented workers reduces a firm's hazard of exit by 19 percent. The advantage to firms from employing undocumented workers increases as more firms in the industry do so, decreases with the skill level of the firm's workers, increases with the breadth of a firm's market, and increases with the labor intensity of the firm's production process. JEL classification: J15, C41, J42


The main point of this study was to demonstrate the relation between psychology and legal medicine. So, it was analyzed the influence of heavy metals on the biological, psychological and social development of children, once there are known the prejudicial effects to health of some of these substances like mercury, arsenic and lead. The exposure to these metals it's mainly ambiental or occupational. Some experimental was made during 6 – 8 weeks for detecting the presence of lead in the brain of mice injected with different doses of this metal, applying scanning electron microscopy with X – Ray microanalysis. Only in mice exposed to a dose 100 times superior to the index of biological exposure was detected lead on the brain. This indicates that lower doses have cumulative effects, so the prejudicial effects are only showed passed long time. Mestrado Medicina-Legal


Abstract. Ice streams provide a fundamental control on ice sheet discharge and depositional patterns along glaciated margins. This paper investigates ancient ice streams by presenting the first 3D seismic geomorphological analysis of a major glacigenic succession offshore Greenland. In Melville Bugt, northwest Greenland, five sets of buried landforms have been interpreted as mega-scale glacial lineations (MSGL) and this record provides evidence for extensive ice streams on outer palaeo-shelves. A gradual change in mean MSGL orientation and associated depocentres suggests that the palaeo-ice flow and sediment transport pathways migrated in response to the evolving submarine topography. The stratigraphy and available chronology shows that the MSGL are confined to separate stratigraphic units and were most likely formed during several glacial stages since the onset of the Middle Pleistocene Transition at ~ 1.3 Ma. The ice streams in Melville Bugt were as extensive as elsewhere in Greenland during this transition, but, by the glacial stages of the Middle and Late Pleistocene, the ice streams in Melville Bugt appear to have repeatedly reached the palaeo-shelf edge. This suggests that the ice streams that occupied Melville Bugt during the Middle and Late Pleistocene were more active and extensive than elsewhere in Greenland. High-resolution buried 3D landform records such as these have not been previously observed anywhere on the Greenland shelf margin and provide a crucial benchmark for testing how accurately numerical models are able to recreate past configurations of the Greenland Ice Sheet.


New technology in computing has led some to suggest that the ability to settle transactions electronically will develop to such an extent that money disappears from use. Two versions of this belief exist. One maintains that there will be "e-money", issued conceivably by many organisations, and that this will replace central bank money. The other suggests a still further development – that the very concept of a medium of exchange may become redundant, as assets or goods can be exchanged directly for other assets or goods through use of computing. In this paper we argue that the information-economising properties which allowed money to develop will also allow it to survive, despite actual and hypothesised technical progress. JEL classification: E42 2 "Is it possible that advances in technology will mean that the arbitrary assumptions necessary to introduce money into rigorous theoretical models will become redundant, and that the world will come to resemble a pure exchange economy? Electronic settlements in real time hold out that possibility." (King 1999)


The Internet of things (IoT) has opened new dimensions of novel services and computing power for modern living standards by introducing innovative and smart solutions. Due to the extensive usage of these services, IoT has spanned numerous devices and communication entities, which makes the management of the network a complex challenge. Hence it is urgently needed to redefine the management of the IoT network. Software-defined networking (SDN) intrinsic programmability and centralization features simplify network management, facilitate network abstraction, ease network evolution, has the potential to manage the IoT network. SDN's centralized control plane promotes efficient network resource management by separating the control and data plane and providing a global picture of the underlying network topology. Apart from the inherent benefits, the centralized SDN architecture also brings serious security threats such as spoofing, sniffing, brute force, API exploitation, and denial of service, and requires significant attention to guarantee a secured network. Among these security threats, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) and its variant Low-Rate DDoS (LR-DDoS), is one of the most challenging as the fraudulent user generates malicious traffic at a low rate which is extremely difficult to detect and defend. Machine Learning (ML), especially Federated Learning (FL), has shown remarkable success in detecting and defending against such attacks. In this paper, we adopted Weighted Federated Learning (WFL) to detect Low-Rate DDoS (LR-DDoS) attacks. The extensive MATLAB experimentation and evaluation revealed that the proposed work ignites the LR-DDoS detection accuracy compared with the individual Neural Networks (ANN) training algorithms, existing packet analysis-based, and machine learning approaches.


