Most of the short rotation energy coppices used in Northern and Central Europe may be of limited value under Mediterranean climates. Abandoned acacia stands with an invasive behaviour, of environmental concern in many Mediterranean countries, may perform better as biomass producers under summer drought than those coppices. Seedlings of invasive Acacia dealbata, A. melanoxylon and A. pycnantha were planted to test for early growth performance under rain-fed and irrigated conditions. Rooted cuttings of an E. globulus clone were also established as a reference for biomass production. Plants were harvested after one year, sorted by biomass components and oven-dried. Above-ground dry weight was calculated on an area basis, accounting for survival. A. dealbata and A. melanoxylon showed low survival and biomass production, even irrigated, whereas A. pycnantha had better survival and growth performance than eucalypt, even in rain-fed plots, suggesting potential for the harvest of this drought-adapted species as a biomass source.


A coherent system with two stepped frequency radar sensors separated by 1-2 m is presented for close range imaging. Resolution is achieved via range resolution from the two different sensor positions, exploiting both mono- and bistatic responses. First test had been made using vector measurement equipment for an antenna measurement range as radar simulator, and a mobile experimental system was built up and tested including stationary and mobile targets.


The basic properties and electrical characteristics of sputtering films deposited with a commercial cast target and Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) were compared and analyzed. From the results, the Cu film prepared heating 60°C/min (SPS process) showed a similar specific resistance compared to the commercial cast Cu film. Also, auording to the results of XRD, SIMS, and TEM. There was not much difference in the crystal structure and impurities between the two films. Consequently, the SPS Cu target was found to have quite similar properties with the commercial one and it is expected to be applied in futare research to the metal wiring material for semiconductor/display devices. (Received August 30, 2010)


The article presents the results of investigation of CO2 fluxes from the surface of mezo-oligotrophic peatland of middle taiga. It was stated that the most intense CO2 emission was from the associations of hummocks with shrub vegetation. The stable sink of CO2 from the atmosphere to the peatland was noticed in Sphagnum communities of hollows.


The World Health Organization (WHO) 10-Country Study establishes that (restrictively defined) schizophrenia occurs in populations in different physical, social and industrial environments at closely similar rates. No hard evidence for an exogenous factor has emerged; the disease is a component of in


The Current Icing Product (CIP) is a model/observation fusion tool to diagnose aircraft icing probability and severity. Implemented at the Aviation Weather Center, it is used by forecasters to assess icing conditions and improve aviation support over the contiguous United States and southern Canada. However, given the three dimensional nature of the icing threat, it has been difficult to completely assess CIP effectiveness. CloudSat is a low-earth orbiting satellite containing a 3 mm cloud radar (94 GHz) that gives a two dimensional vertical profile of cloud along the orbital track of the satellite. When combined with temperature profile information, CloudSat can be used to infer information about the location and vertical structure of supercooled liquid water. Therefore, it can be used to compare to CIP. In this study first we compare CIP and CloudSat in several case studies to illustrate CIP"s strengths and limitations. In the process we illustrate that CloudSat products are powerful observational tools in their own right, allowing unprecedented cross-sectional views of cloud systems which contain aviation hazards. Second, we compare CloudSat and CIP cloud heights statistically. For low cloud systems in particular, CIP tends to analyze cloud tops that are too high, leading to vertical overestimation of the icing hazard.


In the gauge theoretic approach of gravity, General Relativity is described by gauging the symmetry of the tangent manifold in four dimensions. Usually the dimension of the tangent space is considered to be equal to the dimension of the curved manifold. However, the tangent group of a manifold of dimension $d$ is not necessarily $SO_d$. It has been suggested earlier that by gauging an enlarged symmetry of the tangent space in four dimensions one could unify gravity with internal interactions. Here we consider such a unified model by gauging the $SO_{(1,17)}$ as the extended Lorentz group overcoming in this way some difficulties of the previous attempts of similar unification and eventually we obtain the $SO_{10}$ GUT, supplemented by an $SU_2 \times SU_2$ global symmetry.


This paper proposes the general prioritization framework f test case prioritization during regression testing. Regressio n testing (RT) is done to ensure that modifications have not created new faul ts or that modifications fulfilled their intended purpose by correctly altering software functionality. Being performed multiple times, RT can have a profound effect on the software budget. The test case priori tization orders test cases for execution to reach a certain objective. U sually, such an objective is to detect faults as early as possible during t he testing process. Many prioritization techniques have been develop ed that successfully reach this objective. However, most of these tech niques were developed and studied independently from each other despit e the fact that they have many similarities. This article presents the framework that allows to represent known prioritization techniques. Thus, it helps to improve existing and devise new techniques. Also, it allo ws to implement a single tool that emulates any prioritization tech nique by just setting the correct parameters. The proposed framework inc ludes the combination/condensation (CC) structure and the structur e f nctions includingelement combination functions , condensation functions , and a super-group combination function . By defining two such structures together with the corresponding structure functions, one f r computing award values and one for their update, any known prioritizat on technique can be expressed. A general prioritization algorithm s presented that can express any known prioritization technique.


Suppression of Brillouin amplifier intensity noise is demonstrated by use of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) at its output to enhance application of its narrowband gain for boosting the carrier to noise ratio (CNR) of spectral lines in coherent communications. This utilizes the fast recovery time of the SOA gain in saturation to limit distortions induced when Brillouin gain is reduced from its maximum by detuning of the input frequency or state of polarization relative to the backward propagating pump. Although the SOA carrier dynamics associated with the varying gain also converts intensity noise to phase distortion, the similarly low bandwidth in the tens of megahertz range as for Brillouin gain permits its removal in communication applications by the same digital signal processing used to compensate the similarly slow phase error from coherent detection with a local oscillator laser. When applied to a spectral line with initial poor CNR of 19.5 dB/0.1 nm that is then boosted by Brillouin gain but at detuned input frequency of ∼±10 MHz from optimum (or 67% of a 30 MHz gain bandwidth), the SOA improves use of the SBA output as a carrier of 72 Gb/s 64-QAM signals with up to 2 dB higher Q2-factor at the receiver. Overall, SBA's benefit for noise suppression in combination with the SOA is extended to more flexible and wider ranging input parameters.


Abstract
Purpose
This research aimed to verify how the performance measurement system (PMS) and the quality management system (QMS) work in small and medium Brazilian enterprises in the light of the typology proposed by Garengo (2009).

Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative approach PMS's and QMS's managers were interviewed. The data from the first interview were analyzed using the technique of content analysis and have been subsequently triangulated with other data collected. The study was conducted by means of two questionnaires, two semi-structured interviews, and the analysis of the performance measures used by five small/medium manufactures based in the State of Sao Paulo.

Findings
It was found that in four out of five companies, PMS does not function singly, but along with QMS, mainly with respect to performance indicators. In spite of that intrinsic operation, the systems are in different stages of evolution. It was also found that in three out of five companies, quality management area is responsible for coordinating the process of PMS use, without effective participation from the controlling and/or accounting areas in this process.

Originality/value
The typology of Garengo (2009), used to check the stage of the PMS, was validated and can be used by practitioners to diagnose and improve the PMS in their enterprises; companies with QMS certified by ISO, particularly with higher degree of quality management maturity, can be encouraged to implement or improve the PMS in their organizations.


A method for direct and indirect determination of acrylic acid in the mixed solution of acrylic acid, sulfuric acid and ammonium bisulfate was introduced. The standard deviation of the direct method was 0.20 and the coefficient of variation was 0.23%. The time of determination was about 30 min. The recovery was between 96.0%~97.5%. The indirect method had deviation but with high-speed (5min)and operational simplicity. The two methods can be used for the quality control of acrylic acid on production line.


Erythema Multiforme (EM) is a benign hypersensitivity reaction characterized by multiple, erythematous, targetoid papules that appear most often symmetrically across the extremities. Histologically, the epidermis usually shows apoptotic keratinocytes, spongiosis, and hydropic changes. EM is associated with infections such as HSV and Mycoplasma pneumoniae and rarely with vaccinations and medications. It is an acute, self-limited disorder that resolves within 2-6 weeks. Recent studies report a variety of cutaneous findings status post mRNA COVID-19 vaccination with EM encompassing 1.1% of cutaneous findings. We report a case of a 39 y/o healthcare worker who developed acute erythema multiforme 10 days after receiving the third dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine without prior adverse reactions to the first two doses. The diagnosis was made clinically, and the patient course was followed for 8 weeks without complete resolution.


The current global financial crisis has both challenged and changed the European Commission's interpretation of EU State aid law. In the first phase of the economic meltdown, the Commission systematically relied on the established EU State aid rules, notably the Guidelines on rescue and restructuring aid for firms in difficulty. As the crisis unfolded, the Commission recognised that those rules were insufficient and decided that tailor-made measures should be envisaged in order to fully address the problems faced by the banking sector. This article analyses the evolution in the Commission's approach to State aid measures granted to ailing financial institutions. It is argued in conclusion that the revision of the State aid policy was a necessary step forward.


In the title compound, C14H11Cl2NO, the dihedral angle between the benzene rings is 15.36 (8)°. A phenol–imine-type intramolecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond generates an S(5) ring motif. In the crystal, a pair of weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds form an R 2 1(7) ring motif involving glide-plane-related molecules. The molecules linked via these interactions form chains along [101].


The Giessen Boltzmann–Uehling–Uhlenbeck transport model is extended and applied to the p̄-nucleus interactions in a wide beam momentum range. The model calculations are compared with the experimental data on p̄-absorption cross-sections on nuclei with an emphasis on extraction of the real part of an antiproton optical potential. The possibility of the cold compression of a nucleus by an antiproton in-flight is also considered.


