Necrotizing vasculitis was first described in 1866. The condition encompasses a wide spectrum of symptoms, affecting arterial blood vessels of various calibers and in various organs. In addition, it is associated with many types of inflammatory infiltrate, and presents a significant number of clinical manifestations. The causative factor or factors may or may not be identifiable. The eternally controversial classification of the various forms of vasculitis changed radically after the discovery of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies in 1982, and current classifications include Goodpasture's syndrome, forms of vasculitis related to antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, forms caused by immune complexes and other forms. The evidence that antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies are involved in the pathogenesis of such conditions led to considerable advances in the diagnosis and treatment of vasculitis. Wegener's granulomatosis, Churg-Strauss syndrome and microscopic polyangiitis, all forms of vasculitis that have been associated with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, are the systemic forms that most affect the lungs. The most common presentation of such forms is characterized by cough, diffuse alveolar hemorrhage or difficult-to-control asthma. In Takayasu's arteritis, Behcet's disease and Henoch-Schonlein purpura, as well as in forms of vasculitis related to collagen diseases, pulmonary involvement is less common. In all forms of vasculitis, there is evidence that immune system processes are involved. It is based on this knowledge that new therapeutic approaches are proposed.


Abstract Frobenius showed that, if m divides the order of a finite group, then the number of m-torsion elements in that group is divisible by m. We provide a quick combinatorial proof.


This study analyses the consequences of productive government spending on the international transmission of fiscal policy. A standard result in the new open economy macroeconomics literature is that a fiscal shock depreciates the exchange rate. I demonstrate that the response of the exchange rate depends on the productivity of government spending. If productivity is sufficiently high, a fiscal shock appreciates the exchange rate. It is also shown that the introduction of productive government spending increases both domestic and foreign welfare, when compared with the case where government spending is wasted. This is because productive government spending has a positive effect on private consumption in both countries in a two country NOEM model.


1. For several decades now, Donald Davidson has been steadily producing an amazingly rich and?even though it has been presented in self-contained papers?systematic body of work. In this volume, we have another install ment of his creative output, the fruits of his reflections on central topics in epistemology and metaphysics, shaped by his distinctive and influential approach to issues in the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind. It goes without saying, but I shall say it anyway: it is a fine thing to have these vintage essays in easily accessible and portable form, to put beside the first two volumes, with a place of honour reserved on the shelves for the eagerly awaited fourth and fifth. But I think the best way to celebrate Davidson's work is not to praise it, but to find it controversial. Nobody gets everything exactly right, and what is most fruitful in philosophy is work that is worth taking issue with.


The vehicle routing problem with time window is a kind of NP-Hard problem.We often use the genetic algorithm to solve such problem.But the traditional genetic algorithm have some weaknesses,which will affect the performance of the algorithm.This paper brings forward a kind of hybrid genetic algorithm called remembered genetic simulated annealing algorithm.We make some experimental computation,the result demonstrates this algorithm can overcome the weakness above,and the high quality solutions obtained.


Transforming conventional passive customers into active participants who interact with the utility in real time is the key idea of demand response (DR) in smart grid. However, an effective and efficient DR scheme relies on precise prediction and modeling of the uncertainties, i.e., renewable generations and load demands. In this paper, we first present a series of linear prediction models for the load prediction purpose, such as standard autoregressive (AR) process and time-varying AR (TVAR) process, according to different assumptions on the stationarity of customer load profile: piecewise stationarity, local stationarity, and cyclostationarity. Two important issues in AR/TVAR models are addressed: determining the order of AR/TVAR models and calculating the AR/TVAR coefficients. The partial autocorrelation function is analyzed to determine the model order, and the minimum mean squared error estimator is adopted to derive the AR/TVAR coefficients, which leads to the Yule–Walker type of equations. With the load prediction problem addressed, we further design a DR scheduling scheme based on utility cost minimization with different customer clustering sizes. The optimal DR load profiles are given in forms of both 1-D and 2-D  water-filling solutions. A tradeoff strategy, which attempts to balance the competing objectives (centralized and distributed), is also provided based on the price-of-anarchy analysis. Simulation results of both the load prediction models and the DR schemes are presented and analyzed.


Abstract Despite advancements in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, HIV continues to be a global problem. Antiretroviral therapy is a critical treatment that has been used to treat HIV-infected patients since 1996. Even though an increase in the number of patients enrolled in ART, the mortality rate for HIV cases in Ethiopia has never been overcome. Thus, this study aimed to identify influential factors of death of HIV-infected individuals received antiretroviral therapy at the Tepi General Hospital. The secondary data was extracted from each selected patient for whom the ART was initiated from September 2011 to June 2018. Then, Cox regression technique provided the essential determinants of time to death of HIV-infected patients. The findings revealed that 35.14 percent of HIV patients died despite being on ART. The identified causes of death were being over 40 years old, being in clinical stage IV, being uneducated, having a low body weight, and having a low CD4 cell count. Gender, tuberculosis status, and functional status, on the other hand, were not supported as factors. Thus, age over 40 years, being underweight, having a low baseline CD4 cell count, being in an advanced WHO clinical stage, and having a low education level were identified as critical risk factors that exposed to early death even while on ART. As a result, the hospital advised prioritizing patients based on the identified factors. Keywords: AIDS; Analysis; Biological modeling; Biological activities


