These lectures are devoted to elementary particle physicists and assume the reader has very little or no knowledge of cosmology and astrophysics. After a brief historical introduction to the development of modern cosmology and astro-particles in which the Hot Big Bang model is defined, the Robertson-Walker metric and the dynamics of the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology are discussed in section 2. In section 3 the main observational features of the Universe are reviewed, including a description of our neighbourhood, homogeneity and isotropy, the cosmic background radiation, the expansion, the age and the matter content of the Universe. A brief account of the thermal history of the Universe follows in section 4, and relic abundances are discussed in section 5. Section 6 is devoted to primordial nucleosynthesis, section 7 to structure formation in the Universe and section 8 to the possibility of detection of the dark matter in the halo of our galaxy. In the relevant sections recent developments are included, such as several so called "crisis" (the age crisis, the cluster baryon crisis and the nucleosynthesis crisis), and the MACHO events that may constitute the first detection of dark matter in the halo of our galaxy. 1. Historical Introduction Cosmology, from the greek κoσμoς, that means "order", is the study of the origin and evolution of the Universe. The initial point of modern cosmology may be taken to be 1905 with the advent of Einstein's Relativity Theory, extended to General Relativity in 1915. The first solutions to Einstein's equation for a homogeneous and isotropic but time evolving Universe were found by Friedman in 1929 and in 19351936 Robertson and Walker showed that Friedman's metric could be derived from homogeneity and isotropy alone, independently of General Relativity. Friedman's equations show that a Universe containing matter and radiation is expanding (or contracting). In 1929 Hubble found the first indication of the recession of faraway galaxies with a velocity v proportional to its distance d, v = Hod, where Ho is 1) Talks given at the V Taller de Part́ıculas y Campos (V-TPyC) and V Taller Latinoam. de Fenomenoloǵıa de las Interac. Fundam. (V-TLFIF), Puebla, México, 10/30 11/3 1995. called the Hubble constant, the present value of the Hubble parameter (constant in space but not in time). Notice that the subscript zero indicates a present value in cosmology. Together with the belief that we are not in a special place in the Universe, elevated to a principle in modern cosmology, the Cosmological Principle, the recession from us of distant galaxies means that the Universe is expanding (so that any two bodies not gravitationally bound to each other are receding from each other). If the Universe was smaller in the past and it expanded adiabaticlly, it was denser and hotter. Gamow was first in taking seriously this idea. He proposed in 1946 that all the matter in the Universe was hot and reached nuclear and larger densities in the past. This is the "Hot Big Bang" model [1]. This model implies a beginning of the Universe a time to ≃ H o ago. Hubble's estimate of Ho, the Hubble constant, was around 5000 km/(sec Mpc), larger than the presently known value of 40-100 km/(sec Mpc), what yielded a lifetime of the Universe to ≃ H o ≃ 4.5 × 10 yr, shorter than the already known age of the Earth (1 pc = 1 parsec = 3.2615 light-yr). In part because the measured to was too short at the time, in part due to the philosophical difficulty of accepting that the Universe had a beginning, the competing "Steady-State Universe" model was introduced by Bond, Gold and Hoyle in 1948. In this model the Universe is homogeneous also in time, it always looked as it looks now. Because in the Hot Big Bang model matter and radiation were in equilibrium at early times, a remanent of radiation with a black body spectrum is expected (that would not be there in a Steady-State Universe), as predicted by Alpher and Herman [2] in 1949. The observation of this radiation by Penzias and Wilson [3] (as explained by Dicke et al. [4]) in 1965, confirmed the Hot Big Bang model. It is remarkable that Alpher and Herman predicted the temperature of this cosmic microwave background radiation, CMBR, to be 5K, quite close to its actual temperature of 2.7K. Actually, the experimental confirmation of the Hot Big Bang already existed when Gamow first proposed it, in 1946. Astronomers knew since 1941 that interstellar CN molecules are excited in high rotational levels, as seen through CN absorption lines in the spectrum of stars, indicating that those molecules are in a thermal bath at about 3K. Gamow's main interest in proposing the Hot Big Bang was the primordial synthesis of nuclei. It was soon realized that the synthesis of heavy elements had to be done in stars, what lead to the study of stellar evolution. Only in 1966 the quantitative study of primordial nucleosynthesis started, the synthesis of He at first and that of D, He and Li only later, in the early 70's. This period, the early 70's, can be considered as the beginning of astro-particles. In 1967 (the year when the standard electroweak model was proposed) Sakharov noted the essential elements necessary to generate the asymmetry between matter and antimatter in our Universe, namely the generation of baryon number or baryogenesis. One of them is the violation of baryon number, that encountered in Grand Unified Theories (first proposed by Georgi and Glashow in 1974) its most natural source. In the 70's cosmological and astrophysical implications of neutrinos were first studied, leading to the battery of tests that limit the number of neutrino species, their mass, cosmological density, lifetime, decay modes etc. Also, it was in 1975 when the first evidences for the dark matter were discussed and the idea of inflation came about in 1980. (For references and more details about the content of this section so far, see e.g. [5]) The last fifteen years can be considered to be the golden age of astro-particles, in which the connection of particle physics and cosmology has lead to a number of important ideas. Among them is the idea of non-baryonic dark matter -see section 8-, that is explored in simulations of galaxy formation confronted with observational cosmological data and in experimental dark matters searches, both with cryogenic detectors and large neutrino detectors, supplemented by accelerator bounds. Other examples are the models for baryogenesis and for inflation, the interplay between the properties of proposed particles and their cosmological and astrophysical consequences, the introduction of particle physics experimental techniques to study astrophysical problems (such as in large "neutrino telescopes" or in the search for MACHOS -see section 8in the halo of our galaxy). As an example of this last point, let us mention that experiments designed to search for the decay of protons predicted by Grand Unified Theories (IMB and Kamiokande) observed for the first time neutrinos from a supernova, SN 1987A, inaugurating with this observation of neutrinos from outside the solar system, what we can call neutrino-astronomy. 2. The Hot Big Bang Model 2.1 The Model – The Hot Big Bang (Hot BB), the standard model of cosmology, establishes that the Universe is homogeneous, isotropic (thus, it is a FriedmannRobertson-Walker Universe) and expanding from a state of extremely high temperature and density. Thus the early Universe can be described as an adiabaticlly expanding classical gas of relativistic particles, namely radiation, in local thermal equilibrium at a temperature T , that changes with time, T (t). The lifetime of the Universe t is counted from the moment the expansion started, taken to be t = 0. This model is based on General Relativity, the Cosmological Principle and three major empirical pieces of evidence, namely the Hubble expansion, the cosmic blackbody microwave background radiation (CMBR) and the relative cosmic abundance of the light elements (up to Li). Because the model is based on General Relativity, it is for sure not valid in the realm of Quantum Gravity, T > MPlank = 1.22× 10 GeV and t < 10 sec. The Cosmological Principle postulates that we do not live in a special place in the Universe, by requiring that every comoving observer in the "cosmic fluid" has the same history. The "cosmic fluid" has as particles clusters of galaxies, and "comoving" in practice means at rest with the galaxies within a 100 Mpc radius (one parsec, 1 pc = 3.26 light-years = 3.09 × 10 cm), as will become clear below (see section 3.2). The Hubble parameter H provides the proportionality between the velocity v of recession of faraway objects, and their relative distance d,


This paper proposes and assesses the effectiveness of monitoring vehicular traffic anomalies using microscopic traffic variables, namely relative speed and inter-vehicle spacing. We present an algorithm that detects transient changes in traffic patterns using microscopic traffic variables. In particular, we show that when applied to real-world scenarios, our algorithm can use the variance of statistics of relative speed to detect traffic anomalies and precursors to non-recurring traffic congestion. The performance of the proposed algorithm is also assessed using a microscopic traffic simulation environment, where we show that with minimum prior knowledge, the proposed algorithm has comparable performance to an ideally placed loop detector monitoring the standard deviation of speed. The algorithm also performs very well even when the microscopic traffic variables are available only from a fraction of the complete population of vehicles.


The Lactobacillus brevis 340G strain isolated from traditional Korean fermented food (kimchi) produced 15.50mMof γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) after 48 h of cultivation in MRS media containing 1% L-monosodium glutamate(MSG). The culture conditions of Lb. brevis 340G were optimized for GABA production. Lb. brevis 340G was cul-tivated at 30oC in optimized MRS media containing 3% sucrose and 2% yeast extract with 3% MSG, resulting inmaximum GABA production (68.77mM) after 54 h of cultivation. Skim milk fermented with Lb. brevis 340G pro-duced 4.64mM of GABA in the presence of 1% MSG. These results suggest that Lb. brevis 340G could be usedas a starter for functional fermented foods and skim milk fermented with Lb. brevis 340G could be further devel-oped to become functional dairy food fortified with GABA.


A novel supramolecular assembly has been developed in conjugation with microfluidics. Self-assembly of the programmed molecules was controlled precisely, in space and time, in a microflow channel as a result of a homogeneous solvent mixing process. Furthermore, through continuous organization of component molecules followed by orientation along microflow, the self-assembling event containing different molecules was spatially controlled from nano to micrometer scale in a single stream (GMP=guanosine 5'-monophosphate).


Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is to explore telepresence robots are being used in libraries to facilitate library services and also to explain the future trend in the application of robots in libraries.

Design/methodology/approach
Through a review of the literature, this paper analyzes various library websites and consults literature relating to the use of telepresence robots in libraries; the current application of robots in libraries has been highlighted along with case studies of libraries currently adopting telepresence robots.