Mechanical impedance can be a factor of considerable importance because of its direct and indirect influences on plant growth (5). Compact soils and subsoils can offer marked resistance to root development. Soil science recognizes genetically developed compacted layers as well as trafficinduced pans (8). No really adequate, direct methods have been developed for measuring the work done by roots in penetrating compact soil layers. Thus, measurements of soil properties that might influence root development are generally used. Among them, bulk density and pore size are rather useful yardsticks. This paper reports data on bulk density and pore size for selected profiles where three major uncultivated pasture grasses—Para, Guinea, and Bermuda—were growing. The data are complemented with observations on root development in an attempt to relate the influence of the indicated soil factors on the rooting depth of the grasses.


Fas is cell surface receptor that induces apoptosis upon activation. To understand its signaling, Daxx, a novel protein binding to the intracellular tail of Fas was identified by the yeast two hybrid screen. Daxx enhanced Fas-induced apoptosis by activating the Jun Nterminal kinase (JNK) pathway, a kinase cascade regulating gene induction previously implicated in cell death. Daxx activation of JNK was independent of the previously characterized FADD pathway downstream of Fas. Fas activation induced Daxx to interact with Apoptosis Signal-regulating Kinase 1 (ASK1), an upstream MAP kinase kinase kinase of the JNK pathway. This interaction relieved an inhibitory interaction between the NH2-terminal regulatory domain and the remainder of the kinase, leading to its activation. These results complete a pathway from cell surface death receptors to intracellular kinase cascades. Fas was previously known to recruit pro-caspase-8 and lead to its activation. Because Fas is activated by a trimeric ligand, Fas-mediated oligomerization of pro-caspase8 may lead to its activation. In two heterologous inducible oligomerization systems, oligomerization of pro-caspase 8 led to autoproteolytic processing to generate mature caspase subunits and activated apoptosis. Other pro-caspases can also be similarly activated, suggesting that pro-caspase oligomerization of may be a general mechanism for activating initiator caspases in apoptosis. In the classic apoptosis model Caenorhabditis elegans, the pro-caspase CED-3 is activated by CED-4, which is in turn inhibited by the Bcl-2-like protein CED-9, both via direct protein interactions. The function of these three proteins can be understood by the regulated oligomerization of CED-4. CED-4 formed homotypic oligomers in vitro and in cells, which induced CED-3 proximity and activation. CED-9 interaction with CED-4 competed with CED-4 oligomerization. Enforced oligomerization of CED-3 induced CED-3 processing and activated apoptosis. Thus, procaspase oligomerization is the common mechanism of control of cell surface death receptors and the evolutionarily conserved Bcl-2 pathway. Thesis supervisor: David Baltimore Title: Ivan Cottrell Professor of Molecular Biology and Immunology Table of


Our work deals with the assessment of the quality of multimodal images synthesized at a better spatial resolution by the means of another image having such a resolution. In absence of reference images, the current protocols recommend to degrade spatially both sets of images and to perform fusion on these two new sets, thus producing synthesized images at the original low resolution. The quality budget is drawn at this scale and it is assumed that it is close to or worse than the one, which would have been drawn at high resolution if the reference images were available. This extrapolation hypothesis is the major limitation of the application of protocols. The validity of this hypothesis is studied for 44 case studies. Several distances are selected. They are compounded into several quality budgets, each of them giving an overall idea on the quality. We analyze changes in quality budgets with scales. It is found that the extrapolation hypothesis is validated in most cases. Nevertheless, the need for further investigation is underlined


The concept of virtual power plant (VPP) offers a solution to control and manage higher level of dispersed generation in nowadays passive distribution network. Under certain conditions the VPP is able to displace power and energy which implies more control on the energy flow in the networks. To accomplish this objective tight coordination between both VPP and network operators is vital. Major transition stepstowards smart grid are achieved when the design of the distribution network is taken in full consideration. Adding confined active functionalities in the backbone of the medium voltage network simplifies the integration of VPP and thus the transition towards smart grids. A description of the VPP concept is followed by explanation of its operation. The integration of this system in present passive distribution networks is considered to reflect its appropriateness and the implications for the VPP operator. Then the steps which the network operator Liander in the Netherlands is following in order to develop the distribution network into a smart grid are discussed while highlighting the so-called 'smart network'-design. Finally the integration of the VPP system with the 'smart network'-design is considered.


A series of experimental studies utilizing approximately 2200 test subjects has led to the development of a general empirical model for the prediction of passenger ride discomfort in the presence of complex noise and vibration inputs. The ranges of vibration and noise stimuli used to derive the model included the amplitudes and frequencies that are known to most influence passenger comfort. The ride quality model accounts for the effects of combined axis vibrations (up to three axes simultaneously) and includes corrections for the effect of vibration duration and interior noise. Output of the model consists of an estimate of the passenger discomfort produced by a given noise and/or vibration environment. The discomfort estimate is measured along a continuous scale that spans the range from below discomfort threshold to values of discomfort that are far above discomfort threshold.


RODERER & HEAGAN, THE OLD ESTABLISHED AND POPULAR SHOE BEALERS have EXPOSED FOE SALE IN THEIR COMMODIOUS STORE-ROOM AN IMMENSE STOCK OF ALL KINDS OF Boots & Shoes, TIES and SUPPERS FOR LADIES and GENTLEMEN, CONSISTING OF EVERYTHING NEW AND NOVEL THAT HAS BEEN brought OUT FOR SPRING AND SUMMER WEAR, COMBINING ELEGANCE, DURABILITY AND CHEAPNESS, . with the advantage of having more goods to select from than any two establishments in Morris County. I t would be impossible to attempt a descriprion of them, but we respectfully urge our customers and the public to call, examine and be convinced. You will incur no obligation to purchase unless you are satisfied that we can give you better goods for . less money than any establishment in this section etui offer. Don't forget our stand, Cor. Warren and Dickerson Sts., Opposite Depot, DOVER, Ht. J. Whop he texrned, after tsUlng tor twofro ind ••' *haliy • It Was quoted at forty-two cents,


Urethral epithelial cells are invaded by Neisseria gonorrhoeae during gonococcal infection in men. To understand further the mechanisms of gonococcal entry into host cells, we used the primary human urethral epithelial cells (PHUECs) tissue culture system recently developed by our laboratory. These studies showed that human asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGP‐R) and the terminal lactosamine of lacto‐N‐neotetraose‐expressing gonococcal lipooligosaccharide (LOS) play an important role in invasion of PHUECs. Microscopy studies showed that ASGP‐R traffics to the cell surface after gonococcal challenge. Co‐localization of ASGP‐R with gonococci was observed. As ASGP‐R‐mediated endocytosis is clathrin dependent, clathrin localization in PHUECs was examined after infection. Infected PHUECs showed increased clathrin recruitment and co‐localization of clathrin and gonococci. Preincubating PHUECs in 0.3 M sucrose or monodansylcadaverine (MDC), which both inhibit clathrin‐coated pit formation, resulted in decreased invasion. N. gonorrhoeae strain 1291 produces a single LOS glycoform that terminates with Gal(β1–4)GlcNac(β1–3)Gal(β1–4)Glc (lacto‐N‐neotetraose). Invasion assays showed that strain 1291 invades significantly more than four isogenic mutants expressing truncated LOS. Sialylation of strain 1291 LOS inhibited invasion significantly. Preincubation of PHUECs in asialofetuin (ASF), an ASGP‐R ligand, significantly reduced invasion. A dose–response reduction in invasion was observed in PHUECs preincubated with increasing concentrations of NaOH‐deacylated 1291 LOS. These studies indicated that an interaction between lacto‐N‐neotetraose‐terminal LOS and ASGP‐R allows gonococcal entry into PHUECs.


According to the method of water balance,the parameters of groundwater resouce of Jian San Jiang area have been calculated in the paper. At the same time,the quality of water supplying and water mining can be calculated. Furthermore ,the groundwater resource have been evaluated. Thus ,the paper provides the important references for managers to using groundwater reasonable.


During the crisis, the ECB has implemented a set of non-standard measures to address such concerns. We consider that these measures have been successful in ensuring that monetary policy remains effective. Another important factor throughout the crisis has been the firm anchoring of inflation expectations, which strengthened our stance against deflationary pressures in the worst part of the crisis. Such an anchoring is the result of all the decisions, each one of them, taken during the first decade of the euro. Overall, we believe that our ability to maintain price stability remains unimpaired.


In this paper, we present the Pat Clust clustering solution for textual documents based on semantic criteria. Our proposition is dedicated to patent documents of the biomedical domain. We present three different approaches and we show that semantic web techniques clearly allow to improve the quality of resulting clusters.


The first objective was to investigate the injury profiles of South African cyclists, especially those relating to mountain bicycle use on the road, as there appears to be no knowledge available on mountain bicycle use on the road and related injuries. Secondly, to see if there is an association between injuries and bicycle set-up in a South African context.


ecently, there has been an increasing interest in the development of pedestrian oriented planning models to ensure the sustainability of our cities as well as our transportation system. However, unlike vehicle data, pedestrian data is not always readily available through infrastructure sensors that are deployed throughout the highway network. Transportation agencies are looking for ways of collecting continuous and reliable pedestrian data that can be used to develop pedestrian oriented models. However, manual pedestrian data collection can be quite expensive and given the meager resources of many agencies this might pose a major challenge. Low-cost methods for collecting bicycle and pedestrian trafficdata will thus be a critical component in developing and calibrating models that include nonmotorized travel (1). Emerging sensor technologies provide new opportunities for gathering such datafor project-level use, for instance, pedestrian or bicycle data for a planning or improvement project of a trail, a street, or an intersection. However, the accuracy of the sensor data still needs careful consideration. This paper focuses on the development of a statistically robust procedure to correct the raw sensor counts obtained from an infrared sensor. Field data collection efforts as well as a brief discussion of the collected data are presented next. Then, statistical models based on the relationship between the arrival patterns of pedestrians and total flows are presented. Then, results of tests to show the validity of the developed models are presented. The paper is concluded by discussing our major findings and their implications on long-term pedestrian data collection.