In current networks, large flows often co-exist with small flows and consume a significant proportion of the network bandwidth. This imposes a challenge on network resource management. Various hybrid switching architectures have been proposed in recent years aiming to address this challenge and improve efficiency and resource utilization. However, there is still a need for means for design and dimensioning of resources among multiple switching planes. In this work, we first argue that the resource allocation in hybrid switching systems is fact the interaction between three components: resource allocation, traffic partitioning and performance (or cost) constraints. We then introduce a framework called Blocking-LOss Curve (BLOC) to address the resource allocation problem in hybrid switching systems. BLOC can capture the behavior of hybrid switching systems under different resource allocation strategies. This framework also allows us to identify the feasible region for resource allocation, within which performance metrics like the packet loss and request blocking requirements can be satisfied. An optimal resource allocation strategy may be found based on the feasible region. We also discuss the application of BLOC in hybrid switching Data Center networks.


We ask students, most of whom are mathematics majors who completed two courses in probability and statistics, to explain the meaning of a margin of error. Most just respond that a margin of error of ±3 means that the true percentage of adults who approve of Bush's job performance is between 29 and 35%. This interpretation is no different from the interpretations given by adults with little or no formal knowledge of mathematics. Most of these students cannot explain how the pollsters determined this margin, nor can they explain why this sample size is reasonable for a national poll. After some leading questions, many of these students recognize that this is an application of a one-proportion Z-test with a 95% confidence interval. We then suggest that they view the expression for the standard error not as a formula [1.96 √(p(1-p)/n)], as is typically done, but as a function of sample size. By graphing and tracing this function students can not only verify the margin of error for this poll (±2.6%), but they easily calculate the margin of error for different samples sizes. Furthermore, by just observing the shape of this graph they can see that increasing the sample size past 1200 does not have much of an effect on the margin of error. In fact, tracing the graph shows that one will need to sample about 10,000 adults to have a margin of size of ±1.0%. Students then use this diminishing return to explain why pollsters often sample around 1,100 adults.


The utility model discloses a pulse jetting ash-removing bag type dust remover using an ultraviolet lighting device. The pulse jetting ash-removing bag type dust remover comprises a rack, a case body, a filtering bag, a pulser and an ultraviolet lighting device, wherein the case body is mounted on the rack; an air inlet and an air outlet are formed in the case body; the pulser is mounted on the case body; a jetting pipe, a transverse rod and a frame are mounted inside the case body; an ash hopper is mounted on the bottom of the case body; the ultraviolet lighting device is mounted inside the air inlet; a plurality of filtering bags are hung on the transverse rod; the filtering bags are sleeved outside the frame; a venturi pipe is mounted on the top of each filtering bag; the jetting pipe is mounted above the filtering bags; an ash discharging valve is mounted on the bottom of the ash hopper.


Freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) culture in the Western Hemisphere is primarily, if not entirely, derived from 36 individual prawns originally introduced to Hawaii from Malaysia in 1965 and 1966. Little information is available regarding genetic variation within and among cultured prawn stocks worldwide. The goal of the current study was to characterize genetic diversity in various prawn populations with emphasis on those cultured in North America. Five microsatellite loci were screened to estimate genetic diversity in two wild (Myanmar and India-wild) and seven cultured (Hawaii-1, Hawaii-2, India-cultured, Israel, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas) populations. Average allelic richness ranged from 3.96 (Israel) to 20.45 (Myanmar). Average expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.580 (Israel) to 0.935 (Myanmar). Many of the cultured populations exhibited reduced genetic diversity when compared with the Myanmar and the India-cultured populations. Significant deficiency in heterozygotes was detected in the India-cultured, Mississippi and Kentucky populations (overall Fis estimated of 0.053, 0.067 and 0.108 respectively) reflecting moderate levels of inbreeding. Overall estimate of fixation index (Fst = 0.1569) revealed moderately high levels of differentiation among the populations. Outcome of this study provide a baseline assessment of genetic diversity in some available strains that will be useful for the development of breeding programmes.


ABSTRACT In this study, immobilization of nuclease p1 on paper cellulose was studied. Effect of various factors, such as etherification pH, couple pH and time, (NH4)2SO4 concentration, enzyme amount et al, on the activity of immobilized enzyme was investigated. The immobilization conditions were optimized by orthogonal experiment. Characterizations of immobilized nuclease p1 were also evaluated. Through orthogonal experiment, the optimal immobilization conditions were as follows: couple pH 12, etherification pH 7.0, (NHJ4)2SO4 concentration 10% and enzyme amount 6.0 ml. Optimal pH of immobilized enzyme was 5.8. Optimal temperature of immobilized enzyme was 80°C. Thermal, operational and storage stabilities of the enzyme were improved after it was immobilized on paper cellulose. Michaelis constant Km of immobilized enzyme was disclosed as 5.72 g/l by the Lineweaver-Burk plot at 70°C.