Findings
The uses of telepresence technology in libraries help to enhance library services, reach new users and provide a more inclusive and accessible library experience. Telepresence robots enhance the quality and accessibility of library services, expand library outreach and provide new opportunities for virtual engagement and programming. The application of telepresence robots in libraries can offer many benefits, but there are also several challenges that libraries must address to ensure successful implementation.

Originality/value
This paper highlights how the application of telepresence robots in libraries improves service productivity in libraries and creates a more engaging environment for the user group. The benefits and challenges of using robots in the library and the future trend in the application of telepresence robots in libraries are also discussed.


We describe the development of a frequency-domain superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) multiplexer which monitors a row of low-temperature sensors simultaneously with a single SQUID. Each sensor is ac biased with a unique frequency and all the sensor currents are added in a superconducting summing loop. A single SQUID measures the current in the summing loop, and the individual signals are lock-in detected after the room temperature SQUID electronics. The current in the summing loop is nulled by feedback to eliminate direct crosstalk. We have built an eight-channel prototype and demonstrated channel separation and signal recovery.


In order to evaluate the phylogenetic relationship of the gymnothorax from the China Seas,the 16S ribosomal DNA of nine gymnothorax species were amplified using PCR techniques through connecting the desired fragments to the T vector.516 bp DNA fragments were obtained and the sequences were analyzed.The sequence variation,base composition and genetic information indexes,including Kimura-2 parameter genetic distance and Ts/Tv ratios,were generated using a suite of biology software.The 16S rDNA genes homologous sequences of Gymnothorax were downloaded from GenBank and NJ(Neighbore-Joining),MP(Maximum Parsimony) and ME(Minimum Evolution) trees were built through biological software based on these sequences and morphological characteristics of Gymnothorax.Conclusions were drawn as follow:(1) Of the 516 aligned base pairs of ten Gymnothorax fishes studied,143 nucleotide sites were variable,comprising 27.7% of the total base pairs.(2) It was 3.441 of the average transition/transversion ratio among all pair wise comparisons.The maximum pairwise nucleotide divergence value among all taxa was 0.177 between G.reticlaris and G.margaritophorus,and the minimum value was 0.022 between G.hepatcus and G.breedeni.(3) There are three parallel evolutionary sister clades existing(with high bootstrap value support) in Gymnothorax based on NJ trees,ME trees.The species within three clades seem to be irrelevant to their biogeographic distributions.


It is unrealistic to control all of the degrees of freedom of a high-dimensional quantum system. Here, we consider a scenario where our direct access is restricted to a small subsystem S that is constantly interacting with the rest of the system E. What we investigate is the fundamental structures of the Hilbert space and the algebra of hamiltonians that are caused solely by the restrictedness of the direct control. One key finding is that hamiltonians form a Jordan algebra, and this leads to a significant observation that there is a sharp distinction between the cases of dimHS ≥ 3 and dimHS = 2 in terms of the nature of possible operations in E. Since our analysis is totally free from specific properties of any physical systems, it would form a solid basis for obtaining deeper insights into quantum control related issues, such as controllability and observability.


This paper analyzes the electromagnetic torque (EMT) fluctuation characteristics in synchronous generators under rotor interturn short-circuit (DRISC) fault. The novelty of this paper is that the DRISC fault is proposed based on the intermittent interturn short circuit existing in the actual operation and compared with the static rotor interturn short-circuit (SRISC) fault. In the work, by studying the influence of DRISC with different positions and different short-circuit degrees, the fluctuation characteristic of the EMT is analyzed and verified. The results show that when the DRISC5% fails, the location is in slot 3, the amplitude of first harmonic decreases by 7.2%, second harmonic amplitude increases by 33.4%, third harmonic decreases by 4.3%, and fourth harmonic increases by 26.8%. As the degree increased and positioned away from the large tooth of the DRISC, the overall EMT amplitude and reverse pulse increased, first and third harmonics decreased, and second and fourth harmonics increased.


This paper proposes that technology of architecture for Struts2,Spring and iBATIS(SSI) is available in the development and ap-plication of drawings and archives management system which is based on B/S model,and presents the rapid procedure of design and devel-opment during the course of Web information system.Result proves that SSI not only can improve efficiency of system development and system maintainability but also can strengthen extensibility.


The environmental protection in chemical experiments is very important. How to enhance the students' consciousness for environmental protection is a valuable subject.


Modeling what makes an advertisement persuasive, i.e., eliciting the desired response from consumer, is critical to the
study of propaganda, social psychology, and marketing. Despite its importance, computational modeling of persuasion
in computer vision is still in its infancy, primarily due to
the lack of benchmark datasets that can provide persuasion-strategy labels associated with ads. Motivated by persuasion literature in social psychology and marketing, we introduce an extensive vocabulary of persuasion strategies and
build the first ad image corpus annotated with persuasion
strategies. We then formulate the task of persuasion strategy prediction with multi-modal learning, where we design
a multi-task attention fusion model that can leverage other
ad-understanding tasks to predict persuasion strategies. The
dataset also provides image segmentation masks, which labels persuasion strategies in the corresponding ad images on
the test split. We publicly release our code and dataset at https://midas-research.github.io/persuasion-advertisements/.


The two problems of analytical model updating and damage detection in structures are identical in both formulation and limitations. One of the main limitations in this type of problem is the lack of sufficient information (equations) and the tendency of the mathematical models to be ill–conditioned. Multiple tests under different mass, stiffness or boundary conditions to correct an analytical model have previously been proposed to increase the amount of useful information and to improve the condition of equations. Such an approach can be costly, time consuming and prone to experimental errors. A novel approach based on single–test and multiple analytical models is presented here. The analytical model of the structure can serve as the basis for updating, in addition to several pseudo–analytical models. These pseudo–analytical models are created by randomly perturbing the original analytical model in order to maximize information and numerical stability. Examples are included in support of the proposed technique.


In order to survive with the economic crisis nowadays, people tend to do more than one job to earn income. It is more difficult for a person with a big family with low income to balance their work and life. This situation leads to the unhealthy lifestyle with no work life balance. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence, social supports, work condition and technology advancement with work life balance. For the purpose of this study, sets of questionnaires were distributed among working adults by using non-probability sampling technique. 139 respondents were recorder and the hypotheses were tested by using Smart-PLS version 3. Based on the result, social supports and work condition were found to be significant with work life balance. However, emotional intelligence and technology advancement were found to be not significant with work life balance. It is suggested for future research to collect more respondents around the country in order to get more reliable results.


The forming and solvation of the college women's psychological obstacle that they have during tennis courses is discussed to enhance and develop their healthy psychological character and to maintain their healthy psychology and self-control ability so that the teaching task can be better fulfilled to popularize the tennis sport.


The study of contaminants propagation in fractured and karstic aquifers shows uncertainties caused by the conditions of anisotropy of the medium and by the presence of cavities and residual products that could make fluid flow and solute transport unforeseeable. Therefore, in aquifers characterized by fissured and fractured solid matrix, in order to set up remediation strategies, it is necessary to represent the conditions of groundwater flow and contaminant propagation in such a way as to take into consideration the high heterogeneity connected to the presence of fractures and channels that act as preferential flow ways. The study carried out in a specified site, located in the city of Bari, heavily contaminated by petroliferous substances allows to build a model able to simulate subterranean draining conditions that prove to be as near as possible to the real ones. This simulation could be helpful for the prevision of the dynamic behavior of the aquifer during the period of the treatment in order to allow optimizations on the technical and economical point of view and in order to check the effective functionality of the system in the presence of anthropic constraints.


Purpose – This exploratory study describes the images of effective leadership and successful organizational advancement held by women in numerous positions in the health care fields.Design/methodology/approach – Surveys of 140 women in the health care field were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed.Findings – Differences were found between the characteristics of effective leadership and the characteristics contributing to successful advancement. Women in health care predominantly portray effective leadership in other‐oriented (team or organizationally focused) and stereotypically feminine or gender‐neutral terms. In contrast, successful advancement in organizations was predominantly and almost exclusively described in self‐focused and stereotypically masculine terms. Similarities and differences in the perspectives on leadership effectiveness, career advancement, satisfaction, and development strategies were examined among physicians, nurses, administrators, faculty, and others (scientists and resear...


General immune competence was tested by contact skin reactivity to dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) in 22 women with preinvasive and 185 with invasive cancer of the cervix, 115 with cancer of the ovary, 65 with cancer of the corpus and 50 control patients. Although DNCB reactivity was least affected when the tumor was localized (stage I), about 25% of women with cancer of the ovary and cervix and nearly 50% of women with cancer of the corpus showed impaired reactivity. A correlation between the initial reactivity and tumor behavior was found at 12 and 24 months of follow‐up. At 12 months, the response to treatment was significantly better in the normal DNCB reactor: 97% response in patients with cancer of the cervix and 76% response in those with cancer of the ovary. At 24 months, there was favorable tumor response in 79% of normal DNCB reactors compared with 47% and 50%, respectively, of those with reduced reactivity and those with anergy. Alterations in the level of DNCB reactivity were observed when patients were tested sequentially. During 24 months of follow‐up, the retention of or increase in reactivity was associated with complete or partial tumor response, whereas impaired reactivity was frequently observed in patients with nonresponsive, recurrent or progressive disease. These findings indicate the value of DNCB testing in monitoring tumor behavior.


Examined in this article are decisions that present subpar expert testimony that clearly fails to meet the requirements set forth in Federal Rules of Evidence 702. ALso addressed will be unsuccessful challenges to expert testimony to identify ways in which litigants failed to apply the lessons of Daubert and Kumbp. The article then summarizes effective challenges to expert testimony to identify the proper ways to structure challenges to expert testimony. The testimony of two circuit courts of appeal will then be compared to explore a troublesome tendency in appellate court treatment of expert challenges. The article will also investigate an expanding area of expert practice that will increasingly affect traffic accident reconstruction testimony.