Background: Patients with NHL who are treated with rituximab may develop resistant-disease, often associated with changes in expression of CD20. The next generation  -particle emitting radioimmunoconjugate 177 Lu-lilotomab-satetraxetan (Betalutin ® ) was shown to up-regulate CD20 expression in different rituximab-sensitive NHL cell lines and to act synergistically with rituximab in a rituximab-sensitive NHL animal model. We hypothesized that 177 Lu-lilotomab-satetraxetan may be used to reverse rituximab-resistance in NHL. Methods: The rituximab-resistant Raji2R and the parental Raji cell lines were used. CD20 expression was measured by flow cytometry. ADCC was measured by a bioluminescence reporter assay. The efficacies of combined treatments with 177 Lu-lilotomab-satetraxetan (150MBq/kg or 350MBq/kg) and rituximab (4×10mg/kg) were compared with those of single agents or saline in a Raji2R-xenograft model. Cox-regression and the Bliss independence model were used to assess synergism. 36±5% of that the rituximab-sensitive Raji cells. cells increased the binding to 53±3% the parental cell 20±2% in Raji 30±3% Raji of censored animals and the poor Proportional-Hazards assumption in the Cox model (p=0.048).


The feeling of commiseration belongs to all men; so does that of shame and dislike; and that of reverence and respect; and that of approving and disapproving. The feeling of commiseration implies the principle of benevolence; that of shame· and dislike, the principle of propriety; and that of approving and disapproving, the principle of knowledge. Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge are not infused into us from without. We are certainly furnished with them ... Hence it is said, "Seek and you will find them. Neglect and you will lose them." Men differ from one another in regard to them; — some as much again as others, some five times as much, and some to an incalculable amount it is because they cannot carry out fully their natural powers.


Astronomer Duncan Steel provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to the serious science behind these predictions. Steel is a world authority on the comet hazard and member of the NASA team set up to study the problem. Here he describes all the latest findings, surveys the fascinating evidence of past impacts, and describes the bold plans proposed to divert an incoming "death star" before it strikes.


Balise uplink signal IQ (I: Inphase; Q: Quadrature) acquisition is an important basis for signal demodulation and uplink signal parameter estimation. Relying on traditional acquisition methods, it is difficult to achieve the requirements of automation, accuracy and real-time online analysis. In order to solve the problems existing in the traditional collection method and improve the collection efficiency of IQ signal. Based on LabVIEW as the development platform, the PXI (PCI extensions for instrumentation) system of NI is used to build a small balise test bench. Combined with the Hilbert transform principle and the characteristics of the uplink signal IQ, the uplink signal IQ acquisition system is designed. Through the actual project debugging of LabVIEW acquisition system, combined with the online analysis of the collected data, the results show that the uplink signal IQ acquisition system based on LabVIEW can effectively solve the problems existing in the traditional acquisition method and can expand the acquisition program according to the actual data processing requirements.


And the probe card 321 is electrically a plurality of test head (32a ~ 32d) connected to, and a semiconductor wafer (W) held available wafer tray (2), the semiconductor wafer (W) held in a wafer tray (2) relatively positioning the wafer tray (2), a probe card 321, an alignment device (5) provided with a wafer tray (2) is a wafer tray (2) which faces the respect to the probe card 321 having a pressure mechanism to pull the probe card 321, an alignment device (5) is enabled to move along the direction of arrangement of the test head (32a ~ 32d).


Women re-entering abusive relationships is an increasingly important issue. This study investigated female college students' attitudes on why women re-enter abusive relationships in hopes to gain a further understanding of possible reasons. It was hypothesized that the given variables: Lack of education, financial independence, abuse history, unrealistic optimism, remorse factor, and emotional attachment, would play a factor in whether or not one would return. Findings supported the hypothesis that the variables utilized were felt to be factors in women re-enter, except for optimistic bias. Implications for practitioners and for future researchers are that awareness needs to be focused more on this optimistic bias, encouraging women more directly by teaching them self awareness. Introduction According to Hilbert and Hilbert (1984) and Strube (1998), an estimated half of women who have been involved in an abusive relationship will at some point return to the batterer (as cited in Martin, Berenson, Griffing, Sage, Madry, Bingham, & Primm, 2000). Because of the physical and emotional risks involved in such relationships, it is important to study various factors to gain further insight into the reasons why women return to these abusive relationships. For the purpose of this study, abuse refers to misusing power and or injuring oneself or another (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2000). A piece to the puzzle does not fit. To escape only to reenter leaves reasons to believe hidden variables reside within the given relationship and or within the abused victim. What are these variables and if identified, could the number of those who reenter abusive relationships decrease? Understanding reasons for returning could have a significant impact on breaking the cycle abused women often fall into. Variables that will be investigated include Optimistic Bias, underestimating the reality of risk (Martin et al., 2000); the Remorse Factor, returning out of guilt (Griffing, Ragin, Sage, Madry, Bingham, & Primm, 2002); and Emotional Attachment, which implies an affectionate regard for another person through personal ties (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2000). The literature regarding women who encountered relational situations where the choice of leaving and or staying had been provoked through abuse was examine. To gain a better understanding of possible reasons as to why women chose to stay or to leave, we surveyed the attitudes of female college students at a small Midwestern university. Literature Review In researching reasons as to why women enter and or re-enter abusive relationships, it is important to evaluate past studies. In examining this topic, there appears to be a gap from 1987 to 2000. There are many studies on women who stay, but not many studies have been done Female Students' Attitudes on Re-entering Abusive Relationships regarding women who leave and return. Society often depicts women who re-enter an abusive relationship as those who have a low self-esteem or low self-confidence. This is not always the case. Many hidden variables lie within the reasons women chose to or not to reunite with their batterer (Schutte, Malouff & Doyle, 1987; Martin et al., 2000; Griffing et al., 2002; Griffing et al., 2005). A study conducted by Schutte et al. (1987) researched 117 women in an abusive shelter in Colorado. This study investigated the history of women and whether or not their history had an impact on the choice of leaving or staying. Did pre-victimization affect women's choices? Surprisingly, the results showed women who were physically or sexually abused as children were less likely to return to an abusive relationship. A history of victimization did carry some leverage in depicting whether or not a woman returned to her abuser, however, this process was seen to have taken place over a long period of time creating what appears to be a cycle of leaving, entering into a shelter, and returning to the batterer. Education reflected a large advantage for women seeking an outlet from the abuse. The study showed that women who were educated were less likely to re-enter into the relationship. This supports findings that women in careers have fewer financial ties to the batterer, resulting in a less stressful situation. Martin et al. (2000) conducted a study to try to understand risk assessment and decisioncertainty within 70 female domestic violence victims. The researchers discovered that abused women who reflected high levels of certainty also showed greater levels of what was called optimistic bias. Simplistically, women who were sure they would not go back were at a higher risk of returning. Women were seen as underestimating the reality of their risk, indicating there was a need for increased self awareness. This underestimating of obstacles played a factor in the decision process of leaving. However, there was some relation between prior separations and ultimately remaining outside of the relationship. Possibly, this cycle of leaving only to return allows a woman to slowly over time regain self sufficiency helping to sever the ties permanently. Griffing et al. (2002) examined external and internal stress factors that could impact a woman's choice of leaving and or re-entering abusive relationships. The study took place at an urban retreat consisting of 90 African American and Latina young female residents. Reasons for returning in the past and the thought of doing so again were examined. They found that emotional attachment and the remorse factor for the batterer caused an increased probability of returning. Women may feel as if the abuser has been punished enough with her leaving and return out of guilt. Again this reflected the risk factor that many women were not aware of their own optimistic biases. Financial needs were also a top for reason for why women returned, which was often combined with emotional guilt creating a situation tying both internal and external aspects together in the decision-making process. Griffing et al. (2005) also studied the impact of women's past history. study dealt with the increased risk that women who have previously been victimized have in entering or returning to abusive relationships. Again, African American and Latina women were studied. Sixty-six percent had separated from and returned at least one time. The study suggests that women who have been a victim in earlier years may have a more difficult time separating from an abusive relationship due to vulnerability aspects and self-esteem. These women are at a greater risk of returning than those who have not been abused as a child. However, this cycle could possibly be a necessary step in eventually separating completely from the batterer. Among the literature reviewed, there were three major factors questioned: Does past experience play a part in the cycle of abuse? Are women caught in self biasness and therefore not aware of the eluding possibility that they are at risk for returning? And, how much impact does Female Students' Attitudes on Re-entering Abusive Relationships guilt play into women putting the batterer above there own self worth? From the studies presented, many insightful discoveries were made in understanding possible reasons this cycle of entering, leaving and re-entering take place. However, in order to subdue this violence, one must anticipate those at risk before the cycle begins. College students were researched to try to help fill a gap in research in discovering whether or not knowledge and awareness removes the risk of women re-entering into abusive relationships. Theoretical Framework The theory used in this study is the Social Learning Theory (Strong, Devault, & Cohen, 2005). It was developed by Julian Rotter and Albert Bandura, among other psychologists who highlighted the role of cognition in learning. This theory emphasizes the importance modeling has on children and how behavior learned through this process can affect one's interactions. These interactions are in relationship to culture, society, family, and the natural inner qualities of a given entity. This theory suggests that influence from parents holds much weight in establishing self expectations. As applied to our study, this theory predicts that a given individual's past experiences (learned behavior through modeling) in culture, society, family, and the natural characteristics an individual holds, will determine the choice(s) in entering and or re-entering into abusive relationships. Purpose Statement The purpose of this study is to examine the research question: "What are the attitudes of female college students regarding reasons as to why women re-enter into abusive relationships." It is hypothesized that the given variables will determine the reasons why women re-enter into an abusive relationships: Education, financial situation, past abuse history, optimistic bias (unrealistic optimism), remorse factor, and emotional attachment (Strong et al., 2005). Methods Participants The site of this study was at a Midwestern university. Participants were 51 female students and one person who declined a gender label. There were five participants within the freshman category, 13 sophomores, 12 juniors, 19 seniors, and three graduate students. Of these 52 students, 32 ranged in age from 18-21, 15 were 22-25, and 5 were over 25. Research Design The survey design type used is best described as a cross-sectional study design in that we captured attitudes from a cross section of the population at one point in time. The form of data collection was self-administered questionnaires. This method was most fitting in that it was the most efficient way to gather the data directly on campus since the data collection needed to be fast paced, convenient, low cost, and have a quick return due to the time constraints of the class. The population was the university student population; our sample was female students randomly selected through the quota