Abstract A general science program comprising experimental worksheets and oral work was written in Nigeria with an accompanying criterion test. These were administered to a group of 81 Nigerian pupils in the first year of a secondary school along with four ability tests. After a slight revision of the program and the criterion test, the procedure was repeated in an English comprehensive school, the experimental group consisting of 79 first‐form pupils. In addition an attitude questionnaire was given to the two groups, which showed that the attitudes to seven aspects of the program were similar except for an indication that English children accepted "answers" and "experiments" more readily than the Nigerian children. Direct comparison of the Nigerian and English scores was avoided by comparing the correlation matrices calculated for the variables of criterion test gain score plus verbal, non‐verbal, reading and spatial abilities. For the English children the coefficients between criterion test gain scores ...


The transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represents a potentially effective therapy for chronic liver diseases. The potential of MSCs in the treatment of chronic liver disease is based on their ability to differentiate into multiple cell types including hepatocytes, their immunosuppressive properties, and their ability to secrete various trophic factors. This potential has been investigated in clinical and pre-clinical studies. Although the therapeutic mechanisms of MSC transplantation are still not fully characterized, accumulating evidence has revealed that various trophic factors secreted by MSCs play key therapeutic roles in regeneration. These trophic factors not only reduce inflammation, apoptosis, and fibrosis in damaged tissues but also stimulate angiogenesis and tissue regeneration in the impaired liver. In this review, we summarize the basic and therapeutic properties of MSCs, their therapeutic mechanisms of action, and potential transplantation routes for the treatment of chronic liver disease. We also discuss several risks associated with the use of MSCs in therapy, such as their fibrogenic potential and capacity to promote pre-existing tumor cell growth.


In the last decades, several researches focused on the inland areas of Molise Region (Central-Southern Italy) to investigate the occupation and exploitation of this environment during Pleistocene and Holocene.
The "Molise Survey Project" started in 2015 with the aim to explore, through systematic surveys, an area of 60 square kilometres, chiefly characterized by a mountainous landscape and part of the Central-Southern Italy Apennines. The project seeks to investigate the patterns of human occupation in the mountainous landscape between the provinces of Campobasso and Isernia. The surveys, carried out during the last four years, allowed the identification of 19 prehistoric sites ranging from Palaeolithic to Bronze Age: the archaeological materials belonging to the latter period are being studied by the team of "Paletnologia" of Sapienza University of Rome. This work aims to show the preliminary results of the analysis of the lithic assemblage acquired during the summer of 2016 surveys, focusing on raw material procurement and the related chaine operatoire, also considering post-depositional agents. The obtained data allowed to reassess the human presence over inland and high-altitude areas of Molise during prehistoric times, stressing a seasonal use of the territory, from Palaeolithic to Late Prehistory, with different patterns of occupation and exploitation.


In Reply.— Dr Campbell raises plausible questions about our article on routine urinalysis and dipstick screening. However, he oversimplifies our definition of abnormal sediment as we described it. Our choice of spun-urine microscopy as the reference standard for determining dipstick performance was not based on any faith that it is a "gold standard"; rather, it was based on the well-known fact that this examination is the exclusive method of semiquantitation of formed urinary elements in routine urinalysis as practiced today. However, we can anticipate some progress toward quantitation resulting from introduction of automated urinalysis instruments. We agree with his argument that "leukocyte esterase dipsticks correlate better with pyuria by hemocytometry than by spun-urine microscopy and may be more reliable than spun-urine microscopy." This argument applies, however, to only one microscopic element in urine—leukocytes. Our study compared multitest dipsticks with spun-urine microscopy used to detect and semiquantitate nine additional microscopic elements


Limited work has been performed on intra-cultural, cross-societal variation among youth lifestyles and health status, and baseline data on university freshmen's health status are lacking...