For more than a decade now, Nigeria has been witnessing a continuous improvement and boom in the application of Information and Communications Technology in all the vital sectors of her economy. There is an increasing dependency on computer programs for critical infrastructures, business processes and operations. This boom is not abating, and is resulting in a corresponding increase in the number of companies and individuals who join an increasing population of software engineers, enterprise application developers and programmers. But regrettably, the boom has given rise to a host of ethical issues. The ability to make sound ethical judgement and decision is becoming very important as "halfbaked" software developers produce critical software that are supposed to run critical business functions and operations. To compound this problem the few technical schools or colleges that produce the very needed programmers and web designers do not have a clue that there is something negative creeping in from another angle; they do not have qualified or versed instructors to arm their graduates with the basic foundation knowledge in software professional ethics which is needed to effectively practise the art of software engineering in the society at large. This paper investigates the state of software engineering ethics in the face of Nigeria's upwelling Information and Communications Technology and intention to produce and use locally designed and implemented software. The paper calls attention to the nonchalance, dispassion and mass negligence attendant to this issue. It further highlights and calls for adherence to sound ethics at all levels of software production in the Nigerian society at large. The paper uses a case-study and scenario to illustrate how to start doing so.


Ordered Hypothesis Machines (OHM) are large margin classifiers that belong to the class of Generalized Stack Filters which were originally developed for non-linear signal processing. In previous work we showed how OHM classifiers are equivalent to a variation of Nearest Neighbor classifiers, with the advantage that training involves minimizing a loss function which includes a regularization parameter that controls class complexity. In this paper we report a new connection between OHM training and the Linear Assignment problem, a combinatorial optimization problem that can be solved efficiently with (amongst others) the Hungarian algorithm. Specifically, for balanced classes, and particular choices of parameters, OHM training is the dual of the Assignment problem. The duality sheds new light on the OHM training problem, opens the door to new training methods and suggests several new directions for research.


Since the inception of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in 1979, a better understanding of the vaccine-preventable diseases in Bolivian children has been realized by provision of useful epidemiological data on the target EPI diseases. A strength of EPI is that it focuses attention on sociocultural, economic, and political conditions with a view toward the application of new and more realistic tactics for the benefit of vulnerable and neglected population groups. In 1980 and 1981, the coverages achieved by purely fixed health facility delivery tactics did not exceed 25-30% with the 3rd dose of DPT and polio vaccines, or 28% with the single-dose vaccines (BCG and measles) among children under 3 years of age. In 1982 a technical and administrative EPI evaluation was performed and impediments limiting the attainment of epidemiologically significant vaccination coverages were identified. The leading causes were a lack of political commitment, a lack of public participation poor coordination of the program with the general health services, rigid and uniform administrative standards for the entire country, the abstractness of the technical standards, and poor pubic information. From this analysis emerged the strategy of mobilization of the population through the local health committees in order to help improve vaccination coverages. These local committees have been able to substantially improve the coverage of polio vaccination by aiding health staff in the application of that vaccine during the operations carried out on National Vaccination Days organized 3 times a year. The implemention of this strategy in Bolivia since 1983 allows each user of health services to be an active agent for his/her own health rather than a passive recipient of services. The overall achievements of mass mobilization for vaccination include: it has made the country's health condition an object of thought and discussion and helped the country to achieve the highest vaccination coverage in the last few years; it has prompted a revision of vaccination standards for the public; and it has prompted responses to requests for health services from the public. Specific objectives include: it has provided the people with needed health information so that they may become their own agents for health improvements; it has raised the level of institutional participation through analysis and self-criticism; and it has effectively protected the infant population against polio and measles. With implementation of the National Vaccination Days and public participation, polio vaccine coverage reached 90.1% for children 3 years and older. Due to the mass mobilization in 1984, the coverage of measles vaccination among 1-year-olds was 80% greater than it had been in 1983 -- the highest ever achieved in the country for this vaccine.


C.J. Smyth and later Flammang studied the spectrum of the Weil height in the field of all totally real numbers, establishing both lower and upper bounds for the limit infimum of the height of all totally real integers and determining isolated values of the height. We remove the hypothesis that we consider only integers and establish an lower bound on the limit infimum of the height for all totally real numbers. Our proof relies on a quantitative equidistribution theorem for numbers of small height.


This paper made an example as High-tech Industrial Zone in Jianhu, for researching the contradiction between ensuring economic growth and protect the natural environment that have been faced by planning about sustainable development of country economic development zone with industrial transferring, and preliminary discussion the way in planning for natural environment protection and make that develop sustainably.