A study has been made of the relative times of arrival of shower particles at large distances (200 to 1500 m) from the shower axis. Data were obtained at the MIT Volcano Ranch Station, using an array of 20 scintillation detectors, one of which was shielded part of the time. The shower size, direction, and core location were determined for each event. The spatial distribution of shower particles at a given instant is described by means of three curved surfaces: the median surface for the penetrating particles (muons), the median surface for the electrons, and the extreme front. It is found that the average median surface for the muons is approximately spherical, the center being located at an atmospheric depth of 320 plus or minus 70 g cm/sup -2/, and that the average median surface for the electrons has a radius of curvature of about 1 km at a distance from the axis of 450 m. The electron radius of curvature increases at greater distances. Assuming that the extreme front is spherical, its average center must be located above 320 g cm/sup -2/. The radius for curvature of the extreme front for a small number of individual showers was measured.more » (auth)« less


We study families of infinite block sequences of elements of the space $\FIN_k$. In particular we study Ramsey properties of such families and Ramsey properties localized to a selective or semiselective coideal. We show how the stable ordered-union ultrafilters defined by Blass, and Matet-adequate families defined by Eisworth in the case $k=1$ fit in the theory of the Ramsey space of infinite block sequences of finite sets of natural numbers.


Many empirical studies have demonstrated the performance benefits of conditional computation in neural networks, including reduced inference time and power consumption. We study the fundamental limits of neural conditional computation from the perspective of memorization capacity. For Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) networks without conditional computation, it is known that memorizing a collection of $n$ input-output relationships can be accomplished via a neural network with $O(\sqrt{n})$ neurons. Calculating the output of this neural network can be accomplished using $O(\sqrt{n})$ elementary arithmetic operations of additions, multiplications and comparisons for each input. Using a conditional ReLU network, we show that the same task can be accomplished using only $O(\log n)$ operations per input. This represents an almost exponential improvement as compared to networks without conditional computation. We also show that the $\Theta(\log n)$ rate is the best possible. Our achievability result utilizes a general methodology to synthesize a conditional network out of an unconditional network in a computationally-efficient manner, bridging the gap between unconditional and conditional architectures.


Recent advances in the experimental diagnosis and first principles simulation of edge and SOL plasma in tokamaks and other toroidal devices suggest the importance and possible relationship of convective transport, strong nonlinearities giving rise to intermittency, and the emergence of coherent turbulent structures. Here, we build on Refs. 1 and 2 by generalizing the convective blob transport model to include electromagnetic (EM) effects and investigate how they are related to experimentally observed changes in the SOL near the density limit.3,4 In the SOL we estimate the sheath current5 as J|| ~ necsφ/T and employ it in Ampere's law A|| ~ 4πJ||/ck⊥ to obtain A|| ~ ωpiφ/(ccsk⊥). Further employing k⊥ρs ~ ε and ω/Ωi ~ ε2 where ε is an ordering parameter, EM effects will be significant when A|| ~ (k||c/ω)φ which implies 2 i s || L δ = ρ (1)


The study of the relationships between self-regulated learning and formative assessment is an active line of research in the educational community. A recent review of the literature highlights that the study of these connections has been mainly unidirectional, focusing on how formative assessment helps students to self-regulate their learning, being much less explored the effect of self-regulated learning strategies on formative assessment. In this context, analyzing automatically captured students' activities within online learning tools can provide us further insights on the interactions between these two topics. More specifically, this article examines the activity traces of 382 students who used an online tool to learn a programming language. The tool incorporates review exercises for promoting self-assessment (an important self-regulated learning strategy). Furthermore, the tool is used in supervised laboratories where students receive formative assessment. This study uses process mining techniques to analyze the temporal component of student behavior in both types of activities, their interaction, and how self-assessment relates to formative assessment. Some key lessons are learned: 1) activities promoting self-assessment significantly improved students' involvement in formative assessment activities; and 2) increasing self-assessment cannot compensate for a lack of effort in formative assessment. We also underline that, to the best of our knowledge, to date no research has used process mining to consider the time component in the analysis of the relationships between formative assessment and self-assessment.


RESULTS:Â The majority (70.4%) of the hospital nurses had experienced needlestick or sharp injuries in the previous year. The non-use of safety containers for disposal of sharps and needles, less working experience as a registered nurse, poor work environments in regards to staffing and resource adequacy, and high emotional exhaustion significantly increased risk for needlestick or sharp injuries. Working in perioperative units also significantly increased the risk for such injuries but working in intensive care units, psychiatry, and obstetrics wards showed a significantly lower risk than medical-surgical wards.


An analysis of the neutral beam (NB) current drive for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is performed. The NB deposition profile for a model elliptic equilibrium is evaluated for arbitrary density profiles. Multistep ionization is accounted for. The NB current density is calculated by using an approximate solution of the Fokker-Planck equation. A parameter scan is performed by changing electron density, plasma temperature, the plasma effective ionic charge Z[sub eff], beam energy E[sub b], beam mass number, beam section, and tangency radius of the beam center. The largest values of the current drive figure of merit [gamma][sub NB] = I[sub NB]nR/P are obtained for the largest beam energy. The obtained value of [gamma][sub NB] for the ITER reference scenario is [gamma][sub NB] = 0.6 for E[sub b] = 1.3 MeV and Z[sub eff] = 2. 20 refs., 20 figs., 1 tab.


In this paper, we prove that the first eigenvalue of a complete spacelike submanifold in Rn+p p with the bounded Gauss map must be zero.


Spicy things have a sharp, strong and pungent flavour. Hot chilli pepper,gastric occurs when the stomach lining is inflamed and can be caused by eating spicy food. There have been attempts to measure the effect of spicy food stuffs that might provoke or increase gastrointestinal reflux. High prevalence of spicy food in Asia may modify gastrointestinal burning symptoms in patients with Functional Gastrointestinal Disorder. The inflammation of gastric is most often the result of infection with the same bacterium that causes most stomach ulcers. Gastritis may occur suddenly or appear slowly over time. The infection is usually passed from person to person, but can also be transmitted through contaminated food or water. Preparation of self structured questionnaire circulated through online survey link. The results were collected and were represented in pie-chart. According to this result most of the population are aware of gastrointestinal problems. Further studies can be done to prevent gastrointestinal problem, Preventive measure should be taken to avoid gastrointestinal problem.


In this study, we analyzed the factors influencing internal marketing at hospitals on job satisfaction and customer orientation among nurses in order to provide basic data necessary for management of nursing personnel. From December 26, 2018 to January 4, 2019, the study surveyed 255 nurses at a general hospital in Gyeonggi Province. For data analysis, frequency analysis, factor analysis, correlation, and linear regression analysis were performed using the SPSS 21.0 program. First, the results of this study show that the effect of marketing inside the hospital on job satisfaction was statistically significant. Second, marketing inside hospitals was found to have a statistically significant effect on customer orientation. Thirdly, it was found that the effect of job satisfaction on customer orientation was statistically significant. Fourth, the effect of job satisfaction parameters on the relationship between marketing and customer orientation within the hospital 1st and 2nd stages appeared to have a statistically significant positive (+) impact, and three steps were found to be independent variables. The regression coefficients for organizational vision and future image, organizational attributes and systems, communication, and education/training system by sub-factors of internal marketing at hospitals significantly appeared.


MOCVD-GaN/GaN substrates Liwen Sang*, Bing Ren, Meiyong Liao, Masatomo Sumiya, Yasuo Koide National Institute for Materials Science *e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com GaN has attracted much attention for their potential applications in power electronic devices, benefitting from its superior properties, such as wide band gap, high electron mobility, large breakdown field and high thermal conductivity. A vertical structure is believed to be more suitable for high-power applications than lateral devices since high current and voltage can be achieved simultaneously with reduced on-resistance and less effect from surface/interface states. Moreover, the fast development of free-standing GaN substrates with low threading dislocations (TDs) density (on the order of 10 cm or less) in recent years opens up an opportunity for the GaN vertical-type power conversion applications. Compared to PN junction diodes, the Schottky Barrier diodes (SBDs) are expected to achieve both low on-resistance and turn-on voltages since they do not have minority carrier storage issue and have higher electron mobility. To obtain high-performance power electronics, carbon incorporation during MOCVD growth is an important issue. Although there is a few investigations on the carbon doping in SBDs, a proper doping level and how to control the growth parameter is still unclear. During MOCVD epitaxial growth, many parameters, such the V/III ratio, growth temperature, and pressure, could affect the unintentional carbon incorporation. Nevertheless, all these parameters can be attributed to the variation of growth rates. Therefore, in this study, we detailed investigate the effect from growth rates of the GaN drift layer on free-standing GaN substrate by changing the TMG flow rates. It was found that, nearly all the characteristics, including the yellow band intensity, mobility and morphology of the GaN drift layer, the Schottky properties, such as ideality factor, barrier height, specific on-resistance, turn-on voltage, were strongly dependent on the growth rates. An optimized growth rates from 2.62 to 7.78 um/h was observed for a high-quality drift layer with high mobility (>1000 cm/Vs) and SBDs with near ideal Schottky property (n=1.03) with low on-resistance (0.75 m Ω cm) and turn-on voltage (0.69 V).