Integration of batch processes is preferably accomplished by indirect heat recovery using thermal energy storage. Such processes may have brief peaks in energy demand, necessitating high storage capacity within short time periods. However, practical space constraints often limit maximal storage volumes, restricting the potential capacity to recover process heat. Consequently, the required utility costs of storage-limited integration solutions are increased, influencing their economic viability. Given increasing importance in the industry to utilize thermal energy efficiently, process operators may want to explore what is maximally possible energetically, within current space constraints, before contemplating expansion and further capital expenditure. Therefore, linear programming is utilized to determine storage integration solutions which maximize heat recovery per batch for volume-limited sensible stratified storage, specified by an insight-based approach from Pinch Analysis. The results produce a process-specific capacity limitation chart of batch-wise maximal heat recovery as a function of limited capacity, allowing generation of optimal storage loading and unloading profiles. Total batch costs (investment and operating cost per batch) are used to estimate the influence of limited capacity. The methodology is demonstrated in a case study. The resulting capacity limitation chart shows that for a stratified storage with four VSUs, which would require a volume of 97.4 m3 to achieve 100 % of the indirect heat recovery potential, approximately 60 % can be covered by an 8 m3 storage.


In this study, a drop weight testing method was employed to investigate the impact bending behavior of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) modified engineered cementitious composite (ECC). The ECC with no EVA was selected as control, and the static and impact bending behavior was compared with the EVA modified ECC. The results showed that the compressive strength of EVA modified ECC decreased by 20%~30% in comparison with control ECC with fly ash substitution ratio variation. The addition of EVA can improve the bending toughness of ECC dramatically under static loading condition. As different from the static bending, the impact bending toughness of EVA modified ECC was smaller than that of control under impact loading condition. However, the degree of damage of EVA modified ECC was lower than control due to small crack width.


Why require Justice to be blind to passions? The standard model of jurisprudence offers two lines of answers: (1) Justice is about formal rationality and judging is essentially reason-giving, while ...


The topological theory of interfacial defects and the associated flux analysis are reviewed. It is shown that the shears and diffusive fluxes associated with the motion of disconnections can be determined directly from their crystallographic characteristics, and that the effects of changes in chemical composition, interfacial misfit and ordering can be incorporated into the analysis. The special conditions are identified for which there is conservation of atomic sites during the motion of disconnections. It is shown that, under these circumstances, disconnection motion may result in mixed-mode displacive-diffusive transformations whereby diffusion is required for the transformation to proceed but the interfaces exhibit crystallographic characteristics which one would normally associate with a martensitic transformation. It is shown that the growth of γ lamellae in TiAl-based alloys is an example of such a mixed-mode transformation.


With spectrum trading the owners of usage rights on wireless spectrum may transfer them temporarily to other users. A secondary market for spectrum may be implemented through the use of reservation mechanisms, by which prospective consumers of spectrum portions may first book them and decide later whether to actually buy the usage rights. A possible strategy for the owners of usage rights is to practise overbooking, i.e., to allow for more reservations than what they could sell (and then pay a penalty if they cannot satisfy the requests). A relevant problem for the owners of usage rights is to set the price for reservations. An algorithm is proposed here to price reservations in the presence of overbooking. The algorithm is based on the iterative use of the Cox-Ross-Rubinstein approach to price financial call options. The algorithm is then applied to a number of cases and the dependence of the price on the overbooking probability and the penalty is analysed.