ABSTRACT The adhesion between a grafted polyelectrolyte layer (brush) and a gel of an oppositely charged polyelectrolyte has been measured as a function of applied pressure, and the interface has been traced using neutron reflectometry. The interface (in aqueous medium at pH 6) between the (polycationic) brush and the (polyanionic) gel has a limited pressure dependence, with a small amount of deformation of the interface at the brush–gel contact. Brushes with a dry thickness of up to 13 nm exhibit weak adhesion (measured using a mechanical force tester) with an adhesive failure when the gel is detached. Thicker brushes result in the gel exhibiting cohesive failure. Reversing the geometry, whereby a polycationic brush is replaced with a polyanion and the polyanionic gel is replaced with a polycation, reveals that the pH dependence of the adhesion is moderately symmetric about pH 6, but that the maximum force required to separate the polycation gel from the polyanion brush over the range of pH is greater than that for the polycation brush and polyanion gel. The polyanion used is poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) and polycations of poly[2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (PDEAEMA) and poly[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (PDMAEMA) were used.


The energy-levels of K~-atom are obtained by the theoretical analyses numerically solving the Klein-Gordon equation.The result coincides with the experimental date.This along with the result of Σ~-atom supports greatly the optical model potential in the application of strange exotic atom and therefore show that strong-interaction is an exclusion between the nucleons.


The vibrational excitation of the ν1 mode and the excitation of the first triplet state in benzene exhibit structures which are interpreted in terms of shape resonances associated with excited states of benzene. These excited shape resonances span the energy range 4−11 eV and they decay into a multiplicity of final states.


The curing of fiber-reinforced thermosets using high-power microwave technology gains growing industrial interest. For successful system and process development, dielectric properties need to be investigated during the curing process. In this work a test set for dielectric measurements based on the waveguide transmission-reflection method at 2.45 GHz has been developed. It provides fully automatic temperature control and data acquisition. The dielectric properties are reconstructed from the captured S-parameters by full-wave electromagnetic modeling and by use of a neural network approach. Timeand temperature-dependent dielectric properties were measured to investigate the curing behavior of various resin compositions. Corresponding results obtained with epoxy resins based on bisphenol A diglycidyl ether monomer mixed with polyetheramine hardener are presented. The results show that both dielectric constant and loss factor increase in line with temperature increase, and start to decrease when polymerization begins.


Based on the modular design idea, we design an underwater robot carrier structure with truss structure as the main body and can carry and transport underwater robots and auxiliary equipment for underwater operation. The structure is required to be simple, practical, safe, stable and reliable and easy to store. Referring to the wave research report in Coastal Dynamics, the second-order stokes wave parameters with high frequency are selected, the three-dimensional numerical wave tank is established by Fluent software, the wave perturbation at the entrance is realized based on the boundary wave creation method, the free liquid surface is tracked by VOF calculation method and the second-order stokes wave is numerically simulated based on the damped wave dissipation technique. The simulation is carried out to calculate the force characteristics of the carrier structure under the action of waves and water flow. By analyzing the response characteristics of the key parts of the carrier structure, the displacement and stress time curves without and with suction cups are obtained, and the extreme values of the curves are statistically analyzed to verify the stability and safety of the carrier structure of the underwater robot.


This paper presents a numerical method to design a tensegrity structure which can deploy itself to a desired shape and cost the minimal energy. Starting from the dynamic model in matrix the static model in vector form which is easy to solve the force density is deduced. The self-deploy control problem is described as a math model by using this new vector model and the condition whether there exists a solution is given out. Projection algorithm is adopted to get the optimal solution. The optimization method investigated is applied to two examples and simulation results demonstrate that the theory works well.


The heat transfer performances of ionic liquids [C4mpyrr][NTf2] and ionanofluids with Al2O3 nanoparticles under a laminar flow regime, and with constant heat flux on the tube wall is numerically modeled and analyzed for three values of initial/inlet temperature and for two Reynolds numbers. Heat transfer characteristics were considered by analyzing the temperature distribution along the upper wall, as well as by analyzing the Nusselt number and heat transfer coefficient. The results obtained numerically were validated using Shah's equation for ionic liquid. Thermophysical properties were temperature-dependent, and obtained by curve-fitting the experimental values of the thermophysical properties. Furthermore, the same set of results was calculated for the ionic liquid and ionanofluids with constant thermophysical properties. It is concluded that the assumption that thermophysical properties are constant has a significant influence on the heat transfer performance parameters of both ionic liquid and ionanofluids, and therefore such assumptions should not be made in research.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of instructional leadership on school quality throug school climate as a mediatior. This study used quantitative approach and explanatory survey method with SEM Analysis on 162 junior high school teachers in Bandung City. This study used questionnaire to collect the data. The results showed that the three variables had a high average value, especially in the instructional leadership variable (very high), then school climate and school quality. Instructional leadership directly influenced school quality. School climate directly influenced school quality. School climate did not significantly mediate the influence of instructional leadership on school quality. It can be stated that the relationship between the two variables were direct effect. It can be concluded that instructional leadership and school climate directly influenced school quality.