For women choosing to undergo breast reconstruction after mastectomy, the process can encompass multiple surgeries and take months to years to complete. This can be a difficult process especially when factoring in possible chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Besides the physical tolls of surgery and other treatments, there is a significant mental and psychological toll associated with the diagnosis of cancer and subsequent treatment. As detailed in this paper, the nipple-areola reconstruction is often the last step of this difficult process. It not only represents the physical completion of the reconstructed breast but can also have a great effect on the patient's psychosocial well-being. That being said, it is very important that this final step does not compromise the overall reconstructive process. Although complications are typically minor, as shown in this paper, there is a no insignificant possibility of infection which may lead to implant loss. Nipple-areola reconstruction is a relatively under-studied procedure and this paper represents a fairly large series of patients. This paper provides important information that most breast reconstructive surgeons would find useful in their consultations with patients undergoing nipple reconstruction. Although it seems intuitive that previous radiation therapy and implantbased reconstructions would be associated with higher complication rates, the authors actually provide evidence to back-up this assertion. It is very interesting that smoking was not found to be associated with higher complication rates, as it is well documented that small flaps used for other types of reconstruction (e.g., Bilobed flaps for nasal reconstruction, nasolabial flaps, etc.) have higher necrosis rates in smokers. Several experimental studies have shown that smoking has a detrimental effect on wound healing through various mechanisms including vasoconstriction (1) and inhibition of prostacyclin (2), endothelial cell and fibroblast function (3), nitric oxide sythase activity (4), and vascular endothelial growth factor production (5). There have also been several clinical studies demonstrating the effect of smoking on flap necrosis. Goldminz and Bennett found that smokers undergoing flaps and full-thickness skin grafts have a higher rate of necrosis than nonsmokers (6). The fact that smoking was not associated with higher complication rates in these patients undergoing nipple reconstructions was addressed by the authors of this manuscript. Their assertion that this is secondary to the use of loosely arranged flaps with gently tacked together limbs is a reasonable and plausible theory for the lack of an increase in complication rates. It is certainly reasonable to speculate that loosely approximating these flaps would decrease vasoconstriction thus leading to better blood supply to the distal aspects of the flaps. It is also interesting that the authors found that the use of skate flaps for nipple reconstruction was associated with a higher complication rate than the use of star flaps. Various methods of reconstruction of the nipple have been described in the literature including various flaps and nipple sharing techniques. The skate and star flap techniques are two of the most popular techniques being used by breast reconstructive surgeons currently. The star flap has the advantage of avoiding the need for a split-thickness skin graft. However, it has been shown to produce less long-term projection when compared to the skate flap (7). While the skate flap can produce better projection, the fact that a skin graft is necessary is clearly a disadvantage when compared to techniques that do not require a graft. As is often the case when choosing between differing techniques, the need to balance advantages versus disadvantages in deciding the best technique is obviously very important. The fact that the authors have shown less complications with the star flap technique may be enough for many breast reconstructive surgeons to choose this technique. However, as the DOI: 10.1111/tbj.12598


The paper presents an outsider's view of trends and challenges in forest education and research. The first part gives an overview of the situation of forest education and research in Austria starting from forestry being perceived as an orchid curriculum. Challenges for forestry that arise from competition in the broader context of environment and natural resources, multidisciplinary approaches, and growing attention that is being paid to additional capacities like for example team work and communication skills are presented. Finally, discussion of new concepts like virtual universities, networking, better Public Relations for forest research and education presents ways of how forest education and research attempt to adapt to the challenges and needs of globalisation. In a second part, the presentation focuses more on terminological issues, and is meant to assess if globalisation and the trend to use English as the lingua franca of science in the international forest community and for a has influenced universities to incorporate the resulting demands into forest curricula and if there is a place for teaching the technical language of forestry in the official language of the country and in comparison to the English language. An overview of how this problem is dealt with in several parts of the world will be analysed in the presentation and suggestions for early awareness raising of inconsistent use of definitions throughout the world and in international processes will be given.


Tetra-tert-butyldisilene and di-tert-butylsilylene (1), generated by photolysis of hexa-tert-butylcyclotrisilane, react with 1,8-di-tert-butylocta-1,3,5,7-tetrayne to furnish a C−C-linked bis(disilacyclobutene) derivative with terminal alkynyl groups 7 and a quatersilirene 8 by addition of 1 to all C−C triple bonds. Upon prolonged irradiation, 8 rearranges partly to the 2,5-disilabicyclo[2.2.0]hexa-1(6),3-diene with terminal silirene groups 9. The structures of 7, 8, and 9 were determined by X-ray crystallography.


The utility model discloses an energy-saving controller of an automatic air exchange air-condition apparatus, comprising a main control unit composed by a single chip machine (U1) and an indoor temperature detection unit configured by taking the main control unit as core, an operation and display unit and a drive output unit, characterized in that the controller also comprises an outdoor humidity detection unit and an indoor temperature detection unit connected with input/output outlets of the single chip machine in the main control unit, the single chip machine (U1) compares and judges the detected outdoor temperature and humidity parameters with the set indoor heat comfort degree parameters, and drives to control the start-up and shutdown of the air-conditioner compressor and the air exchange fan through the drive output unit. When the outdoor air heat comfort degree meets the demand, the energy-saving controller disclosed by the utility model can feed the outdoor air into the room so as to regulate heat comfort degree of the indoor air, which not only saves power to a large extent, but also automatizes total process for money saving and convenience.


Muslims in Thailand are a minority population. Three provinces in Thailand, namely Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, are predominantly Muslim, until now the people in these areas are still struggling to maintain cultural values and Islamic teachings, so that they are maintained. One of the efforts made is to publish the Azan magazine which is a media for spreading Islam in the Pattani region, Thailand. This descriptive qualitative research aims to analyze the existence of the Azan magazine as a medium for disseminating Islamic knowledge. Data collection techniques are carried out by observation, interviews, library and documentation. The data analysis technique used Miles and Huberman Interactive Analysis, with the data validity technique using the Triangulation method. The results of the study found that the Azan magazine was revived successfully after 50 years. The Azan magazine offers Malay language reading material with the characteristics and spirit of the Pattani people who are close to the Islamic religion and in Jawi writing.


We study the contribution of the Higgs amplitude mode on the nonlinear optical response of superconductors beyond the BCS approximation by taking into account the retardation effect in the phonon-mediated attractive interaction. To evaluate the vertex correction in nonlinear optical susceptibilities that contains the effect of collective modes, we propose an efficient scheme which we call the ``dotted DMFT'' based on the nonequilibrium dynamical mean-field theory (nonequilibrium DMFT), to get around the difficulty of solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation and analytical continuation. The vertex correction is represented by the derivative of the self-energy with respect to the external driving field, which is self-consistently determined by the differentiated (``dotted'') DMFT equations. We apply the method to the Holstein model, a prototypical electron-phonon-coupled system, to calculate the susceptibility for the third-harmonic generation including the vertex correction. The results show that, in sharp contrast to the BCS theory, the Higgs mode can contribute to the third-harmonic generation for general polarization of the laser field with an order of magnitude comparable to the contribution from the pair breaking or charge density fluctuations. The physical origin is traced back to the nonlinear resonant light\char21{}Higgs coupling, which has been absent in the BCS approximation.


Abstract: Graphene, a single atomic layer of graphite, has been a material of recent intensive studies due to its novel electronic and structural properties and its potential applications in the emerging area of carbon-based electronic devices. Metal on graphene growth is one of the current research interests, aiming at improving and manipulating the electronic and magnetic properties of graphene through metal atom adsorption or doping to meet various requirements in device applications. In this paper, we will give an overview of recent experimental and computational investigation of interaction, growth morphology, and thermal stability of various metals on graphene grown on 6H-SiC(0001) substrate. Keywords: metal on graphene; adsorption; scanning tunneling microscopy; interaction; growth morphology; thermal stability 1. Introduction Graphene, a planar monolayer of carbon atoms arranged into a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice, has attracted tremendous interest in physics, chemistry, and material science since 2004 [1]. Graphene exhibits extraordinary electronic structure: Its π and π* bands merge together into a single


Benedict Wand and colleagues argue that the risks of cervical spine manipulation are not justified, but David Cassidy and colleagues (doi:10.1136/bmj.e3680) think it is a valuable addition to patient care


Gamma Rays to Blame for Mass Extinction Brandon Lohman Abstract: A new hypothesis postulates that the mass extinction during the late Ordovician period 440 million years ago may have been triggered by cosmic events. A high intensity gamma ray burst directed toward Earth may have irradiated our atmosphere with a large amount of energy in a very short amount of time causing fast-paced production of nitrogen oxides. These oxides (particularly NO-2) deplete ozone and block visible light from the sun. During the brief time before these oxides can decay the planet's temperature drops considerably while at the same time the surface is bombarded with unusually high dangerous UV rays. Evidence in the fossil record, evolutionary patterns, and geological evidence tend to support a hypothesis that a gamma-ray burst may have coincided with and triggered the mass extinction of the Ordovician period. Summarized from Did a gamma-ray burst initiate the late Ordovician mass extinction? A.L. Melott et al. file://///trajan/data/home/bcl6677/Abstract.htm10/10/2005 12:16:08 PM


Low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms (LAMN) are rarely seen. They are incidentally detected during an appendectomy for appendicitis. Treatment is appendectomy in low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms. Those having adverse features based on the appendix, lymph node metastasis, and tumour size greater than 2 cm, appendectomy with hemicolectomy is done. We present a rare case report of appendiceal neoplasm diagnosed with low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (LAMN) managed by appendectomy with right hemicolectomy.