The objective of this study was to enhance the solubility of Methylprednisolone by choosing micronized form of drug and to enhance patient compliance by formulating it as dispersible tablets using quality by design (QbD) approach. Dispersible tablets of Methylprednisolone were developed by 23 factorial design. In this study independent variables were concentrations of MCC 102, CCS and Magnesium stearate and dependent variables were disintegration time, hardness and dissolution. The resulting data was fitted into Design Expert Software (Trial Version) and analyzed statistically using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The response surface plots were generated to determine the influence of concentration of MCC 102, CCS and magnesium stearate on responses. The tablets were prepared by direct compression method by choosing micronized form of drug and formulations were evaluated for the standard of dispersible tablets. Results showed that no significant drug-polymer interactions in FTIR studies. According to QbD suggestion the formulation O1 (Desirability- 0.73) with MCC-38mg, CCS-3.5mg and magnesium stearate-2.5mg was formulated and evaluated. The disintegration time was found to be 69 seconds, hardness was found to be 64N and in vitro dissolution with in 30minutes. Optimized O1 formulation was within the limits of standards of dispersible tablets with increased water solubility and better patient compliance. Stability study on optimized O1 formulation showed that there is no significant changes during study period. Thus, O1 formulation was found to be stable. The study indicates that formulation of Methylprednisolone dispersible tablets by using QbD approach is a promising formulation development method.
Keywords: Dispersible tablets, Methylprednisolone, Direct compression, Quality by Design and ANOVA.


Assuring the quality of the initial and continuous training programs for teaching stuff implies a constant effort for thoroughgoing studying of the theories, researches and models that have been developed at a global level, and also conceiving certain programs of suitable politics within this domain. Starting with the ̀80s, among the most popular paradigms of the reflexive practitioner was the one elaborated by Schön. The most important consequences of developing and spreading the paradigm are: transposing it to the educational politics and substantiating the initial training programs on professional standards which correspond to the general competences; rethinking the initial training programs and directing them towards practice and competences of educators; integrating standards during the teachers certification exams; providing an adequate methodology in order to solve many problems that present education confronts with.


British children have the highest levels of ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption in Europe. Schools are posited as a positive setting for impacting dietary intake, but the level of UPFs consumed in schools is currently unknown. This study determined the UPF content of school food in the UK. We conducted a pooled cross-sectional analysis of primary (4–11 years, n = 1895) and secondary schoolchildren (11–18 years, n = 1408) from the UK's National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2008–2017). Multivariable quantile regression models determined the association between meal-type (school meal or packed lunch) and lunchtime UPF intake (NOVA food classification system). We showed that on average, UPF intake was high in both primary (72.6% total lunch Kcal) and secondary schoolchildren (77.8% total lunch Kcal). Higher UPF intakes were observed in packed lunch consumers, secondary schoolchildren, and those in lower income households. This study highlights the need for a renewed focus on school food. Better guidance and policies that consider levels of industrial processing in food served in schools are needed to ensure the dual benefit of encouraging school meal uptake and equitably improving children's diets.


During the COVID-19 pandemic, measures have been taken to reduce the number of contacts between people, restrict visits to medical facilities and patients. These restrictions also affected one of the most vulnerable populations - mothers whose newborns were treated in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Infant's admission in the NICU is a disturbing and potentially traumatic event for mothers, as it limits the round-the-clock stay with their children, accompanied by anxiety and worries about the health of the newborn and its further prognosis, makes it impossible to fully fulfill the parental role and independent care for a baby, disrupts the establishmentof psychological and physical contact between a mother and a child, which is superimposed on the labile psycho-emotional state of the woman in labor caused by the restructuring of hormonal status.The aim of the study was to assess the stress level of mothers whose infants needed treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit(NICU) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, to analyze the impact of quarantine restrictions on the frequency and duration ofmother-child visits, as well as on breastfeeding.Materials and methods. The design included 194 mothers: 67 - mothers whose children were in the NICU before the COVID-19 pandemic and 127 - during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stress sensitivity was assessed using the «Parental Stress Scale: NICU» (PSS:NICU). The study included the results of the survey of mothers whose infants were in the intensive care unit for at least 3 days. Statistical data processing was carried out using the program "STATISTICA 13.0. WINDOWS" with the calculation of mean scores (M). The data were considered reliable at p<0.05. The t-test (for two independent groups) wаs used to compare numerical data (PSS: NICU scores).The research complies with the bioethical norms of clinical research in accordance with the provisions of the GSR (1996), the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (from 04.04.1997), the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association on the Ethical Principles of Scientific Medical Research with Human Participation (1964 -2013), orders of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 690 dated September 23, 2009. The research got the permission of the bioethical commission of the Ternopil National Medical University named after I.Ya. Gorbachevskii.Results of the study and their discussion. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of mothers who visited their newbornsin the NICU by 3 or more times a day decreased (56.69%), while before the pandemic this index was 64.18% (p before and during COVID-19 < 0.05). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the average duration of the mother-newborn visits at the NICU also significantly decreased, only 10.24% of mothers stayed more than 1 hour during the visit with the baby, while this indicator was 89.76% beforethe pandemic (p before and during COVID-19 < 0.05). The highest level of stress in mothers was associated with the "Parental role alteration" subscale and was 4.15 points during the COVID-19 pandemic and 4.04 points before the pandemic (p before and duringCOVID-19 < 0.05). During the pandemic, the number of children receiving breast milk decreased by 16.52% (p before and duringCOVID-19 < 0.05).Conclusion. The COVID-19 pandemic is a powerful stress factor for mothers of newborns in NICUs, as it limits contact with the child, enhances stress due to impaired parental role and has a negative impact on breastfeeding.