This is an important book. In many respects it represents part of what could be called a 'third wave' in green political theorising. The first wave included those who in the late 1980s/early 1990s began to sketch out the contours of green political theory, authors such as Andy Dobson, John Dryzek, Ted Benton, Avner de-Shalit, Robert Goodin, Robyn Eckersley, Bob Paehlke, Joel Kassiola and Tim Luke. The second wave of theorising in the 1990s was concerned with both continuing the development of green theory but also 'bridging' green political theory and mainstream political themes such as democracy, justice, liberalism, gender/feminism and so on, as seen in the proliferation of edited volumes on these topics. A 'third wave' emerged in the late 1990s marked, in part, by a focus on a historical re-reading or green re-interpretation of the western political canon. John Meyer's 2001 Political Nature (which explored 'derivative' and 'dualist' interpretations of the relationship between society and nature in the history of western political thought) or green readings of, inter alia, Mill, Marx, Darwin, and the US pragmatists are representative of this third wave. Andrew Biro's book Denaturalizing Ecological Politics shares this third wave concern with 'going back to go forward' in terms of developing green politics, and is an admirable example of the fine scholarship now representative of green political theorising. The central tenet of the book is to explore the dynamics, causes and political implications of the uniqueness of the 'human condition' in being both apart from and a part of nature. This ineliminable condition of human alienation from nature is the common thread in the four authors Biro examines – Rousseau, Marx, Adorno and Marcuse – and one which he rightly sees as a constitutive (and not unproblematic) aspect of green politics. Working from the starting point that what is needed is a way of thinking about nature which preserves the emancipatory dynamics of green politics, Biro posits a green politics and human/ nature relationship which neither simplistically 'reads off' political relations from nature, nor endorses an equally problematic nature-sceptical position (8–9), an issue Biro rightly sees as particularly acute in Marxist and postmodern perspectives. At stake here is the very notion of what is and what is not Environmental Politics, Vol. 16, No. 4, 688 – 719, August 2007


Kumukuli Basin was situated between Qimantage Mountain and East Kunlun Aerojin Mountain.It was a Tertiary deposional basin with thickness about 7000m,it was a delta basin with the widest position about 255km and covered with a total area of 1.6×104km2.The Tertiary oil geologic condition was initially evaluated from the aspects of the basin structures,depositional facies,source rocks,reservoir and cap-rock conditions.Oil-bearing prospects of the basin were essentially evaluated.Results of the study show that hydrocarbon accumulation positions are on both sides of the central uplift belt,the next is on the north and south of megasyncline.On the basis of the importance of oil and gas enrichment,its oil-bearing prospective areas are divided into 3 zones,such as the northern oil and gas accumulation zone,the southern accumulation zone and Xiantuliang accumulation zone.


The EC Treaty obliges Community and (both functionally and geographically decentralized) national authorities to consult the ECB before adopting any legislation in its fields of competence. Failure to consult the ECB can render any disputed rules void. This paper explores the relevant primary and secondary law, while taking into consideration the proposal for a European Constitution as well as the extension of the Lamfalussy legislative process from the securities to i.a. the banking and insurance sectors. The resulting assessment leads to recommendations improving compliance with this duty, especially by Member States. In addition, innovative ideas are put forward, such as a suggestion to apply the acte eclaire and acte claire doctrines developed by the Court of Justice concerning preliminary rulings, to the duty to consult the ECB.


John Roemer's recent book, Theories of Distributive Justice, is a major contribution to the debate over egalitarian theories of justice. In this review essay I confine myself to two of the central issues in this debate: his criticism of the current varieties of egalitarianism and his discussion of the critical role of responsibility in contemporary egalitarian theory.


ABSTRACT Although the knowledge about the Tanzanian reptiles and amphibians has drastically increased in recent years, the knowledge on the amphibian and reptile fauna of the remaining forest reserves of the Uluguru Mountains (UMs) is only partially known. Amphibians and reptiles were studied in 17 forest reserves and sampled using diurnal and nocturnal time-constrained visual encounter surveys, acoustic surveys and opportunistic searches. A total of 51 quadrats of 25 × 25 m were randomly established on the forest floor, totalling 459 person-hours of sampling effort. Overall, 54 herpetofauna species (27 amphibian and 27 reptile species) were recorded from the area, including two anurans and seven reptile species, which are new records for the region. The estimated Chao1 species richness for the study region was 51 for amphibians and 76 for reptiles. Amphibian and reptile species composition did not differ significantly across the forest reserves, but similarities in species composition of different levels were evident across the reserves. For both communities, α-diversity and relative abundance did not vary significantly across the reserves. Based on multiple regression analyses, leaf-litter anuran species richness was positively influenced by percentage canopy cover, whereas abundance was negatively influenced by total fragment size. Partial correlations showed that variation in leaf-litter anuran abundance was explained by relative humidity, percentage canopy cover and soil moisture, while controlling for altitude. Percentage canopy cover was also the best predictor of species richness of leaf-litter anurans. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of protecting the UMs forest reserves for herpetofauna conservation.


It is demonstrated that optically gain switched GaAs vertical lasers (VSELs) with short cavity lengths can generate pulses as short as 4 ps, with delays as short as 20 ps. A model of the large-signal response of VSELs to short optical input pulses is presented. The results demonstrate that the critical parameter of determining VSEL response time is the cavity length. A numerical solution to the rate equations is used to calculate the output pulsewidth and delay, given a specific cavity design and set of input conditions. Calculated results are compared to experimental data. Output pulse dependencies on input pulsewidth and power are examined for different cavity designs. The results of the calculations are used to generate design curves for future devices. >


C K Stead gathers a selection of his essays from the past decade, mixing literary criticism with autobiography. He reviews the work of other writers, meditates on the teaching of literature, revisits some controversies and explores literary history.


Abstract : Stress fractures result from repetitive loading and have been regarded as a mechanical fatigue-driven process. However, data suggests that increased remodeling precedes the occurrence of bone microdamage and stress fractures, suggesting a central role for increased intracortical remodeling in the pathogenesis of stress fractures. Our ongoing experiments test the hypothesis by pharmacological inhibition of bone remodeling will slow the subsequent accumulation of microdamage, diminishing the severity of the stress fracture. We are using a bisphosphonate (BP) in the rabbit tibial stress fracture model, to test the hypothesis that reactive remodeling within the cortex drives the development of stress fractures. Ongoing studies suggest that BP antiresorptive therapy reduces the intensity of the stress fracture response, as indicated by technetium bone scans. This effect was most pronounced with short-term loading (3 weeks), with (99) technetium uptake in BP treated animals reduced approximately 25 percent from control levels; this effect was diminished by 6 weeks of loading. Reduction of bone 99technetium uptake at 3 weeks in drug-treated animals is consistent with suppression of the acute activation of new intracortical resorption foci by bisphosphonates. The implication of this suppression of the later accumulation of bone microcracks, and the evolution of final stress fracture, are unknown.


We developed a new optical detection method for defects in multilayered optical devices. An optical detection is achieved by sensing the scattering twinkle points of guided light in a multilayered optical device and by analyzing the scattering properties of the twinkle points. We found a difference in scattering property between defective points and nondefective points, and developed a check system for the scattering direction from a scattering twinkle point. By this optical defect detection method, we realize a decrease in defect detection error.


Launched in 2012 the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3) is USAID's flagship social and behavior change communication (SBCC) project. HC3 is designed to build up local capacity to implement programs; bolster the body of evidence for SBCC interventions; and provide technical leadership for SBCC practitioners worldwide. Led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) HC3 is implemented in collaboration with Management Sciences for Health (MSH) NetHope Population Services International (PSI) Ogilvy PR and Internews. Informed by the Global Health Initiative (GHI) and USAID Forward agendas the project seeks to increase the impact and sustainability of USAID-supported SBCC through: (IR1) Increased capacity of indigenous organizations to design implement manage and evaluate evidence-based health communication interventions; and (IR2) Establishment of proven systems for continued development of new and current indigenous implementers. An evaluation team was tasked to conduct a midterm evaluation of the HC3 project. The purpose was three-fold: (1) review analyze and evaluate how well HC3's activities performed against project objectives as described in the Request for Applications (RFA) and the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP); (2) evaluate HC3's success in building the capacity of developing country individuals and institutions to design implement and evaluate high-quality SBCC through resources such as HealthCOMpass Springboard and Implementation Kits; and (3) review analyze and evaluate the performance of HC3 country programs in Cote d'Ivoire Nigeria and Guatemala. It should be noted that the evaluation focused on higher-level project objectives for capacity strengthening (CS) research and knowledge management; it did not assess the effectiveness of health-specific activities such as the large core-funded portfolios pertaining to family planning and reproductive health HIV / AIDS malaria and Ebola virus disease. (Excerpt)


Retraction: "Dexmedetomidine alleviates neuropathic pain by regulating JAK/STAT pathway in rats," by Shining Xun, Rongzhi Zheng, J Cell Biochem. 2020; 2277‐2283: The above article, published online on 31 October 2019 in Wiley Online Library (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jcb.29450), has been retracted by agreement between the the journal's Editor in Chief, Prof. Dr. Christian Behl, and Wiley Periodicals LLC.