The development of Agricultural activities in current fast internet world is enhanced a lot. Farmers started utilising the Android applications to gather information regarding the crop price economic growth contents related to make effective farming etc. Forming is a unique category of providing information related to smart agriculture in terms of analysis data that measure the input and provide customised results based on forming time amount of water resources to be used cost of the crop updates environmental data changes in the soil moisture and related pesticides available in market even more information accurately. The presented system utilised wireless sensor network developed with node configuration technique using each computing. The system comprises and analysis module using relative regression algorithm. Input parameters or gathered from various input sensors collectively used here for environmental measurement soil moisture measurement abnormality in plants and humidity are temperature etc. Based on the presented input parameters a Smart relativity regression Model (SRR) is used to predict the given data with respect to historical measurements done and make a final prediction of further farming activities. This information or transfer to the IoT nodes to update in the mobile application.


The objective of this work is to develop a modular subsurface environmental sensor node in support of aquatic chemistry observations in soils, sediments and groundwater. The resulting node is called as a soil pylon. Along with describing the pylon architecture, this work presents selected results pertaining to (1) a closed-loop system integrating pylon sensor feedback with process simulation and control algorithms, (2) scale up to large areas using soil geospatial properties, and (3) a protocol for pylon sensor fault filtering. In the former two cases, CENS soil pylons are being tested as a means of providing system feedback at a reclaimed water irrigation research plot in Palmdale, California. Another variation of the pylons was recently field-tested in Bangladesh in an effort to contribute to our understanding of the arsenic contamination problem there. The Palmdale pylons track soil moisture, temperature, and nitrate propagation in unsaturated soils.


7168 Background: Bulky mediastinal nodal involvement at presentation has been considered a poor prognostic factor in pts with stage III NSCLC. We present long-term follow-up from a phase II trial of accelerated fractionation radiation (AFR), concurrent chemotherapy and surgery, to address this issue. Methods: Between 10/94 and 9/00, 105 pts with surgically proven stage IIIA (N=78) or IIIB (N=27) NSCLC underwent induction treatment consisting of a 96-hour continuous cisplatin infusion (20 mg/m2/day) and a 24-hour infusion of paclitaxel (175 mg/m2) concurrent with AFR (1.5 Gy bid) to a dose of 30 Gy. Surgery was scheduled 4 weeks later, with a second identical course of CRT given 4–6 weeks post-operatively to a total dose of 60–63 Gy. Results: With a median follow-up of 59 (range 35–102) months, the projected Kaplan-Meier (KM) 5-year overall survival is 29%. KM 5-year locoregional and distant control are 85% and 39% respectively. KM 5-year survival was better in clinical stage IIIA vs. IIIB pts (33% vs. 19%...


The concept of weaker agricultural entity was put forward,the reasons for difficulties of its operation were analyzed.It is suggested that the operation pattern innovation should be conducted to inspire its potential competitiveness.A consuming-convenient and quality-tracable platform combining entertainment with pulic benefit should be constructed based on its characteristics,to coordinate the development of weaker agricultural entity and improve its own industry competitiveness.


Treatment options for HCC patients include several approaches that have to be carefully selected according to tumor burden, liver function and physical status. The most widely used system to determine the first approach for treatment allocation is the BCLC model that combines all these factors. At early disease stages, patients may benefit from options such as surgical resection, liver transplantation or ablation. When tumors are multifocal and there is no vascular invasion or extrahepatic spread, and liver function and physical status are preserved, patients should be considered for chemoembolization. If these options are not feasible, patients should be considered for systemic treatment. In this setting, the sole agent that had been proven to improve survival through a large Phase III trial was sorafenib. Chemotherapy has not been shown to offer survival benefit and other agents that have been extensively evaluated have failed. The list of failed agents includes hormonal blockade, octreotide and several molecular-targeted agents with distinct profiles such as sunitinib, linifanib, brivanib, everolimus and ramucirumab. We have now shown in the RESORCE trial that we have an effective treatment – regorafenib – for second-line treatment after progression under sorafenib. This is big news, but we still have several unmet needs for HCC patients. Recurrence is a frequent event after success with resection or ablation and we do not yet have any therapy development of the BCLC staging and treatment; development of diagnostic criteria for hepatocellular carcinoma; identification of the value of portal pressure in predicting prognosis after resection; and acting as principal investigator of the Phase III trials that have shown the benefits of chemoembolization, sorafenib and regorafenib for patients with liver cancer. He has authored the European Assoaciation for the Study of the Liver, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and World Gastroenterology Organization Practice Guidelines and the United Network for Organ Sharing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) diagnostic criteria.


The authors of "Chromatin Environment of Histone Variant H3.3 Revealed by Quantitative Imaging and Genome-scale Chromatin and DNA Immunoprecipitation" (Mol. Biol. Cell [2010] 21, 1872–1884; originally published in MBoC In Press as 10.1091/mbc. E09-09-0839) wish to correct an error and an omission in Figure 4. Panels were omitted in Figure 4D, which are now included. Figure 4E included percentage values that were incorrect; the correct values are included in the revised Figure. The pie chart in Figure 4D, however, remains unchanged. The Figure legend is unchanged. The HTML and PDF versions were corrected on September, 30, 2010.


The Majimaji was a war of resistance against German colonial rule in Tanzania which occurred between 1905 and 1907. The war is largely known from historical sources which include the German observers of the war, African historians and Africanist historians. Very few archaeological researches inform the Majimaji war. Although the materiality of the war exists, the landscape and memories of the war create a potential database for archaeologists. This paper theorizes the Majimaji war from landscape, memory and agency perspectives. In a broad sense, the paper delineates concepts that define conflicts and the landscape of conflict; agency as a broad theoretical framework on which the paper is grounded; and the processes of memory, memorialization and the creation of the war memorials.


In this study, the Fast On‐Orbit Recording of Transient Events (FORTE) derived TEC variabilities on a diurnal cycle, seasonal cycle, 11‐year solar cycle, and 27‐day solar cycle are compared with the TEC estimates from the Los Alamos ionospheric transfer function implemented with the International Reference Ionosphere model, the GPS‐derived TEC maps from NOAA, the GPS measurements made at Los Alamos, and the ionosonde critical frequency data at the closest station, Boulder, Colorado. The results show good agreement on average (monthly, annual, or multiyear means) in TEC variability at Los Alamos between the various data sources with relative RMS errors of about 5–10%. The results also show RMS errors larger than 30% for point‐to‐point comparisons, with the most significant errors found during high solar activity years, during summer seasons, and during strong geomagnetic storm conditions. This comparative study suggests that the FORTE‐derived TECs combined with other TEC sources can help to better understand the TEC variability at Los Alamos in providing more accurate time‐dependent site TECs than those derived from a single source or extrapolated from global model predictions.


Computing the optimal joint maximum a posteriori probability (JMAP) estimate of the state and mode of a Markov jump linear system (MJLS) is known to be a computationally intractable problem. This letter provides a novel approximate method for such a problem that guarantees to be within a pre-specified bound of the optimal estimate. The proposed method builds upon relaxed dynamic programming. Through numerical examples, we show that this method can lead to better estimates with less computations than previous suboptimal methods proposed in the literature.


In the UK soft fruit sector, Verticillium wilt most commonly affects strawberry, where it is particularly prevalent in England and Wales and sometimes causes devastating crop losses. However, in recent years it has been increasingly found in soil grown raspberry and blackberry crops, throughout England. It is a soil-borne fungal disease which infects the roots, giving rise to wilting and leaf drop (raspberry Figure 1) or wilting and leaf necrosis (blackberry Figure 4 overleaf) which can lead to cane death. Unlike Phytophthora root rot, which tends to affect smaller areas of plantations before spreading, Verticillium wilt can affect a whole plantation at once and in extreme cases, virtually all plants can be affected. Disease severity depends on the distribution and density of the fungus in the soil and the susceptibility of the variety. In very severe cases, complete death of a plantation can occur. In less severe cases, infection may result in a general decline in vigour rather than complete loss of crop. Raspberries appear to be most susceptible in the first few years of growth so new plantations are at greatest risk. The disease is extremely common and severe in crops of black and purple raspberry which are widely grown in the USA, but often less severe in red raspberry and blackberry, with less obvious symptoms. This should be of interest to UK growers considering producing black or purple raspberries.


By 1920 the state of São Paulo boasted the largest coffee economy in the world and was leading Brazil's transition from export expansion to industrialization and "dependent development." The state was well on the way to becoming a showcase of socioeconomic development in Latin America. This essay explores the role played by the São Paulo coffee elite in the politics of this development process, particularly with respect to the demise of the regime known as the Old Republic in the Revolution of 1930.


In-plane compression is an important aspect of material characterization.However,eccentricity must be controlled within a certain range in order to guarantee the validity and accuracy.In this article,the digital measuring system for in-plane compression testing of the fiber-reinforced plastic was discussed.Special fixture,AD620 instrumentation amplifiers and high accuracy and fast data acquisition board AMPCI-9101 in the system were used and a special software application was made.Experiments under the instruction where the eccentricity is below 0.1 were made,which is an achieved good result.


The effect of wavelet characters in image threshold denoising and analysis is studied.The algorithm of choosing threshold is analyzed and improved.For the particularity of image threshold denoising,the orthogonal,vanishing moments and the filter construction of wavelet in image denoising are analyzed.The necessary condition of wavelet to be chosen is put forward.In accordance with the signal and noise transfer characteristics on multi-scale decomposition,the adaptive stratified threshold algorithm is improved.The simulation results show that the choosing method of wavelet in image denoising is proper and feasible.The denoising image proves the adaptive stratified threshold algorithm based on information content is more effective than global algorithm.The SNR of image using bior2.6 can be up to 27.86(SNR0=20).These results indicate that it is prior to using biorthogonal wavelet in image threshold denoising.The adaptive stratified threshold algorithm is able to improve SNR with more detail information reserved.