The use of psychodramatic action methods in academic supervision is examined through the detailed description of a session between a supervisor and a supervisee working on a PhD in the field of Information Systems. The psychodramatic emphasis on spontaneity, reciprocity, and the use of dramatic production have various advantages for post-graduate supervision, namely: the involvement of affect, action and cognition in meaning making; the generation of self-authority in the supervisee; and the building of a cooperative working relationship between supervisor and supervisee. Action methods do not need to be seen as the sole domain of the action method expert. Supervisors will be able to take up individual techniques and approaches outlined here and integrate them into their own practice.


To evaluate the validity of New Fighter HUD screen practice software using 30 pilots with different experience.Results: Significant difference was found between the experienced group and the other two groups after first time of training(F=20.44、21.50,P0.05).And no significant difference was found between the groups with different training intensity(F=1.06,P0.05).Results of 6 times of training showed that there was significant difference between experienced group and none-experience group with general intensity(F=13.32,P0.05).Results of subjects in none-experience group with great intensity had no significant difference with the results of the other two groups(F=7.24、6.08,P0.05).And there were significant differences between the results of first time training and the fifth and sixty time of training,comparing the results of every time of training using ANOVA of Repeated Measures(F=-12.71、-13.39、-34.07、-35.13、-26.04 and-27.83,P0.01).Conclusion: New Fighter HUD screen practice software has good discriminating validity,it can increase the results of using HUD screen to some degree,and improve the pilots' capability to recognize and read the HUD.


Based on the theories of philosophy, logic, education, psychology and sociology, the article analyzes some questions of P. E. learning ability about meaning and constitution. Then training advices are put forward for them. Wish that it can service for the development of school P. E. in theory and practice.


As the cloud computing technology develops during the last decade, outsourcing data to cloud service for storage becomes an attractive trend, which benefits in sparing efforts on heavy data maintenance and management. Nevertheless, since the outsourced cloud storage is not fully trustworthy, it raises security concerns on how to realize data de-duplication in cloud while achieving integrity auditing. In this work, we study the problem of integrity auditing and secure de-duplication on cloud data. Specifically, aiming at achieving both data integrity and de-duplication in cloud, we propose two secure systems, namely XCloud and XCloud+. XCloud introduces an auditing entity with maintenance of a cloud, which helps clients generate data tags before uploading as well as audit the integrity of data having been stored in cloud. Compared with previous work, the computation by user in XCloud is greatly reduced during the file uploading and auditing phases. X Cloud+ is designed motivated by the fact that customers always want to encrypt their data before uploading, and enables integrity auditing and secure de-duplication on encrypted data.


We study how to distribute storage capacity along a hierarchical system with cache-servers located at each node. This system is intended to deliver stored video streams in a video-on-demand way, ensuring that, once started, a transmission is completed without any delay or loss of quality. We perform a detailed analysis of the start-up time delay for some storage distributions, showing that an "intelligent" storage distribution can increase performance from 22% to 29% with respect to a uniform one and from 44% to 78% with respect to one in which all the storage is attached to the gateway router that connects the final users. We also analyze bandwidth usage, comparing the behavior of these storage distributions.