College English is a subject which requires a lot of practice.The development and improvement of students' language ability can only be achieved through the practice of themselves.This paper,based on SLA theories and the current situation of college English teaching,explores the necessity of creating English language environment,the operating principles and the specific means.


This paper is devoted to the investigation of the synchronous enhancements of the solar source fluxes according to the RATAN-600 Southern Sector observations at the 1.92 cm, 2.24 cm, 2.74 cm, and 3.21 cm radio waves. The observations were carried out on 11.09.01 from 8:30 UT to 10:30 UT every 8 min. We use the term "synchronous bursts" or "synchronous brightenings" instead of the "sympathetic bursts" as the time resolution of the RATAN - 600 is not high. The solar source brightenings are synchronous if they are registered in 2 - 2.5 min time lag, i.e. in the time interval of passage of the Sun through the central part of the main lobe of the antenna power pattern. The high flux sensitivity of the radio telescope - radiometer system was 0.005 s.f.u. The solar sources were identified with the active regions: AR 9610, AR 9608, AR 9606, AR 9616, AR 9617, which widely separated from each other (up to $10^{6}$ km). According to our observations, the synchronous enhancements were observed at the moments of the soft X ray brightenings and X ray bursts (Figure 1a). The temporal variations of the relative fluxes of the solar sources $F/F_{0}$ were compared to the $X$-ray (GOES 8,10; $H_{\alpha}$ - flares and to the radio bursts at 9100 MHz, $F_{0}$ - the radio emission flux from the "quiet" Sun, $F$ - the radio emission flux from the solar source). It turned out that the interrelationships of the active regions AR 9610, AR 9608, AR 9606 were the most interesting. It was registered 4 synchronous brightenings of solar sources AR 9610, AR 9608 at the moment of the observations: 8:38 UT, 9:02 UT, 9:50 UT, 10:30 UT. We recorded synchronous brightenings of solar sources at 1.92 cm, 2.24 cm, 2.74 cm, and 3.21 cm radio waves: at $\lambda=2.24 cm$ – $\Delta(F)=(0.24 \div 0.88)$ s.f.u. and at $\lambda=3.21$ cm – $\Delta(F)=(0.21 \div 0.94)$ s.f.u. The detailed halo solar source is the magnetosphere, which was identified with all extensive AR 9608 region excepting the primary the most strong solar source of the active region radio emission. The angular size of halo is closed to the angular size of AR 9608 ($7.7 \arcmin$). The comparison of the brightening onset of the AR 9610, AR 9608 interacting active regions in the time interval (9:26 - 9:58 UT) and the discovered forestalling of the halo flux quick intensification at $\lambda=2.24$ cm and $\lambda=3.21$ cm pointed to the active process start in the AR 9608 solar source at $\lambda=3.21$ cm. As it was shown, the dynamics of the time intensity variation of solar sources at $\lambda=3.21$ cm, $\lambda$=2.74 cm is more complicated. It is demonstrated by against of the synchronous of the moments of the AR 9610 relative flux maxima with the $\lambda$ increase (Figure 1b).To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html


Magnetic polystyrene microspheres were prepared via microsuspension polymerization by using Fe3O4 nanoparticles as magnetic carrier and styrene as monomer.The interaction of the magnetic microspheres with bovine serum albumin(BSA) was studied by means of fluorescence spectrometry and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry.Results show that the interaction of the magnetic microspheres with BSA is quenched by a static quenching mechanism.


One day this spring, a psychiatrist named Dorothy Lewis got a call from her friend Betty, who works in New York City. Betty had just seen a Broadway play called "Frozen," written by the British playwright Bryony Lavery. "She said, 'Somehow it reminded me of you. You really ought to see it,'" Lewis recalled. Lewis asked Betty what the play was about, and Betty said that one of the characters was a psychiatrist who studied serial killers. "And I told her, 'I need to see that as much as I need to go to the moon.'"


Orbital angular momentum (OAM) is a special method to overcome interference and enhance the channel capacity of wireless communication. The feasibility of creating reliable communications links impervious to threats and external attacks by exploiting light (OAM) has already been recognized. The channel capacity of the near-end and far-end user for OAM based transmission is improved with the use of SWIPT protocol. In this paper, a method considering simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) protocol with OAM is proposed for secure and reliable communication in the military area. The performance result shows that the diversity achieved by the method is secured and reliable as expected.


and Interest of Great Britain, with Respect to Malta (1805), A Summary Account of Leibnitz's Memoir (1803); Elinor S. Shaffer, "Infernal Dreams' and Romantic Art Criticism: Coleridge on the Campo Santo, Pisa," The Wordsworth Circle 20 (1989) 9-19; Donald Sultana "Coleridge, Ste phen Decatur and the Mysterious Duellist in Malta," Modern Language Review 89 (1994) 282-8, Coleridge in Malta and Italy (1969), "Coleridge's Political Papers in Malta," New Approaches to Coleridge: Biographical and Crit ical Essays, ed. Donald Sultana (1981) 212-40; Sir Trav ers Twiss, Leibnitz's Memoir upon Egypt (1883); Edorado Zuccato, Coleridge in Italy (1996).


This study explores the constraints on women entrepreneurs running SMEs in conflict zones. The research is carried out in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), a conflict affected province in Pakistan close to the border of Afghanistan. The findings reveal that women in the region are in a complex family situation exacerbated by terrorism, which has created stress, depression and fear of failure. Better understanding of their circumstances may aid those seeking to help such businesses in Pakistan and other regions beset by conflict.


The present invention is a non-reference illumination symmetry and Evaluation fusion global illumination light intensity. First, the face is divided into left and right halves symmetrical, the symmetry of the quality matrix to obtain light with luminance index calculation LQI, Using the method of weighted correlation values obtained symmetrical illumination. Then, according to the human eye is proposed to determine the gray scale of the human eye sensitivity to excitation pixel grayscale range, whereby the pixel count is within the range of the entire image representing the proportion of total pixels, defining the global illumination which is a human face image strength, its value as a weight. Finally, in a manner fusion product of the global illumination symmetry and the light intensity obtained face image quality value-free reference light. The results show that: the present invention is capable of effectively and quickly without reference face illumination evaluation method of low complexity, faster calculation time for the face recognition system effective screening.


In this article,the related theories on the channels and effect factors of technological diffusion via FDI are reviewed,the restrictive factors of technological diffusion via FDI are indicated on the viewpoints of behavior entities of technological diffusion including suppliy,demend and middle entities.Then combined with the analysis to the industry chain of optic communications industry in Wuhan,the countermeasures to promote technological diffusion via FDI,develop the hi-tech industry in Hubei province are given.


The present invention relates to a method of modulating apoptosis of a granulosa cell. The method includes one or more of the following steps: (i) modulating the concentration and/or activity of BMP-15 and/or BMP-6 that the granulosa cell is exposed to; (ii) modulating activity of a BMP-15 dependent signalling pathway in the granulosa cell; and (iii) modulating activity of a BMP-6 dependent signalling pathway in a granulosa cell.


The reform on new curriculum for senior high schools was fully implemented in September,2010.Survey is carried out on the current implementation of new curriculum for senior high schools in Bijie,the experimental area,from the perspectives including attitude toward new curriculum,adaptability,the understanding of the new textbooks,application of the course resources,teachers' concept of teaching,learning method,learning attitude,course evaluation,and the new course training,etc.Finally,analysis is made on the survey so as to provide reference for successful implementation of new curriculum for senior high schools in Guizhou Province,especially in Bijie.


Climate change is due to anthropogenic (95%) and natural (5%) causes, and just like
deforestation, it`s one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. In this research, the
potential distribution of 22 dung beetles species as bioindicators was studied, eight of
these (Canthon aequinoctialis, Deltochilum amazonicum, Dichotomius podalirius,
Dichotomius problematicus, Eurysternus caribaeus, Eurysternus cayennensis, Eurysternus
foedus, Ontherus diabolicus) present a reduction, to the point that they could become
extinct in Sucumbios province under RCP6.0 scenario (Representative Concentration
Pathways 6.0 Wm-2) by the year 2050. All the models are highly significant (p <0.01)
with AUC (Area Under a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve) greater
than 0.9, indicating that predictions were better than those obtained at random.
Environmental variables with the greatest contribution in the models were
precipitation of colder quarter (bio19) and precipitation of driest month (bio14). 3751
individuals belonging to 65 species were captured, representing 23% of the species
reported for the country. The analysis of variance showed that the richness and
abundance don`t show significant differences between altitudinal strata, and the
Kruskal-Wallis determined that there are significant differences in the richness and
abundance between different habitats and lures. By using Chao1, the species
accumulation curves were highly representative for the altitudinal strata (> 82%).
Possible solutions that would improve their adaptability to the effects of climate
change are: protected areas network, biological corridors, agroforestry systems and
ecosystem approach.