The utility model provides an automatic feeding and discharging manipulator for a numerical control machine tool, belongs to the technical field of machines, and solves the problems of low production efficiency, large error and low safety caused by the conventional manual feeding and discharging ways as well as the problem of low production efficiency of a single-finger manipulator. The manipulator comprises an arm rotating mechanism, an arm translation mechanism, an arm lifting mechanism and a finger rotating mechanism, wherein the finger rotating mechanism comprises fingers, a finger fixing plate and a revolving cylinder; the revolving cylinder is fixed together with an arm through a lower arm fixing block; the fingers are fixed together with the revolving cylinder through the finger fixing plate; the fingers comprise a feeding finger and a discharging finger which are oppositely arranged on both sides of the end face of one end of the finger fixing plate. By adopting the manipulator, the labor resources are saved, the production efficiency is increased, and the product quality is improved.


This paper introduces the Calvo-style sticky price model with trend inflation into the classical twocountry Ricardian and Ricardo-Viner trade models, and provides novel implications of the interactions between the nominaland real-side in the long-run steady state equilibrium. First, the pattern of trade relates to the industry-level price and productivity, and the industry-level price and productivity in turn depend on the country's inflation rate and the degree of price stickiness of each industry. As a result, the monetary policy has different impacts across industries, and hence it may act as a trade policy. Second, the inflation rate affects the terms of trade through changing the productivity. Such a manipulation of the terms of trade generates the welfare gain of the country. The optimal inflation rate in the open-economy is positive under some parameter values, contrary to the standard closed-economy or small-open sticky price models which implies that the optimal inflation rate is zero. Even if not positive, the welfare loss of deviating from zero inflation is always lower under two-country models than one under the closed-economy or small-open models.


[Objective] The research aimed to discuss the control effect of the extracts from Perilla seed on the intimal hyperplasia of common carotid in rats.[Method] SD rats were randomly divided into animal model group,aspirin group,Perilla seed Ⅰ group(0.18 g/kg),Perilla seed Ⅱ group(0.54 g/kg)and Perilla seed Ⅲ group(1.62 g/kg).Based on establishing the model of intimal hyperplasia of common carotid in rats,the control effects of the extracts from Perilla seed on vascular intimal hyperplasia of common carotid after being squeezed in rats were studied by using histological method.[Result] Compared with animal model group,the complete obstruction incidence of left common carotid in rates in Perilla seed Ⅰ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ group was obviously reduced and the intimal hyperplasia of common carotid of rats in Perilla seed Ⅲ group was obviously improved.The area occupation rate of medium and intimal tunica and the area occupation rate of lumen were 23.91%和67.50% resp.,having extremely significant difference with that in animal model group.[Conclusion] The extracts from Perilla seed had obvious control effects on the intimal hyperplasia of common carotid in rats.


On October 1, 1878, the doors of the City of Glasgow Bank closed at the usual hour, never to re-open. The sudden collapse of one of Scotland's largest financial institutions was a calamity for those directly affected, as well as a serious blow to the wider Scottish economy. In the end, all depositors and creditors would be paid in full, but only because, as with all joint-stock banks in Scotland, the liability of the Bank's shareholders was unlimited. Six out of seven shareholders were ruined by the collapse, and those who were not suffered catastrophic losses. Particular objects of pity were those who held shares, not for themselves, but in trust for others. Yet, in the distinctive nature of the Scottish trust there was hope that their liability might be confined to the trust estate, leaving unaffected their personal wealth. The issue was tested in a litigation which was fought all the way to the House of Lords: Muir versus City of Glasgow Bank. A great deal is known about this case because the arguments of counsel were taken down verbatim and later published. This paper explores the background to the litigation, the manner in which it was conducted, both in the Court of Session and in the House of Lords, and the reasoning employed by counsel and by the judiciary. In deciding that the trustees must pay out of their own pockets, the court discounted any Scottish specialties and applied a rule which was already well-established in England. Yet within a few years, the law in Scotland was to be re-assembled in a manner which asserted the separation of trust and private liability and which led, in modern times, to the idea of the trust as a separate patrimony of assets and liabilities.


The economic transaction in Islam is not always to orientate on commercial, and profit-oriented activity. It is namely with tabbaru"—all of agreement intentionally related to non-profit. The "aqd can be an activity of which gives or borrows something. In fact, especially in Islamic Bank, that "aqd is consistently maintained in the tabbaru" principles. The existed-cost in conserving, is obviously as an avoindance-compentation. The paper will examine the wadi"ah concept and qard in Islamic Bank.

Keywords: Application, Tabbaru" "Aqd, Wadiah, Qard and Islamic Bank.


Bis(trialkylphosphine oxide) complexes, [M(OPPrn3)2Br2](M = Co, Ni, Cu or Zn) and [M(OPEt3)2X2](M = Co, X = I; M = Zn, X = Br), have been synthesised. Magnetic susceptibility measurements have been made (M = Co, Cu or Ni), and electronic (M = Cu or Co), 31P-{1H} NMR (M = Zn), and infrared spectra (all complexes) have been recorded. Characterisation strongly supports the hypothesis that the complexes are pseudo-tetrahedral, with significant distortion in the case of copper. On exposure to SO2 all the complexes display mass increases commensurate with the absorption of 2 equivalents of SO2. During this process solid complexes become liquid, whilst oils appear visibly less viscous. The co-ordination of SO2 is easily reversed in a flow of dinitrogen or at reduced pressures and the original complexes are recovered without apparent decomposition. These properties, along with the infrared absorptions observed for co-ordinated SO2, are indicative of the formation of ligand-bound adducts, [M{O(SO2)PR3}2X2]. The equilibrium between free and co-ordinated SO2 has been examined for the complex [Zn(OPEt3)2Br2] using thermogravimetric analysis; Keqm= 3.96 atm–2(295 K), ΔH=–26.1 kJ mol–1 per binding site, whilst a Hill plot indicates no significant co-operativity between the co-ordination sites. Several complexes and their sulfur dioxide adducts were investigated by visible (M = Cu or Co), ESR (M = Cu) and 31P-{1H} NMR (M = Zn) spectroscopy. Visible spectroscopy indicates that little change occurs in the cobalt co-ordination sphere as a result of binding of SO2, but [Cu(OPPrn3)3Br2] appears to change ground state and possibly geometry on co-ordination. The ESR spectra indicate that changes do occur in the metal environment for [Cu(OPPrn3)2Br2], but fail to provide detailed information. The 31P-{1H} NMR spectra for [Zn(OPR3)2Br2](R = Et, Prn, Bun or C8H17) and their adducts, surprisingly, show small negative (upfield) shifts on co-ordination of SO2. Since the effect is opposite to that observed when SO2 binds to free OPR3 ligands, it is suggested that the net deshielding caused by zinc(II) and SO2 in the [Zn{O(SO2)PR3}2Br2] complexes is comparable to that of zinc(II) alone in the [Zn(OPR3)2Br2] precursors, and thus that significant competition occurs between the two Lewis–acid species in the [Zn{O(SO2)PR3}2Br2] complexes.


Read more and get great! That's what the book enPDFd psychiatry and clinical neuroscience a primer will give for every reader to read this book. This is an on-line book provided in this website. Even this book becomes a choice of someone to read, many in the world also loves it so much. As what we talk, when you read more every page of this psychiatry and clinical neuroscience a primer, what you will obtain is something great.


Two experiments were conducted to investigate the level of fertilization failure that was attributed to oestrous ewes being mounted and marked by the harnessed ram but where service accompanied with ejaculation had not occurred. In ewes marked by harnessed rams, the occurrence of failure of service with ejaculation was determined by examining a 2 cm cube polyurethane sponge which was placed in the vagina before mating. The vaginal sponge was removed and examined at 0 to 24 hours after the onset of oestrus. In experiment 1, a second sponge was inserted at the time of removal of the first sponge and removed 24 hours later. The presence of spermatozoa in the vaginal sponge was taken as evidence of service. The service rate was determined by this method in one half of the flock. The fertilization rate (experiment 1) or the proportion of ewes that returned to oestrus following natural mating (experiment 2) was determined in the remainder of the ewes. In experiment 1 the service rate, as determined by examination of the sponges, was 86 per cent and the fertilization rate was 88 per cent. In experiment 2 the service rate was 94 per cent and the non-return to service rate was 94 per cent. The vaginal sponge reduced the number of 1 1/2 year old maiden ewes exhibiting oestrus but had no influence on the parous ewes. It was concluded that lack of service with ejaculation in oestrous ewes may be the major cause of reproductive failure in flocks where the levels of failure of fertilization are low.


Media balls in the ball mill are accurately rationed and loaded in accordance with the grain composition characteristics of the fed ore and in the guidance of the principle of crushing statistical mechanics,and the breakage probabilities of four ball rationing and loading schemes-the accurate scheme,bigger balls prevailed scheme,smaller balls prevailed scheme and the scheme on the spot-under the impact action in one crushing cycle of the balls are calculated.The contrast of the calculated results shows that the total breakage probability in the accurate or recommended scheme is the highest.The reason for this is that the ball diameter needed by each grain size in the accurate scheme is accurately determined by adopting Duan's semi-theory formula according to the mechanics properties of the actual ore,which will make the crushing forces accurate.Under the premises of accurately determining the ball diameters,further matching the percentage of the coarse and fine particles respectively with the suitable number of the balls can make the breakage well selective and the ground probability of each grain size high.


In this study, ski players ability and achievement goal orientation of the mentoring self-management behavior aimed at clarifying the impact of research results, the following results were conducted. Mentoring functions as the first skier on the impact of self-management behaviors related to personal management experience, role model significantly in Showed. Mental management career related, role mode appeared to significantly body control related role model was statistically significant at. Achievement goal orientation, self-management behaviors of skiers on the impact of the personal management of self-oriented goals, task goal orientation in Showed statistically significant self-goal-oriented training in management, task-oriented goals were statistically significant. Mental management goal-oriented self, task goal orientation showed significantly momgwanrineun goal-oriented self, task goal orientation were statistically significant.