We propose a new aerial imaging display in which autostereoscopic objects with horizontal and vertical parallax appear as if they are floating in the air. This system operates by displaying an integral photography image in which depth is reversed beforehand and by observing the image from the other side of a micro mirror array.


In this paper, we present a study on the response of well-logging sensors exploiting transient electromagnetic sources in complex subsurface formations by using a combined frequency-domain mode-matching technique with a numerical inverse Fourier transform in a computationally efficient manner. We present five representative examples to validate and explore the time evolution of the received waves in view of it velocity and attenuation. Preliminary conclusions are presented and the potential of this approach for the study of the time-domain response of logging-while-drilling sensors in realistic problems with radial and axial stratifications is then summarized.


The Lower Silurian Clinton section is characterized by intertonguing sandstone, siltstone, shale, and carbonate. Geophysical log data, representing 2000 wells, were collected to provide the basis for an interpretation of the depositional environments of this section. The depositional environments were inferred using a series of slice maps, each of which shows the geometry of deposition, in conjunction with total sand maps, clean sand maps, and isopach maps. In Coshocton County, the Clinton section was deposited in response to two major sedimentary processes. In the eastern townships, numerous east-west-trending sandstones are present, indicating that deposition was controlled by distributaries located on an upper delta plain. In the western townships, the distribution of sandstone resembles that of an offshore bar system. Previous investigations of the Clinton section indicate that the offshore bars and delta deposits extend into adjacent counties. Total sand maps and clean sand maps delineate areas of producing sandstone reservoirs. Production of oil and gas in Coshocton County has been concentrated in the north-trending thick sandstones associated with the offshore bars. Stratigraphic relationships are the dominant trapping mechanisms. However, the structural configuration is significant in determining the location and vertical segregation of hydrocarbons.


A clothes refreshing apparatus includes a cabinet forming an external appearance, a drum which is installed in the cabinet and provides a space in which clothes are loaded and refreshed, a door of a loading port which is opened and closed according to requirement, a front panel which forms a front surface of the cabinet and has the loading port through which the clothes are loaded into the drum, an outer drum which is installed in the cabinet and is round the drum, and a sealant ring for connecting the outer drum and the door. The clothes refreshing apparatus of the invention can increase the size of the door in the same volume, thus from the visual sense, the clothes refreshing apparatus is felt larger and is easily to check the inside of the drum from outside. Besides, even with the same fence gate size, the door is felt larger by a user and the inside of the drum is more easily to check from the outside.


Writers of textbooks published since the beginning of 1978 are invited to submit 1000 word articles discussing the principles underlying their work and accompanied by two pages from the book in question. The articles should be problem-based, not advertisements, and the extracts should be in a form suitable for reproduction without redrawing. Writers will be responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions.

In the October 1981 issue of World Language English (Author's Platform), Ian Dunlop suggests that 'guessing the meaning of words form the context' (p. 50) is not the answer to students' reading problems. He then proceeds to give examples of how to teach reading in the classroom. I would like to suggest that guessing the meanings of words from the context is an essential part of learning a language and in particular is a necessary part of learning to read. I also think that the types of reading activity proposed by Dunlop on page 52 support my suggestion.


In this paper, some properties of union and join on total regular intuitionistic fuzzy graphs are derived, and also theorems related to these concepts are stated and proved. AMS Mathematics Subject Classification (2010): 03E72, 05C72.


Structural failure is the loss of the load carrying capacity of the component or member within structure or structure itself. Structural failure initiated when the material is stressed to it's strength limit which causes the cracks & excessive deformation. Any structure has several components/members like super-structure, sub-structure & foundations. The loads of super structures transfers to the sub-structure & then sub-structures to the foundations. Like a building frame receive the loads from super structure & transfer to the sub-structures & finally to the foundations. Similarly a highway bridge to support the live load due to traffic & dead load of bridge itself & several other loads such as snow loads, wind loads etc. Then when the structure does not able to transmit these loads safely to the foundations then it under go failure which is called the structural failure [1][2].