A large number of systems with a great predictive capacity, such as Deep Learning, are being currently used to solve a wide variety of real problems. However, the models obtained are not easy to understand by scientists, giving rise to the field of eXplainable Artificial Intelligence, which encourage techniques that obtain accurate and understandable models. Fuzzy Association Rules are models that can be understood by themselves, but its interpretability can be improved by representing the same information with fewer and simpler rules. In this work, we propose Meta-Fuzzy Items, which allows to define more generic fuzzy items to represent the same information with fewer rules, and to extend the type of associations that can be represented. Based on this proposal, a new fuzzy data-mining algorithm is presented to extract interesting and interpretable rules from quantitative transactions. The quality of our approach is analyzed using statistical analysis and comparing with a well-known fuzzy data-mining algorithm.


The virus SARS-CoV2 was identified in late 2019. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still a threat to global health and safety. Deep Learning (DL) is anticipated to be the most excellent strategy for reliably predicting COVID-19. Convolutional Neural Networks(CNNs) have achieved successful outcomes particularly in categorization and analyzing of medical image data. This work proposes a Deep CNN(DCNN) method for the classification of CX-R(Chest X-Ray) images in prediction of COVID-19. The dataset is preprocessed under many phases with different techniques for creating effective training dataset for the DCNN model to achieve best performance. This is done to deal various complexities like availability of very small sized imbalanced dataset with quality issues. In the first instance, model is trained using the train dataset. Then the model is tested for a separate validate X-ray image dataset and Confusion matrix is displayed. Up to 98.3% Accuracy is obtained, when proposed model was tested using the validate dataset. The Accuracy and Loss graph is plotted for the same. Later, random image prediction is made from prediction dataset which include both COVID and Normal X-rays. Other important performance metrics like F1 score, Recall, Precision for the model is displayed.


As folklorists know, one way to gain understanding of a group is through the folklore they produce. In this essay, folklorists are the group, and the hoaxes perpetrated by and on them, or the lack of such hoaxes, offer some insight into the culture of folklore studies. Looking at a series of alleged hoaxes, including the Tasaday tribe, MacPhearson's Ossian, and Leland's Aradia, the essay probes folklorists' desire to believe and disbelieve. Folklorists have historically proven difficult to hoax, to intentionally deceive, but that disciplinary skepticism may come with a cost.


In this study, compressed sensing concepts are applied to multi-view video coding. Existing work from single view video is utilized to develop efficient GOP patterns and reference framing for stereo coding. It has been observed that the most typical choice of pattern improved the characteristics 0.4 dB with respect to the model that do not benefit from interview sparsity for all frames. Alternatives for future work are proposed.


Mittel- and Osteuropa form a geographic region and also a historical and cultural construct. This area consists of several countries that were part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Their predominant Catholic religion represented a criterion of unity.The Catholic character of this region justifies the interest which the Holy See had in the majority of these countries that became, after 1945, satellite states of the Soviet Union. The regimes shaped by the ideology of communism fought against the spiritual supremacy of Rome, control religious life and thus limit the denominational freedoms.The Holy See reacted to these anticlerical policies and to the rigid control over religious spheres by developing counter-strategies. In this respect, Austria has played an important role in conception of the foreign and church policies of the Vatican. It still had numerous contacts in the countries of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which had ended not such a long time ago. Vienna had a leading role in Central Europe. Austria's numerous cultural and linguistic experiences in Central Europe represented a treasure to Papal Rome intending to use Vienna as a door opener towards Mittel- Osteuropa .Pope Pius XII spoke of Austria's historic mission, which was considered the flagship Catholic country against the "atheist" and "Marxist ocean". Despite this identity of interests, relations between Austria and the Vatican were not free of tensions, particularly due to the controversy of entry into force of the Concordat of 1933. The question of marriage was another disturbing factor, since the post-war Austrian society was already more secularized than the interwar period society.Austria took specific advantages of the neutrality, which it had acquired in exchange for the regained sovereignty as an obligation. The "active neutrality" allowed an Ostpolitik in which the Catholic Church occupied an important place, which became clear by the examples of the journey of a theologian at the University of Graz in the Soviet Union in 1955, much later by the visits of Cardinal Franz Konig at the episcopates behind the Iron Curtain, but also by the creation of the Pro-Oriente Foundation in 1964.The Cold War was primarily an ideological system conflict between two very different social, political and economic camps, capitalism or liberalism on the one hand and communism or socialism on the other. In addition, there was the ideological conflict between Roman Catholicism and the atheistic Marxism - two completely opposite doctrines. The Holy See became a actor in the Cold War. Pius XII advocated the view that "Communism is intrinsically wrong, and no one may collaborate with it in any undertaking whatsoever". Nevertheless, there were inevitably relations between the Communists and the Catholic Church in the countries behind the "Iron Curtain".The Roman Curia was not unanimously against a dialogue with the Communists either. Apart from a doctrinal intransigence there were prelates who had the opinion that not all doors of dialogue should be closed. The post-war years also reflect a renewal period of Christian thought on a philosophical, theological and social level. These opening trends, - signs of a future "religious spring" -, however, encountered the resistance and the dogmatic rigidity of the Papal Curia under Pope Pius XII.The Austrian ambassadors' reports to the Holy See from 1946 to 1958/61 provide valuable information about the major themes of the East-West conflict, that concerned, on the one hand, the relations between the Holy See and Austria, and on the other hand the Vatican and its relationship with Mittelosteuropa. The analysis and presentation of the reports form the basis of this work and examine the view of the Vatican not only on Austria but also on Mittelosteuropa during this politically highly tense period. The arrival of John XXIII as Pope in 1958 opens a new chapter of the Church in the Cold War. The Holy See turned into an a


Abstract The main objective of the paper is to understand how the model's efficiency and the selected climatic indicators are related. The hydrological model applied in this study is a conceptual rainfall-runoff model (the TUW model), which was developed at the Vienna University of Technology. This model was calibrated over three different periods between 1981-2010 in three groups of Austrian catchments (snow, runoff, and soil catchments), which represent a wide range of the hydroclimatic conditions of Austria. The model's calibration was performed using a differential evolution algorithm (Deoptim). As an objective function, we used a combination of the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient (NSE) and the logarithmic Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient (logNSE). The model's efficiency was evaluated by Volume error (VE). Subsequently, we evaluated the relationship between the model's efficiency (VE) and changes in the climatic indicators (precipitation ΔP, air temperature ΔT). The implications of findings are discussed in the conclusion.


With fresh cut grass carp flakes as experiment materials, the goal was to study the growth of Brochothrix thermosphacta in the fresh cut grass carp flakes under different storage conditions and to establish the kinetic model of the B. thermosphacta growth. The result showed that the gompertz equation can be used to describe the growth dynamics of B. thermosphacta under different temperatures. The secondary model of B. thermosphacta growth was developed by square root model. The temperature showed a good linear relationship with Umax(maximum specific growth rate)and LPD(Lag phase), the results of statistical analysis showed that the secondary model was especially significant.


ABSTRACT Constant changes during the seed maturation process affect its final quality and the post-harvest fruit resting, which can improve seed physiological quality. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the physiological and enzymatic activities of eggplant seeds extracted from fruits harvested at different ages and resting periods after harvest. Fruits were harvested presenting different colors at 40, 50, 60, and 70 days after anthesis (DAA) and rested for 0 (freshly harvested fruits), 10, and 20 days. The experimental design was set as completely randomized, with four replications and evaluated seeds extracted from six fruits per plot. The resting periods in eggplant fruits harvested at less than 60 DAA improved the mass of 1000 seeds, germination, vigor, and protein content. Seeds with higher germination and vigor presented lower dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POX) enzymatic activity. The results indicated that the ideal moment of eggplant harvest for seed production is when the fruit reaches the yellowish-brown color corresponding to about 60 DAA; however, if the eggplant fruit is harvested earlier (40 or 50 DAA), it has to rest for about 10 to 20 days to achieve high physiological quality (germination and vigor).


Electrically conductive Ag thin films were successfully formed onto optically transparent polyimide films via all-wet chemical process. The process involves alkaline-induced surface modification of polyimide films, subsequent incorporation of Ag+ ions through ion exchange reaction followed by reduction of incorporated Ag+ ions. Initial alkaline treatment time determines thickness (depth) of surface-modified layer and amount of Ag+ ions loading consequently. Higher Ag+ ions loading result in forming electrically conductive Ag thin films and its granular interfacial structure. Cu electroplating is able to be conducted on the resulting Ag thin films directly, and adhesive strength between the Cu(/Ag) film and transparent polyimide substrate reached up to 2 kN m−1.


'Everyone Playing in Class' is an unstructured free play based provision for small classes or groups. The intervention involves training staff in attachment theory, presenting up-to-date research findings on the role of play in emotional well-being and relationship building, as well as teaching reflective communication skills. In this article Alison Woolf, who is a Member of British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT), describes how these weekly class play sessions can provide experiences that are beneficial for staff and for pupils. The essential elements that create the therapeutic intervention are described and explored, and set in context through their relationship to SEAL. The ethical considerations of school staff providing therapeutic opportunities are considered. Results of pre- and post-intervention assessments are given, and the responses of staff and pupils to the sessions are summarised. Results show improvements for pupils in the areas of self-esteem and of social development. Most significantly the results demonstrate an increase in the staff's ability to understand and respond to the children in their class.