The author discusses the criminal responsibility of KPK investigators who commit violations in handling cases of corruption. In this case the author takes the issue of when the actions of KPK investigators can be categorized as criminal acts in the event of irregularities in the process of examining criminal acts of corruption, as well as the form of criminal acts and legal liability related to criminal acts carried out by KPK investigators when examining corruption. The purpose of the author to raise the topic of this problem is to analyze when the actions of KPK investigators can be categorized as criminal acts in the event of a deviation in the process of examining criminal acts of corruption. The type of research conducted by this author is normative research, because the author will conduct research by analyzing the applicable laws regarding the form of criminal acts that can be carried out by KPK investigators in handling cases of corruption. The results of the research conducted by this author are that in the current positive law Indonesia has been regulated about forms of crime that can be made possible by KPK investigators in handling cases of corruption in the form of Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning the eradication of criminal acts of corruption has been revised into Law number 20 of 2001 and also regulated in the KPK Law, namely Law number 30 of 2002.


Information security is an important issue. Today's encryption technologies can be traced back to the earliest ciphers, and have grown as a result of evolution. The first ciphers were cracked, so new, stronger ciphers emerged. Code breakers set to work on these and eventually found flaws, forcing cryptographers to invent better ciphers and so on. Hill Cipher is one of the most famous symmetric cryptosystem that can be used to protect information from unauthorized access. Hill cipher is a polygraph substitution cipher based on linear algebra. it was the first polygraph cipher which was practical to operate on more than three symbols at once, Hill Cipher has many advantages in data encryption. First, it is resistant to the frequency letter analysis. It's also very simple since it uses matrix multiplication. Finally, it has high speed and high throughput. However, noninvertible key matrix over is the main disadvantage of Hill Cipher, because few of the matrices have inverses over . This means that the encrypted text can't be decrypted. Moreover, Hill cipher algorithm cannot encrypt images that contain large areas of a single color. Thus, it does not hide all features of the image which reveals patterns in the plaintext. Moreover, it can be easily broken with a known plaintext attack revealing weak security. The objective of this paper is to encrypt an image using a technique different from the conventional one. In this paper, a novel encryption technique has been proposed which we name H-S-X (Hill-Shift-XOR) encryption. The scheme is relatively slow but quite reliable technique where cryptanalysis is quite difficult. It also injects more diffusion and confusion which are the two important attributes of a powerful encryption technique. A comparative study of the proposed encryption scheme and the existing Hill cipher scheme is made. The output encrypted images reveal that the proposed technique is quite reliable and robust.


Background: The disposal and management of hazardous waste are worldwide problems. Notwithstanding the difficulties evaluating epidemiological studies, some observations of their health impact appear to be, to some extent, reproducible. Local context: The role of epidemiological studies in contributing to decision-making in public health is addressed, through describing an Italian context with illegal, hazardous waste dumps. Approach: This case study, concerning the Italian "Land of Fires", provides a frame for integrating scientific, evidence-based public health actions and priorities for further


[texte en francais] The food retail sector is characterized by a competition among multi-market retailers that is highly localized. Multi-store retailers either price discriminate spatially or adopt a uniform pricing strategy among local markets. We analyze theoretically the effects of both pricing strategies (local or uniform) on merger control. We show that when one retailer adopts uniform pricing across stores, the anticompetitive effect of the merger on consumer welfare spreads on markets non directly affected by the merger. In addition, the effect of the merger on directly affected markets is enhanced when these markets are sufficiently more competitive than markets non directly affected by the merger. These results lead to reconsiderate the definition of relevant markets in merger control when one multi-market retailer uses local pricing.


A growing number of children placed for adoption are found to have attachment difficulties. Such difficulties can be profound, leading to disruptive behaviour which adoptive parents often find hard to cope with and understand. As Mary Beek contends in this paper, one of the challenges for adoption agencies is to offer such families appropriate support. In examining a project carried out by the Norfolk-based Adoption and Family Finding Unit's post-adoption service, she demonstrates how specialised help involving parents and post-adoption social workers can dramatically improve the quality of care for adopted children — and indeed the quality of life for all the family. She also underlines the value of attachment theory as a tool for helping adoptive parents understand their children's behaviour.


We consider the inverse electromagnetic scattering problem of determining the shape of a perfectly conducting cavity from measurement of the scattered electric field due to electric-dipole sources on a surface inside the cavity. We prove a reciprocity relation for the scattered electric field and a uniqueness theorem for the inverse problem. Then, the near-field linear sampling method is employed to reconstruct the shape of the cavity. Preliminary numerical examples are provided to show the viability of the method.