The article provides extensive information about Bio-morphological and Eco-geographical features, the results of phytochemical analysis, useful properties, and use possibilities in folk and scientific medicine of the wasteland of Satureja hortensis L. species of Lamiaceae Lindl. sort in the flora of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. also the information was given about distribution in the world, Azerbaijan and different high-altitude belts of the autonomous republic. The thin layer chromatography was carried out of ethanol extract of leaves and stems of Satureja horternsis L., and the values of Rf are defined by the substances contained in them. According to the values obtained of spectral and chromatographic analyses, compounds have been identified which containing in the extracts. Thus the results were defined by viewed in the usual ultraviolet short and longwavelength light. The separated part as pure in thin layer chromatography time soluted in ethanol and wavelengths measured with Hitachi U-2900 UV-VIS spectrophotometer in 200-700 nm. Spectrums with wavelengths of 200.0-294.5 (Me OH λ max. nm) (28.8%) characteristic for flavonoids, and waves with a length of 340-378.5 nm (26.8%) for flavones, flavonones, chalcons, the characteristic wavelength of 556.5-630.5 nm (44.3%) was also revealed for anthocyanin's.


Virtual Reality (VR) is a set of breakthrough technologies that allow a human being to enter and fully experience a 3-dimensional, computer simulated environment. A true virtual reality experience meets three criteria: (1) it involves 3-dimensional computer graphics; (2) it includes real-time feedback and response to user actions; and (3) it must provide a sense of immersion. Good examples of a virtual reality simulator are the flight simulators used by all branches of the military to train pilots for combat in high performance jet fighters. The fidelity of such simulators is extremely high -- but so is the price tag, typically millions of dollars. Virtual reality teaching and training methods are manifestly effective, but the high cost of VR technology has limited its practical application to fields with big budgets, such as military combat simulation, commercial pilot training, and certain projects within the space program. However, in the last year there has been a revolution in the cost of VR technology. The speed of inexpensive personal computers has increased dramatically, especially with the introduction of the Pentium processor and the PCI bus for IBM-compatibles, and the cost of high-quality virtual reality peripherals has plummeted. The result is that many public schools, colleges, and universities can afford a PC-based workstation capable of running immersive virtual reality applications. My goal this summer was to assemble and evaluate such a system.


The assist effects of the permanent magnets in salient-pole synchronous generators are investigated by the electromagnetic field analysis. The flux and voltage are separated by the finite element analyses due to their origins. The measured and calculated results are compared in order to verify the calculation. It is revealed that there are two assist effects of the magnets on the improvement of the generator characteristics. One effect is the reduction in the size of the saturated region at the rotor core. The other effect is the direct flux linkage with the armature windings. The former effect is dominant at the rated load condition. The latter effect increases when the rotor core is oversaturated and compensates for the decrease in the former effect.


This paper presents the results of employing input-output relationships in the construction of a regional labor market, vector autoregression. forecasting model. Information available in published input-output tables is used to specify interindustry and interregional labor market linkages. It is shown that when the interrelationships indicated by the input-output tables are taken into account, the forecast accuracy of the model improves.


The development of modern government in England in general began with the Great Reform Act of 1832. The impetus for this act was provided by corrupt practices in the House of Commons, and by the massive increase in population occurring during the industrial revolution Boroughs and counties were generally able to send two representatives to the house of commons. Theoretically, the honour of electing members of Parliament belonged to the wealthiest and most flourishing towns in the kingdom. Boroughs that ceased to be successful could be disenfranchised by the Crown. The Reform Act attempted to address these issues, by abolishing rotten boroughs, enfranchising the industrial towns as new parliamentary boroughs, increasing the proportion of the electorate eligible to vote, and ending corrupt practices in parliament. Although this did not directly affect local government, it provided impetus to reform outdated, obsolete and unfair practices elsewhere in government. After the reform of parliamentary constituencies, the boroughs established by royal charter during the previous 7 centuries were reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The act required members of town councils (municipal corporations) in England to be elected by ratepayers and councils to publish their financial accounts. Prior to the passing of the act, the municipal boroughs varied depending upon their charters. In some boroughs, corporations had become self-perpetuating oligarchies, with membership of the corporation being for life, and vacancies filled by co-option. With this act, the boroughs (thereafter 'municipal boroughs') began to take a more noticeably modern and democratic form.


This study focuses on the anatase TiO2 doped Fluorine to investigate their structural and electronics properties using Density Functional Theory (DFT) within generalized gradient approximation (GGA) as implemented in Quantum ESPRESSO (QE). For the anatase TiO2 phase the calculated electronic band structures of pure TiO2 and TiO2 doped Fluorine nanocrystals are displayed along a high symmetry directions and the energy range of band structure is plotted from 0.0 eV to 3.9 eV , the energy separation between the bottom of the conduction band and the top of valence band occurred at the Γ and  points, indicating that  anatase TiO2 is an indirect band gap material with an approximate value of 2.30 eV energy gap, this value is consistent with previous DFT result. When F is added the band structure did not change much because fluorine element doping is conducive to the generation of Oxygen holes and enhances the mobility of effective electrons which can enhance the conductivity of the adsorbent substrate and improve the solar cell performance of the fluorine-doped TiO2. The band gap value obtained for F doped TiO2 was found to be 2.11 eV. The dopant formation energy of Fluorine is calculated to be -55.6 Ry which is equivalent to -756.5 eV.


Which factors are associated with low serum progesterone (P) levels on the day of frozen embryo transfer (FET), in hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) cycles?

 Body Mass Index (BMI), parity, and non-European geographic origin are factors associated with low serum P levels on the day of FET in HRT cycles.

 While the detrimental impact of low serum P concentrations on HRT-FET outcomes is unanimously recognized, the factors accounting for P levels disparities among patients receiving the same luteal phase support treatment remain to be elucidated, in order to help clinicians predicting which subgroups of patients would benefit from a tailored P supplementation.

 Observational cohort study with 915 patients undergoing HRT-FET at a tertiary care university hospital, between January 2019 and March 2020.

 Patients undergoing single autologous blastocyst FET under HRT using exogenous estradiol and vaginal micronized progesterone for endometrial preparation. Women were only included once during the study period. The serum progesterone level was measured in the morning of the FET, in a single laboratory. Independent factors associated with low serum P levels (defined as ≤ 9.8 ng/mL, according to a previous published study) were analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models.

 The live birth rate was 31.5% (288/915) in the overall population. Two hundred and twenty-six patients (24.7%) had a low serum P level, on the day of the FET. Univariate analysis showed that BMI (p < 0.001), parity (p = 0.001), non-European geographic origin (p = 0.001), and the duration of infertility (p = 0.018) were significantly associated with low serum P levels. Moreover, the proportion of active smokers was significantly lower in the "low P concentrations" group (p = 0.002). After multivariate analysis, BMI (OR 1.06 95%CI [1.02-1.11], p = 0.002), parity (OR 1.31 95%CI [1.04-1.65], p = 0.024), non-European geographic origin (OR 1.67 95%CI [1.19-2.35], p = 0.003), and active smoking (OR 0.43 95%CI [0.21-0.85], p = 0.016) remained independent factors associated with serum P levels ≤ 9.8 ng/mL.

 The main limitation of our study is linked to its observational design. Extrapolation of our results to other laboratories, or other routes and/or doses of administering progesterone also needs to be validated.

 There is urgent need for future research on clinical factors affecting P concentrations to help clinicians predicting which subgroups of patients would benefit from individualized luteal phase support. More data are also needed on the underlying mechanisms explaining the relationship between patients' characteristics and serum P levels in HRT-cycles.

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The use of BIBACs genomics libraries for sequence a complete gene (coding and regulatory sequences) had been converted in a fundamental tool to isolate an interested gene. Additionally the BIBACs vector allows the transference of this complete genomic sequence using Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which permits the functional studies of the gene. However the cloning of the gene of interest, that in average has 3 kb, it is not an easy procedure. In this research it is described the subcloning strategy of the thaumatin gene from a genomic library with an average inserts of 150 kb and how the directional subcloning with different restriction enzymes, solve the problem of cloning a gene in conventional vectors like pBluescript KS+.


PLEIADES (Picosecond Laser Electron Interaction for the Dynamic Evaluation of Structures) produces tunable 30-140 keV x-rays with 0.3-5 ps pulse lengths and up to 10^7 photons/pulse by colliding a high brightness electron beam with a high power laser. The electron beam is created by an rf photo-injector system, accelerated by a 120 MeV linac, and focused to 20 μm with novel permanent magnet quadrupoles. To produce Compton back scattered x-rays, the electron bunch is overlapped with a Ti:Sapphire laser that delivers 500 mJ, 100 fs, pulses to the interaction point. K-edge radiography at 115 keV on Uranium has verified the angle correlated energy spectrum inherent in Compton scattering and high-energy tunability of the Livermore source. Current upgrades to the facility will allow laser pumping of targets synchronized to the x-ray source enabling dynamic diffraction and time-resolved studies of high Z materials. Near future plans include extending the radiation energies to >400 keV, allowing for nuclear fluorescence studies of materials.