We show that a very simple randomised algorithm for numerical integration can produce a near optimal rate of convergence for integrals of functions in the $d$-dimensional weighted Korobov space. This algorithm uses a lattice rule with a fixed generating vector and the only random element is the choice of the number of function evaluations. For a given computational budget $n$ of a maximum allowed number of function evaluations, we uniformly pick a prime $p$ in the range $n/2<p \le n$. We show error bounds for the randomised error, which is defined as the worst case expected error, of the form $O(n^{-\alpha - 1/2 + \delta})$, with $\delta>0$, for a Korobov space with smoothness $\alpha>1/2$ and general weights. The implied constant in the bound is dimension-independent given the usual conditions on the weights. We present an algorithm that can construct suitable generating vectors \emph{offline} ahead of time at cost $O(d n^4 / \ln n)$ when the weight parameters defining the Korobov spaces are so-called product weights. For this case, numerical experiments confirm our theory that the new randomised algorithm achieves the near optimal rate of the randomised error.


Development of various industrial branches has provoked the necessity of development and application of new steels with special characteristics. Industry has ever increasing requirements of steels used in the heavy mechanical engineering, components such as the steel 38CrNi3MoV (similar to 4337+V, AISI) and for a more specific use as bolt joint materials of main section body of nuclear reactors.


For the compressible flows simulations, the conservative finite difference based on the upwind schemes, i.e. the linear upwind and WENO, is widely used for their simplicity and conservative property. However, this method loses the geometric conservation law (GCL) identity due to the upwind dissipation when applied on the curvilinear grids. In this paper, we suggest a free-stream preserving metrics and Jacobian in the upwind dissipation to maintain the free-stream preserving identity. This technique avoids destroying the accuracy and the standard forms of the upwind schemes as far as possible. Therefore, this technique is convenient to operate in conservative finite difference method. Some verifications are conducted to show the accuracy in the smooth flow filed and the robustness in the discontinuous regions of the present free-stream preserving method, such as the isotropic vortex problem, the double Mach reflection problem, the transonic flow past NACA0012 airfoil and ONERA M6 wing, etc..


Jinqingding,Sanjia,Yinggezhuang gold deposit is located in Muping-Wendeng from the southern edge of the text of the eastern part of the Jiaodong,the central of Muping-Rushan metallogenic belt.NNE fracture in this region develops mostly,provides an advantaged occurrence for the enrichment and mineralization of gold hydrothermal.Mu-Ru gold metallogenic belt lays on a side of granite which is on the contact belt of granite in Kunyu mountain and metamorphic rock in Jiaodong group,reflects the ore-controlling characteristics of the time,space and ore-controlling characteristics of rocks.Muping-Rushan metallogenic belt of the region can be divided into four tectonic NW bands,of which only Jinniushan-Jinqingding metallogenic belt,the Sanjia metallogenic belt is relatively strong tectonic metallogenic belt,while the other two with more mineralization weak,non-dyke development,very little industrial mineral deposits.Beginning with metallogenic geological condition,geological characteristics of ore-bed,ore-forming,laws of gold enrichment,we analyse the ore-controlling factors,and put out a new prospecting direction.


The invention relates to a CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor) image sensor, comprising a substrate, a photodiode, a transmission transistor, a reset transistor, a floating diffusion region and an MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) capacitor, wherein the photodiode, the transmission transistor and the reset transistor are located on the substrate; the floating diffusion region is arranged in the substrate and between the transmission transistor and the reset transistor and is provided with a junction capacitor; and the MOS capacitor is connected with the junction capacitor of the floating diffusion region in parallel and comprises a grid electrode, a dielectric layer and a doping region, the grid electrode is located on the substrate, the dielectric layer is located between the grid electrode and the substrate, and the doping region is located in the substrate. With the adoption of the technical scheme, the image sensor has wider dynamic ranges.


A new series of highly efficient, chemically and thermally stable nonlinear optical chromophores have been developed by using a 2-phenyl-tetracyanovinylbutadienyl group as the electron acceptor for a series of dialkyl- or diphenyl-amino substituted thiophene stilbenes. Excellent tradeoffs among absorption, molecular nonlinearity and thermal stability were achieved. Electro-optic polymers based on the guest/host systems and covalent attachment of chromophores onto high temperature polyquinoline backbones demonstrate high E-O activities and good optical, electrical and mechanical properties.


By the 1960s the dust was settling after a period of great excitement in the biological sciences. It was already established that DNA is a self replicating double helix and that the hereditary message of genes is contained in triplets of n?cleo tides. It was also known that DNA acts as a template for the production of messenger RNA, which is transported from the nucleus to the cytoplasm to act as a blueprint for protein synthesis, and that amino acids are brought to the messenger RNA template on transfer RNA molecules. And a picture was emerging of how ribosomes interact with these different types of RNA to put together a peptide chain. But these remarkable discoveries had little impact on the clinical world, which found it easier to accept the conclusions of authors such as MacFarlane Burnet, who in his book Dreams, Genes, and Realities wrote: "I cannot avoid the conclusion that we have reached the stage in 1971 when little further advance can be expected from laboratory science in the handling of the intrinsic types of disability and disease."1 In the 15 years since Burnet and others wrote off the usefulness of the basic biological sciences there has been a second revolution in biology, which, though perhaps more technical than conceptual, has completely changed the picture. Methods have been developed for cutting up genes, cloning them in bacterial cells, and isolating them in bulk for structural or functional analysis. In a remarkably short time the stage has been reached when almost any gene worth studying can be isolated and its fine structure determined. But the medical sciences have again been slow off the mark, particularly in Britain. As recently as 1984 Peter Newmark wrote in an editorial for Nature: "for too many years those that felt obliged to respond to the taunt that molecular biology, for all the medical research money it had soaked up, had never done anything to help diagnostic medicine, could, at best, fall back on the case of the thalassaemias."2 Indeed, it is only in the past year or two that clinical scientists have started to see the extraordinary potential of what molecular biology has on offer. Since, as pointed out by Newmark, the haemoglobin disorders, particularly the thalassaemias, have played such a central part in taking molecular biology to the bedside, it will repay a brief examination of how this branch of research has developed and of the subtle interaction between the basic and clinical sciences which has allowed us to reach the stage at which recombinant DNA tech? nology can be applied directly in medical practice.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flash band processing circuit, a flash band processing method, an imaging apparatus, and an imaging processing method which can be used to detect a flash band occurring in an image captured by irradiating a subject with flash light.SOLUTION: The flash band processing circuit is provided with a flash band detection circuit which detects the start line and the finish line of the flash band that is the step of a level of each line caused within a frame by flash light, due to the difference between exposure periods of the respective lines of an image signal outputted every frame by pixels included in an imaging element of a rolling shutter system.


In this paper, we propose a method for discovering combinations of attributes (itemsets) against a background of statistical characteristics without obtaining frequent itemsets. The method consists of a database with numerous attributes and can directly find a combination of attributes that are highly correlated with small populations in two consecutive variables of interest in an incomplete database. It determines locally found patterns in large-scale data, and is expected to be the basis of large-scale data analysis. It uses evolutionary computations characterized by a network structure and a strategy to pool solutions throughout the generations. Moreover, it uses association rules to generalize the analysis method. The class-association rules used for classification are a discovery method of attribute combinations, which are characteristic when the ratio of class attributes is noted. The proposed method can be positioned as an extension to the statistical analysis method of the bivariate. The results of the evaluation experiment show the characteristics and effectiveness of the method.


Several modern Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) implants have been associated with increased release of metallic debris through combined mechanical fretting wear and chemical corrosion. These particles can lead to painful Adverse Reaction to Metallic Debris, often requiring early revision [1]. While much research has focused on improving the performance of bearing surfaces, the key parameters driving release of metallic debris at modular junctions remains unclear.© 2013 ASME


smart card (10, 30, 43), in particular cash card, ID card or the like with at least one transponder unit (28, 44) having at least one chip (32) and at least one antenna (31, 46) connected with the chip, the antenna being made of a conductor (36) is arranged on an antenna substrate (29), and having at least two turns (51) spaced apart presenting the antenna a plurality of conductive strands (37, 38, 39, 40, 49, 50, 51) which are located at least in parallel to an axis of symmetry of the smartcard part, being limited extension of the antenna a partial area (19, 20, 21, 22) of the substrate of the antenna, the coils being arranged in the different branch conductors in each equidistant case one another, and where at least one branch conductor is disposed such asymmetrical against at least one second elapses parallel branch conductor this, so that the spacings between windings (W1) of the first branch conductor are different from the spacings between windings (W2) of the second branch conductor, so that the resonant frequency resulting from the transponder unit corresponds to a frequency radiated by the reader unit, and that the spacings between windings (W1, W2) are embodied such that between the antenna and chip an adaptation of the impedance takes place.


We aimed to evaluate the sex‐specific effect of apolipoprotein E (APOE) alleles and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism on the biochemical, anatomical, and cognitive profiles of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients.


The present invention relates to a highly dispersible powder, spray-dried compositions, in particular inhaled dry powder compositions for aerosolized delivery to the lungs. It protects the protein from the powder of the present invention is (i) aggregation, and is prepared by the addition (ii) (i.e., indicates the excellent aerosol performance) suitable particle inhalation spray the 4α- helix bundle protein under conditions that provide dry.


A semiconductor quantum dot (QD) is an attractive resource to generate polarization-entangled photon pairs. We study the excitonic spin precession (flip-flop) in a family of QDs with different excitonic fine-structure splitting (FSS) and its impact on the entanglement of photons generated from the excitonic-biexcitonic radiative cascade. Our results reveal that coherent processes leave the time post-selected entanglement of QDs with finite FSS unaffected while changing the eigenstates of the system. The flip-flop's precession is observed via quantum tomography through anomalous oscillations of the coincidences in the rectilinear basis. A theoretical model is constructed with the inclusion of an excitonic flip-flop rate and is compared with a two-photon quantum tomography measurement on a QD exhibiting the spin flip-flop mechanism. A generalization of the theoretical model allows estimating the degree of entanglement as a function of the FSS and the spin-flip rate. For a finite temporal resolution, the negativity is found to be oscillating with respect to both the FSS and the spin-flip rate. This oscillatory behavior disappears for perfect temporal resolution and maximal entanglement is retrieved despite the flip-flop process.