Automatic facial expression analysis requires localization and tracking of facial features in an accurate and robust manner. We describe a statistical method for automatic facial landmark localization, which is then used to improve a state-ofthe-art deformable tracking based facial expression recognition algorithm. Our landmarking is based on Gabor wavelet features modeled with mixtures of factor analyzers. Once the landmarks are automatically located, they are used to initialize a tracker that maintains a simplified 3D face model matched to the appearance of the face. The deformations are classified with a naı̈ve Bayes scheme into six expression categories. We test the proposed methods extensively on cross-database experiments conducted on FRGC, Cohn-Kanade, and Bosphorus face datasets. Our results show that the statistical landmarking method we propose is robust in its generalization and increases the accuracy of expression recognition significantly.


ABSTRACT The textural properties of many sediments provide a good indication of their provenance, but surprisingly little information is available on the transitional stages between the breakdown of a rock and the incorporation of the material into a fluvial sediment. These transitional stages are important as certain fractions (particularly the finer ones) may be selectively removed. Regoliths developed on steep slopes represent an early stage in the debris cascade and they are here examined in detail to assess the role of parent lithology on the textural properties of the regolith. There are substantial variations between lithologies, although the majority of regoliths are dominated by coarser fractions and are poorly sorted. Most particle size distributions show some degree of fit to both log-normal probability distributions and Rosin distributions. Differences from these can be ascribed to the processes operating on steep slopes, particularly the influx of sand- and silt-sized material by colluvial processes and the removal of clay-sized material by leaching. The regoliths form a distinct facies type which may be recognisable in the geological record.


months. She had received different antibiotic regimens which had resulted in temporary cessation of the drainage. The clinical examination revealed a tender, swollen area at the dorsum of the right thumb with significant movement restriction. The overlying skin was adherent with multiple draining sinuses (Fig. 2a). There was no palpable lymphadenopathy. The routine hematological and biochemical laboratory tests including ESR, CRP and X-ray were normal. At surgical exploration, yellow pus with obvious sulfur granules was obtained. Gram stain of exudate revealed neutrophils with numerous branching, filamentous Gram-positive bacilli. Culture of exudate was negative. Histological examination revealed Actinomyces surrounded by Splendore–Hoeppli material with a foreign object which was consistent with actinomycosis (Fig. 2b). She received amoxicillin ⁄ clavulanate (100 mg ⁄ kg daily) for 8 weeks. Total cure was achieved with antibiotherapy. Primary actinomycosis of the extremity is very rare because of the exclusively endogenous habitat of the etiologic organism. Only a few cases from an infection of the hand have been reported. The lesion may begin in the skin and then spread to contiguous structures, including subcutaneous tissue, muscle and bone. Secondary involvement of an extremity may result from local spread or via hematogenous dissemination from apparent or cryptic foci. Although culture is definitive, it is difficult to cultivate Actinomyces spp. and the cultures are positive in only 24% of cases. Therefore, diagnosis is based on histological examination. Treatment of actinomycosis consists of surgery and antimicrobial therapy. Actinomyces spp. appeared to be susceptible to b-lactam agents and these, when combined with b-lactamase inhibitors, should be regarded as agents of first choice. Our patients had focal cutaneous actinomycosis on their hands, and responded well to surgical excision combined with an 8-week course of antimicrobial treatment. Actinomycosis may resemble tuberculosis, fungal infections and malignancy. Increased awareness is required in the differential diagnosis of any inflammatory lesion involving soft tissues in the diagnosis of actinomycosis.


The present invention, at least one strand is hydrophilic and the other is compatible with the fluorinated polymer is a hydrophobic chain, relates to a metal oxide nano-fillers comprising at least two graft chains. According to the present invention, the hydrophobic chains are oligomers, a weight average molecular weight Mw is 300~20,000g / The present invention also stick coating containing such fillers, as well as cookware having such a coating.


The print is the representative of national culture among all kinds of art in world art field and has made noticeable achievements in the new period.For some artists,lacking necessary understanding of life causes their unsuccessful print.Only those who organically combine the life traits of art with their painting capabilities can create good works of art.


The invention provides a global pixel iris identification image sensor; a pixel array comprises 135*m line and 240*column of effective pixels, wherein m=1-4; the global pixel iris identification image sensor uses a global exposure mode to enable all pixels of the pixel array to simultaneously start and stop exposure, and read out work is then carried out; the sensor needs not to change the existing iris identification algorithm; the relative stationary between the face portion and eye portion positions and the global pixel iris identification image sensor is not needed, thus realizing high speed iris identification in face or eye portion motions.


Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have been recently proposed as promising electrocatalysts, yet the exact nature of the mechanisms in play has not been addressed in depth. By comparing the electrocatalytic activity of a MOF for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the corresponding molecular building units through electrochemical techniques, here, we investigate the nature of the catalytic sites, their redox states and the electron transfer pathways.