On-site sanitation facilities contribute to the majority of toilet facilities in developing countries as full waterborne sanitation is not feasible or affordable. The characteristics of faecal sludge vary greatly between different locations and types of onsite sanitation facilities and at the same time their understanding is crucial for improvement of the existing faecal sludge management services. The Pollution Research Group (PRG), within the School of Chemical Engineering in the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal have been focussing on the analysis of faecal sludge from different on-site sanitation, such as urine diversion and dehydration toilets, wet and dry ventilated improved pit latrines at household and community levels and unimproved pit latrines. This study was undertaken between 2012 and 2014 and focussed on the characteristics of faecal sludge obtained from different on-site sanitation facilities in the Durban metro area in South Africa. Sampling methods were developed and applied for different depth levels of the pits for each on-site sanitation facility. The analysis followed the PRG standard operation procedures for properties such as: moisture content, total solids, ash content, pH, chemical oxygen demand, density, nutrient contents and thermal properties.


Required megawatt-level 30-MHz Iinewidth 496-mu m radiation for plasma diagnostics may be achieved in CH/sub 3/F using an oscillator-pulse-amplfier combination employing transverse optical pumping (TOP). It is estimated that an upper limit of 150 J of CO/sub 2/ laser pump energy is required to produce 1-MW (0.07-J 60-ns) far-infrared (FIR) pulses.


In this paper, we analyze the dynamic and seismic performance of a high rise antique-style pagoda by using the response spectrum analysis and the time history analysis method, which are implemented in finite element software. The result of our system can provide a reference to the structural designer to ensure the structure of such architecture meets the seismic fortification requirements.


whose points are called impasse points. Usually there are no phase curves passing through S (see the figures in this paper), therefore systems of the form (CS) can be called constrained systems, see [SL, Zh]. This name will be used throughout the paper. The other possible names are ``quasi-linear systems,'' see [RR], or ``generalized vector fields,'' see [CO, Me]. In the study of constrained systems there are two directions of research. The first one amounts to consider the case where rank A(x)#n&1, then doi:10.1006 jdeq.2000.3908, available online at http: www.idealibrary.com on


Interatomic potentials of the embedded atom (EAM) type and molecular dynamics
simulation are used to calculate the surface energies of the high--index surfaces containing the [001] or
[110] zone axis in Al, Cu and Ni. Two empirical formulas are developed based on structural unit model
for high--index surfaces. The calculation result shows these formulas can be used to give an estimation
of the energies of the high--index surfaces. The closest packed surfaces have the lowest surface energy
and the surface energies of the closest surface (111) surface and the next closest surfaces (110) and
(100) surfaces are the extremum on the curve of surface energy versus orientation angle. Both the
theoretical simulation results and the empirical formula calculation results consist with the available
experiment data.


This paper develops a model highlighting the effect of entrepreneurship on economic growth through social environment (forced mutual help and mimetic dynamics) compatible to an African context. The mimetic dynamics arise when the presence of foreign entrepreneurship inspires local entrepreneurship to develop endogenously through a cumulative process. By using an endogenous growth model (AK model), we show that economic growth is related to usual variables (entrepreneurial rate, productivity of capital, fraction of the economic surplus, rate of depreciation of the capital, fraction of the variation of the investment coming from the economic surplus). Importantly, economic growth is positively related to entrepreneurship through mimetic dynamics depending on some values of an indicator of forced mutual help. For some of these values, the ones compatible with too much community-based transfers, reducing those transfers induce a reinforcement of the impact of mimetic dynamics in entrepreneurship on economic growth. So that, in the context of an economy where the investible surplus is strongly dissolved into the universe of social obligations, governmental policies can reinforce the positive impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth by reducing those community-based transfers.