Results of studies on methods of propagation and their optimum time of planting, etc., up to about 1-, 2- and 3-year-old plants of Rauwolfia serpentina (Linn.) Benth. ex Kurz are given. For this purpose a statistically designed experiment was conducted. The results confirm our previous indicative findings with 1-, 2- and 3-year-old plants that root production of plants raised from seeds is much higher than that of plants raised vegetatively (root cuttings or stem cuttings). Indeed, in the first year it is about 5 times that of plants raised from stem cuttings and about 2.4 times that of plants raised from root cuttings (excluding mother roots). During the second year it is about 9 times that of Stem cuttings and 2.6 times that of root cuttings (excluding mother roots). In the third year it is about 6.5 times that of stem cuttings and about 2.5 times that of root cuttings (excluding mother roots). The transplants raised from seeds sown in April have given the highest yield of roots. There is also proportionate increase in root production according to age. The total alkaloidal content of roots was well above the I.P. and B.P.C. standard. Commercial plantations for root production are best raised from seeds sown in April, under Dehra Dun conditions


Remote sensing gives us important information about four aspects of coral reefs: it is useful for determining the configuration and the composition of the coral reef; for monitoring the biophysical parameters of the seas and oceans in which the coral reefs occur and for tracking possible changes over time of these elements. Coral reefs in the Red Sea -offshore Hurghada, Egypthave been studied using a Landsat7 ETM+ data set dating from 2000. A bathymetric map and a sea bottom-type classification have been made based on different remote sensing techniques supplemented with data derived from field sampling in the study area. Also a change indication map has been constructed, based on the comparison with the ecological situation in 1987 as derived from a Landsat5 TM data set of that year. This basic remote sensing derived information has been combined with other information about elements important to the reefs into a "Coral reef GIS". This GIS forms the base for integrated coastal zone management and the protection of the precious Egyptian corals. A risk prediction map, on which the location and potential risk factor for each coral reef is indicated, is made based on this GIS. This risk map shows that of the coral reefs in the vicinity of Hurghada, approximately 86% of the reef systems have a medium to high risk potential.


Dear Editor: Tourette syndrome (TS) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with a significant prevalence in the general population, between 0.46% and 1.76% in subjects aged 5–18 years (1), characterized by multiple motor tics and one or more phonic tics lasting longer than one year (2,3). Several studies have consistently shown that up to 90% of patients with TS present associated behavioral problems, which can have a significant impact on the health-related quality of life of sufferers (4,5). A substantial proportion of patients fulfills diagnostic criteria for comorbid psychiatric disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, depression, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and impulse dyscontrol (6). Fortunately, many patients with TS show a significantly self-limiting disease; in cases of uncomplicated disease, severity of tics climaxes during the prepubescent years, then many patients experience an ensuing appreciable decline in tic severity by 19–20 years of age (7). Although TS is frequently selflimiting, some patients continue to document interference with quality of life and require chronic treatment (8). The majority of patients respond to conservative therapies; whether through pharmacological means such as a2 adrenergic agonists or typical or atypical neuroleptics, alternatively cognitive behavioral therapy techniques such as habit reversal training may be of time-limited benefit (9). In patients with refractory TS and important social impairment deep brain stimulation (DBS) might be considered as a last treatment. At our institute as previously reported candidates to DBS are patients with severe and treatment refractoriness TS (10).


Thesis purpose: The purpose of the master thesis is to analyse the battle of meaning creation regarding the notion of smoking and to reveal the production of unequal power relations. The battle is fought by different stakeholders through means of language and the study focuses on the tobacco industry in Germany. Methodology: A critical discourse analysis is applied with a qualitative research strategy. Our data collection was inspired by grounded theory and is limited in scope through a relevant case within the context of smoking in Germany. Empirical data is collected by means of an internet based document study of publicly available texts. Metaphors are used to structure our analysis of selected texts. Theoretical perspective: Critical discourse analysis and related theories as discourse analysis and the construction of reality by means of language form the theoretical frame. Empirical data: Different types of documents, such as corporate websites, magazines, scientific articles, reports and forum texts of the identified stakeholder groups are included in the analysis. Conclusion: The identified stakeholders assign different meanings to the notion of smoking through language use. The analysis reveals with what meaning the notion is filled and what they accomplish by establishing their meaning of smoking as normal. Contradictory goals can be found within the same stakeholder group. The thesis contributes to existing research on the German tobacco market and the use of language in that context.


Urinary tract infection represents one of the most common diseases encountered in medical practice today and occurs neonate patients to the geriatric age group patients.UTI has become the most common hospital-acquired infection, accounting for as many as 35% of nosocomial infections. Despite the widespread availability of antibiotics, it remains the most common bacterial infection in the human beings. Area specific monitoring studies aimed to gain knowledge about the type of pathogens responsible for urinary tract infection and their resistance patterns may help clinicians prescribing the most effective empirical treatment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the type and antibiotic resistance patterns of the urinary pathogens isolated from patients attending Government Medical College, Haldwani from January 2012 to March 2013. A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted and urine samples were collected using the mid stream clean catch method from 1823 clinicallysuspected cases of urinary tract infections and tested bacteriological using standard procedures. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed for the isolated pathogens using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Significant bacteriuria was found in 371/1823 (20.35%) of urine specimens. Gram-negative bacteria were more prevalent 78.16% than Gram-positive bacteria 21.83%. Of the 12 isolates, the most commonly isolated bacteria were Escherichia coli 63.35%. The overall p value for the occurrence of bacteria is statistically significant (1.26199 X 10, p < .05). Interestingly, this significance does not change across outpatient (7.23345 X 10, p < 0.05) and inpatient (3.58258 X 10, p < 0.05) populace i.e., outpatients were as likely to have been infected with E. coli as inpatients. The second most prevalent isolate was Enterococcous sp. (13.48%) followed by Klebsiella sp. (6.19%), Cons (3.23%), Proteus mirabilis (2.69%), Mrcons (2.42%), Citrobacter (2.15%), S.aureus (2.15%), Pseudomonas sp.(2.15%), Acinetobacter sp.(1.34% ), Mrsa (.53%) and Alcalegenes f. (.26%). The majority, 57.41%, of the positive cases were females while the remaining 42.59% were males. These results indicated that the prevalence of UTI was higher in female patients than in males. The isolated pathogens showed resistance to ampicillin /sulbactum, co-trimoxazole, norfloxacine, ciprofloxacine, linezolid cephoxitin and sensitivity to nitrofurantoin, ceftrioxone and ceftrioxone /sulbactum. In comparison to other geographies these results carried some stark differences e.g., high degree of resistance of Ampicillin /sulbactum while it also corroborated a general trend of increased resistance to antibiotics in other studies. One of the drugs Cotrimoxazole was found to be almost ineffective in most cases. The presence of bacterial isolates with very high resistance to the commonly prescribed drugs leaves few alternatives options of drugs for the treatment of UTIs. This study highlights the increased resistance to certain drugs in the studied geography that are found to be highly effective in other geographies of the world. K e y w o r d s


For pt. I see ibid., vol. 5, 2949-60 (1972). The spin-lattice relaxation times of Co2+ ions in ZnWO4 have been measured at liquid helium temperatures, using pulse saturation techniques. The x, y and z axes showed different characteristics and nonexponential decays were common in some crystals. It is shown that the concentration-dependent contribution to the time constant T1E arises from coupling to fast-relaxing exchange-coupled triads of Co2+ ions. A model is considered in which the contributions from each ligand in the cluster are considered separately. Any Jahn-Teller effects are also included in the formalism. Satisfactory agreement with experiment is obtained when H is along the z axis.


In recent years, a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) SnO2 semiconductor have gained considerable attention due to their potential application in gas sensors. More number of studies on TCO oxide have focused on the semiconducting metal oxides in which an intensive argument is that the transparent semiconductors. The SnO2 thin films were deposited at 400 °C and then annealed at 500 °C and 600 °C and its structural, optical and electrical properties were characterized. The doping stoichiometric ratio was maintained as 4% and the resulting solution was sprayed on glass substrate which was kept at nozzle distance of 25 cm and the spray rate was 10 mL/min. The prepared pure SnO2 thin films have been characterized by different methods such as XRD, FESEM, UV-Vis NIR and EDAX analyses. It was found that the nanocrystalline SnO2 grains possesses structural features of the tetragonal rutile structure. Hence the prepared thin films are justified to be nanocrystalline and also the mean crystalline size decreased with respect to annealing temperature.


Purpose: The Systematic Coronary Risk Estimation (SCORE) system is used to determine 10-year cardiovascular risk. Myocardial performance index (MPI), a well-accepted echocardiographic parameter, is used to provide any information about the global function of the ventricle. We aimed to investigate the relationship between MPI and SCORE. Materials and methods: A total of 168 participants with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) presented to cardiology outpatient clinic between 1 June and 31 December 2020 were retrospectively enrolled in the study. Cardiovascular risk estimation was calculated by SCORE assessment. The participants were divided into two groups as 46 patients with low cardiovascular risk, and 122 patients with moderate-high-very high risk, according to the SCORE. Laboratory parameters and echocardiography findings of the patients were recorded. Results: There was no difference in body mass index, office systolic, and diastolic blood pressure between the groups. While blood glucose was 94.5 (83.0-110.3) in the low-risk group, it was 101.0 (90.0-130.5) in the moderate-high risk patient group ( p =0.007). Similarly, Urea, creatinine, lactate dehydrogenase, total cholesterol, NT pro-BNP, and Troponin T in the moderate-high risk group were significantly higher than was the low-risk group. MPI was significantly higher in the moderate-high risk patient group ( p <0.001). MPI (OR=2.358, 95% CI:1.033-5.382, p =0.042), urea (OR=1.090, 95% CI:1.019-1.166, p =0.012), and glucose (OR=1.023, 95% CI:1.003-1.043, p =0.025) were independently associated with the moderate-high SCORE. Conclusion: We found that MPI predicted a moderate-high SCORE system. Further studies are warranted to better clarify the association of SCORE with echocardiographic parameters including MPI.