A vowel recognition based on a pitch-synchronous signal processing is introduced in this paper. The investigation has been made within the development of a speaker independent system of automatic speech sounds identification. The length of a signal-processing window is equal to the pitch period. This makes the signal analysis more independent of a pitch value than in the case of using a fixed-window analysis. It is known that the most effective analysis could be made if a length of the analyzing window is divisible by the pitch period. Thus the smallest window, which provides the perfect effectiveness of the signal analysis, is used here. The patterns for vowels were generated with a help of the knowledge about the phonological system and phonetic rules of the Russian language. Conducted experiments have shown that phonetically-based patterns dictionary is not less effective for speaker-independent speech recognition than the one generated with a help of clustering analysis. The proposed vowels recognition method was tested on the following material: a set of isolated vowels manually extracted from phonetically representative text, read by a standard male speaker of Russian, and a set of isolated words, read by 10 male and 10 female speakers of Russian. Vowels were automatically extracted and then identified within a processing of the second part of the material. An average recognition accuracy of 85.0% was obtained. The achieved results seem to be quite successful.


[Objective] The study was done to screen out the fusion method which is suitable for the Loess Hilly Region of Northern Shaanxi Province from contrasted the fusion methods.[Method] Based on ALOS panchromatic and multispectral images,three fusion methods,PCA,Multiplicative and Brovey were used to estimate the effect of the fusion images of the loess hilly region of Northern Shaanxi Province.[Result] Most of the standard deviation and entropy of the fusion images were higher than those of original images,the information quantity increased,the Brovey method had advantage over other fusion methods in the aspect of visual results and identifying precision.[Conclusion] The Brovey transforms is more effective than the other algorithms and could significantly improve the classification accuracy of the research area.


The spin Seebeck effect provides an easy way to create and manipulate spin current. Schreier et al. experimentally observed a decrease of spin Seebeck voltage at high frequencies in the yttrium iron garnet/Pt system [Phys. Rev. B 93, 224430 (2016)]. The frequency dependence was attributed to the magnon spectrum. Here we provide a different explanation using the frequency dependence of the ac spin current. By combining a phenomenological two-temperature model with the ac-temperature method, our calculation shows that the frequency dependence of the spin current is determined by the thermal wavelength and the thermal boundary conditions of the phonons and the magnons.


Averaging methods are used to study the behaviour of an adaptive controller in the presence of slowly time-varying parameters. The aim is to combine on the one hand explicit incorporation of time-varying parameters into adaptive control stability analysis and on the other averaging methods. Together, these form a powerful tool for the analysis of adaptive algorithms.<<ETX>>


The design proposal of reversible logic circuit for one-dimensional quantum walk based on NCP quantum gates library is presented.According to the features of the one-dimensional quantum walk,this circuit is divided to two parts,one part is quantum coin tossing and the other part is S operation.Besides the work above,this paper thoroughly analyses the one-dimensional quantum walk and builds a mathematical model of the one-dimensional quantum walk and uses controlled add-sub circuit to realize the S operation.At present the researches on quantum walk often limited to the mathematical theory and analysis.Depend on the primitive recursive,Mathematical expression of every step of the one-dimensional quantum walk is given in this paper;the circuit studied in this paper describes element operation of the one-dimensional quantum walk,and make this modular which contribute to the realization for the algorithm of one-dimensional quantum walk.


This paper reports on a study undertaken in an organisation providing services for people with disabilities. The organisation in which this research was undertaken is facing a changing funding model. The essential research issue of the paper is an understanding of the influence of both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards on the motivation of not-for-profit staff. The organisation concerned is made up of two units, in one of which employees can earn a performance bonus. This situation highlights the issue of how extrinsic rewards are perceived by staff as a source of motivation. The technique of discriminant analysis was used to investigate the importance of a number of variables on staff motivation. The important findings of the study are, first, that intrinsic rewards play a significant role in motivation. Second, extrinsic rewards, but in combination with intrinsic rewards, also motivate staff.


We introduce a purely monolingual approach to filtering for parallel data from a noisy corpus in a low-resource scenario. Our work is inspired by Junczysdowmunt:2018, but we relax the requirements to allow for cases where no parallel data is available. Our primary contribution is a dual monolingual cross-entropy delta criterion modified from Cynical data selection Axelrod:2017, and is competitive (within 1.8 BLEU) with the best bilingual filtering method when used to train SMT systems. Our approach is featherweight, and runs end-to-end on a standard laptop in three hours.