A distinction must be drawn between the Various studies associated with the acts of writing, the preparation of documents by other means, and the examinations involved in determining the authorship of a given writing or the genuineness of a particular document. It is the object of this paper to define certain terms and to give a brief but factual history of the main disciplines involved, thereby making the distinction clear. The quantity of literature available on the subject of Graphology is enormous, whilst that on Questioned Document Examination is somewhat less. Obviously in a short communication such as this there will be omissions; however, a comprehensive list of references is given where the reader can select for study at length any particular aspect of this work.


In dominant party states in sub-Saharan Africa where presidential succession occurs regularly, factional competition culminates in the selection of presidential candidates, a process which is frequently more competitive than a general election. It is crucial that dominant parties manage factionalism in presidential candidate selection, maintain party coherence and win elections. Against such a background, this study examines how dominant parties in five African countries with regular presidential succession, namely, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa, have managed factionalism and avoided critical defections. The study finds that presidential candidate selection in all cases except that of South Africa since 2007 have been centralised, albeit to varying degrees, to control factionalism. The study demonstrates a wide variation in methods and practices of presidential candidate selection, including the level of selectorate inclusiveness, which can be explained partially by differences in electoral institutions. The study also finds a common measure taken in three case countries to accommodate rival factions in the interest of reconsolidating party unity after the defection of senior party members. The study aims to help our understanding of succession management as a crucial internal factor in the endurance of one-party dominance in some countries in sub-Saharan Africa.


The infrared spectrum of p-iodanil was measured and the fundamental frequencies were assigned by using simple Urey-Bradley force field. The electronic state of p-iodanil was also discussed on the basis of those experimental results.


ABSTRACT The degree of nutrient enrichment has classically indicated trophic state. Nutrients alone, however, inadequately describe a lake's trophic-dynamic structure. Therefore, trophic state indices are simplifications of a more dynamic process. The specific utility of trophic state indices for their intended uses (classification and ranking by trophic status) is limited by deviant behavior among the indices. Secondary index information may be obtained by examining these deviations. Often, these deviations indicate the nature of nontypical trophic behavior.


342 Public Finance Quarterly  2015/3 TThe liabilities and assets recorded by the tARGet2 interbank payment and settlement system on the balance sheets of euro area central banks have been building up continuously since 2007. The national central bank of Germany has piled up assets amounting to euR 500 billion in the span of a few years, while the central banks of Spain and italy together accumulated roughly the same amount of liabilities. The evaluation of the financial costs of a country's default, the possible breakup of the euro area or the exit of certain countries largely depends on the correct interpretation of tARGet2 balances (Sinn, 2012b). This study sets out to explore the economic nature of balances; describes the evolution of the imbalance and seeks to identify the real economic and financial processes behind the building up of central bank tARGet2 balances. it also attempts to give theoretical solutions to the problem. The first chapter discusses the real economic developments behind the accumulation of liabilities and assets. The second chapter presents and puts into context the positions taken by economists in the topic at hand, and synthesises the relationship between the various interpretations and the real economy reasons giving rise to the imbalances. Moreover, the chapter sheds light on the euro area's Banking union ambitions and on the close links between the escalation of imbalances and the deceleration options available. The third chapter describes previous proposals put forward with regard to the settlement of liabilities and assets and, drawing on the technical features of the european Central Bank's quantitative easing, introduces a possible new solution.


Blame not my lute for he must sound Of this or that as liketh me. Sir Thomas Wyatt Lute-poems came into vogue in France in the 1540s and 1550s. Because of the lute's shape, it could be gendered either as masculine or feminine; male and female poets therefore made use of lute imagery in different ways. Their references to the lute are informed by the gendered culture surrounding the instrument in this period and by the etiquette and technicalities of lute playing. Even more than painters and engravers, poets could invest the lute with human qualities, conflating it with bodies and body parts. It could thus be adapted to serve a variety of amorous scenarios.


The photocatalytic CO2 reduction over LaPO4 was significantly enhanced by simply introducing CoCl2 into the aqueous medium. The introduced CoCl2 functioned as a co-catalyst accelerating photogenerated hole transfer, by the reversible redox couple CoIII–Cl/CoII–Cl, effectively suppressing the recombination of photogenerated charges.