Judgments of offensiveness and accountability of hate speech as a function of contextual factors of the speech and characteristics of the observers were examined. A sample of 212 college students and 53 community participants responded to 12 scenarios describing incidents of hate speech. The within-subject variables manipulated in the scenarios were the target of the speech (ethnic groups, women, and gays), the publicness of the speech, and the behavioral response of the target. Ethnic speech was rated more offensive than gender-or gay-targeted speech; public speech was rated more offensive and more accountable than private speech; and public speech was rated more offensive and accountable when a response occurred and private speech was rated more offensive when a response did not occur. The gender and ethnicity of the raters moderated the effects of the experimental variables, as well as showing main effects. The findings of this study suggest that responses to hate speech are complex and contextual.


After many unsuccessful attempts to obtain biologically active mRNAs from dry seeds of Davidia involucrata using available procedures, an effective procedure modified from Vicient and Delseny (1999) is developed. This method is based on the use of 8 M LiCl in the extraction buffer followed by phenol extractions. The differences with respect to the original method are the inclusions of 2% soluble PVP (MW 10,000, Sigma) and 10 mM cysteine in the extraction buffer to avoid oxidation of polyphenolics, the reduction in the number of phenol extractions, freezing the seeds for 10 minutes instead of using quarts. Our modifications conquer the perishing oxidation of polyphenolics, in their oxidized forms, polyphenols can covalently bind to proteins and nucleic acids; and permit the recovery of an average of 240 μg total RNA per g of the seeds that is suitable for translation in vitro, northern hybridizations, and the construction of cDNA libraries.


Bouguer gravity data of the Ganga basin could not be interpreted earlier quantitatively, as it was believed that the isostatic effect of the Himalayas masked all the local anomalies. The present work, however, suggests that the contribution of substantially thick low density post-unconformity sediments is more in masking the local anomalies than the isostatic effect. The gravity data in Puranpur area of the Ganga basin have been interpreted in terms of basement depths after removal of the effect of the post-unconformity sediments, whose disposition is fairly well known from the seismic data. In the Puranpur depression the maximum sedimentary thickness is about 6000 metres. The pre-unconformity sediments in this depression may be different from those in the adjoining areas, to the west and south. The northeastern limit of this depression is a basement ridge on which interesting structural features are located. In the northern part of the area the basement structures exhibit a WNW-ESE trend indicating that this area probably belongs to the Krol basin. In the southern part, the trend is dominantly E-W, but is disturbed by a number of NE-SW trending features. The former is probably governed by the basement rocks belonging to the Bundelkhand massif while the latter are due to the continuance of the Aravalli trend of the peninsular area.


To reduce the complexity associated with application-specific tuning of sensor-based systems, dynamic profiling enables an accurate view of the application behavior, such that the network can be reoptimized at runtime in response to changing application behavior or environmental conditions. However, dynamic profiling must be able to accurately capture application behavior without incurring significant runtime overheads. We present several profiling methods for dynamically monitoring sensor-based platforms and analyze the associated network traffic, energy, and code impacts.


Traditional hand-crafted feature and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) feature are two different types of image descriptors in person re-identification task. In this work, we propose a novel network called Enhanced CNN. We take advantage of the complementarity between hand-crafted features and CNN features by making hand-crafted features participate in the construction of our CNN model and the generation of the final features. A feature reconstruction block (FRB) is designed to jointly map hand-crafted features and CNN features to a unitary feature space and fuse them together in a learned way. We adopt identification loss and verification loss simultaneously to supervise the training process of our model, in order to make fully usage of the information in re-id labels. Extensive experiments demonstrate the superiority of our model over a wide range of state-of-the-art methods on four re-id datasets (Market-1501, CUHK03, CUHKOI, VIPeR).


Students majoring in Art in colleges and universities are a special group in universities. Constructing a quality assurance system for college English micro-lecture for art majors is of great significance to art students' English learning. In recent years, the development of mobile Internet has made micro-lecture more and more important in college teaching. As a compulsory course for college students, college English has also followed a series of explorations such as college English micro-lecture teaching mode and teaching quality evaluation. The construction of the quality assurance system for the micro-lecture of college English in art majors in colleges and universities has been gradually "marginalized", and this is a common problem in colleges and universities. According to the characteristics of college English micro-lecture in art majors, this article decomposes the quality management process of each link in micro-course analysis, design, development, implementation and feedback, and builds a guarantee system combining the internal and external quality of college English micro-courses based on college art majors. This paper also aims at constructing the internal quality assurance condition system and evaluation system, improving the functions of the education administration and the school alliance, putting forward proposals to introduce incentive and innovation mechanisms, strengthening internal management and institutional constraints, and improving the suggestions on micro-lecture dynamic quality evaluation system to fully guarantee the practicability and effectiveness of the quality assurance system of the art English micro-lecture.


319 Abstract— The MOSFETs are three terminal devices which are working on the principle involved and is the use of the voltage between two terminals so as to control the current flowing in the third terminal. It has now become by so far the most widely used electronic device especially, in the design of integrated circuits, which are the circuits fabricated on a single silicon chip. These devices can be made quite small as far as possible such that their manufacturing process is relatively simple and their operation requires comparatively small consumption of the power. It can be used in enormous number of applications which are ranging from the signal amplification to digital logic and memory designs for the mixed signal based applications. On the contrary, the CMOS device which performs the various Boolean operations on the multiple input variables and thus, determines the outputs as Boolean functions of the inputs, becomes the basic building blocks of all the mixed signal processing based applications. The basic application of the CMOS is the inverter circuit that utilizes two different matched enhancement type MOSFETs with n channel and other with p channel.


CIVIL PROCEDURE- SECOND CIRCUIT UPHOLDS EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH OVER FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION UNDER THE ANTI-TERRORISM ACT--Licci v Lebanese Canadian Bank, 732 F.3d 161 (2d Cir. 2013). The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) affords any United States national injured by an act of international terrorism a private right of action for treble damages. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. [section][section] 2339(A)-(C), financial institutions may be held liable for knowingly providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) in Licci v. Lebanese Canadian Bank, (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit considered whether a foreign bank could be subject to personal jurisdiction in New York in an action brought under the ATA without violation of the due process clause. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) in doing so, the court held that the exercise of personal jurisdiction over Lebanese Canadian Bank, SAL (LCB) did not violate traditional principles of "fair play and substantial justice" and was consistent with due process protections provided by the U S. Constitution. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Between the months of July and August of 2006, Hezbollah, an Islamic terrorist organization, fired thousands of rockets into northern Israel. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) in July 2008, the plaintiffs, who were injured in the rocket attacks--or whose family members were killed or injured--brought suit in the New York State Supreme Court against LCB, a bank with its headquarters in Beirut and no operations, branches, or employees in the United States and, American Express Bank Ltd. (AmEx), a Connecticut banking corporation with headquarters in New York. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) AmEx removed the suit to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in January 2009, after which plaintiffs brought five claims against LCB for the material support of terrorism. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Plaintiffs alleged that LCB used its correspondent bank account with AmEx to wire dozens of transfers totaling millions of dollars to the Shahid Foundation (Shahid), the notorious "financial arm" of Hezbollah. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) The plaintiffs further claimed that LCB violated the ATA by facilitating monetary transactions with the actual knowledge that such transfers would enable Hezbollah "to plan, to prepare for and to carry out terrorist attacks," including the rocket attacks that injured the plaintiffs and their families in Israel. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) LCB moved to dismiss, asserting a lack of personal jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and on March 31, 2010, the district court granted LCB's motion to dismiss pursuant to N.Y C.P.L.R. 302(a) (1). (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) The district court concluded that the LCB's wiring of transfers through the AmEx correspondent account constituted a mere "maintenance" of the account, not an active "use" which could amount to the level of transacting business in New York. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) The district court also found that the plaintiffs' claims did not arise from the defendant's banking activity because plaintiffs' injuries were proximately caused by Hezbollah rocket attacks and not by LCB's wire transfers. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) Concluding that the case did not satisfy either prong of New York court's interpretation of the long arm statute, the district court dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction over LCB, further adding that exercising jurisdiction over the bank would not comport with constitutional due process. (NOTEREF _Ref384880710 \h \* MERGEFORMAT) The Second Circuit certified two questions relating to the application of personal jurisdiction to the New York Court of Appeals for resolution, as it found the New York law to be "too unsettled" to make such a determination without the assistance of a New York court. …


Aim:To observe the clinical features and prognosis among patients with different electro-physiologically defined subtypes of Guillain-Barre syndrome(GBS).Methods:Sixty-three patients with GBS were divided into demyelination group,axonal neuropathy group and unclassifiable group based on their electrophysiological findings.Their clinical features,scores of the Hughes functional grading scale assessed at the peak of disease and at discharge were compared between the demyelination group and axonal neuropathy group.Results:The Hughes functional grading scale scores in the axonal neuropathy group at the peak of disease and at discharge were(4.0±1.05) and(2.6±1.84),respectively,which were significantly high than that in the demyelination group(2.8±0.98 and 1.3±0.75,respectively)(P0.01).The patients in the axonal neuropathy group had significantly high rates of prodromal diarrhea and weakness of the respiratory muscles than the patients in the demyelination group(P0.05).Conclusion:Acute axonal neuropathy type GBS patients had more prodromal diarrhea,weakness of the respiratory muscles,severe conditions,and poor outcomes than patients with acute demyelination.