Discovery of the top quark in 1995 at the Fermilab Tevatron collider concluded a long search following the 1977 discovery of bottom (b) quark [1] and represents another triumph of the Standard Model (SM) of elementary particles. Top quark is one of the fundamental fermions in the Standard Model of electroweak interactions and is the weak-isospin partner of the bottom quark. A precise measurement of top pair production cross-section would be a test of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) prediction. Presently, Tevatron is the world's highest energy collider where protons (p) and anti-protons ({anti p}) collide at a centre of mass energy (ps) of 1.96 TeV. At Tevatron top (t) and anti-top ({anti t}) quarks are predominantly pair produced through strong interactions--quark annihilation ({approx_equal} 85%) and gluon fusion ({approx_equal} 15%). Due to the large mass of top quark, t or {anti t} decays ({approx} 10{sup -25} sec) before hadronization and in SM framework, it decays to a W boson and a b quark with {approx} 100% branching ratio (BR). The subsequent decay of W boson determines the major signatures of t{anti t} decay. If both W bosons (coming from t and {anti t} decays) decay into leptons (viz., ev{sub e}, {mu}{nu}{sub {mu}}more » or {tau}{nu}{sub {tau}}) the corresponding t{bar t} decay is called dileptonic decay. Of all dileptonic decay modes of t{bar t}, the t{bar t} {yields} WWb{anti b} {yields} ev{sub e}{mu}{nu}{sub {mu}}b{anti b} (e{mu} channel) decay mode has the smallest background contamination from Z{sup 0} production or Drell-Yan process; simultaneously, it has the highest BR ({approx} 3.16%) [2] amongst all dileptonic decay modes of t{bar t}. During Run I (1992-1996) of Tevatron, three e{mu} candidate events were detected by D0 experiment, out of 80 candidate events (inclusive of all decay modes of t{bar t}). Due to the rarity of the t{bar t} events, the measured cross-section has large uncertainty in its value (viz., 5.69 {+-} 1.21(stat) {+-} 1.04(sys) pb {at} {radical}s = 1.8 TeV measured by D0 [3]). This analysis presents a cross section measurement in e{mu} channel utilizing {approx} 228 pb{sup -1} of data collected by D0 experiment during Tevatron Run II (between June 2002 and April 2004).« less


When Canadian leadership removed the 25 percent import duty on new foreign-built ships, it opened the door for fleet renewal--and there will soon be new Seaway vessels sailing through it.


Abstract Fluorinated motifs have a venerable history in drug discovery, but as C(sp3)−F‐rich 3D scaffolds appear with increasing frequency, the effect of multiple bioisosteric changes on molecular recognition requires elucidation. Herein we demonstrate that installation of a 1,3,5‐stereotriad, in the substrate for a commonly used lipase from Pseudomonas fluorescens does not inhibit recognition, but inverts stereoselectivity. This provides facile access to optically active, stereochemically well‐defined organofluorine compounds (up to 98 % ee). Whilst orthogonal recognition is observed with fluorine, the trend does not hold for the corresponding chlorinated substrates or mixed halogens. This phenomenon can be placed on a structural basis by considering the stereoelectronic gauche effect inherent to F−C−C−X systems (σ→σ*). Docking reveals that this change in selectivity (H versus F) with a common lipase results from inversion in the orientation of the bound substrate being processed as a consequence of conformation. This contrasts with the stereochemical interpretation of the biogenetic isoprene rule, whereby product divergence from a common starting material is also a consequence of conformation, albeit enforced by two discrete enzymes.


A multifunctional self-generating wireless charging shoe, comprising: a shoe body, and a step-counting apparatus (1), a GPS positioning apparatus (2) and a self-generating apparatus (7) arranged on the shoe body, wherein the step-counting apparatus (1), the GPS positioning apparatus (2) and the self-generating apparatus (7) are connected to a microprocessor (5), and the self-generating apparatus (7) generates power by means of periodic treading. Also comprised is a power transmitter (3). The power transmitter (3) is electrically connected to the microprocessor (5). Under the control of the microprocessor (5), the power transmitter (3) completes wireless power transmission with an external device. The multifunctional self-generating wireless charging shoe can collect movement data and perform intelligent positioning. The method of generating power for a mobile phone while walking may encourage more people to walk more, which is thus good for health, and power generation and charging can be performed at any time. The present invention can serve as a charger of a mobile terminal device, and also can serve as a mobile power source to store power. In addition, warmth retention for feet can be achieved in the winter, thereby achieving the function of one multi-purpose shoe.


Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Burley 21 plants were twice exposed to ozone pulses (350 ppb for a 4-hour-period, daily). Peroxidase activity was determined in the fourth and fifth leaves (counting from the apex) over 9 days after initiation of the first ozone fumigation. A significant increase of peroxidase activity was detected in both leaves of ozonetreated plants compared to control plants. Visible tissue injury was observed soon after ozone treatments. Leaf damage was more evident in older leaves and was essentially unrelated to peroxidase activity increase. Starch-gel electrophoresis of crude extracts obtained from ozone-treated plants showed a new anodic peroxidase isoform possibly related to the stress response of the plant to the gaseous pollutant. No difference was observed in the cathodic isoform pattern.


Researchers discover microbial life on ice spires known as penitentes on the arid, sunlight-blasted upper reaches of Llullaillaco, one of the best earthly analogues for Mars.


Abstract : Heat transfer modulation between the gas flow and the Thermal Protection Shield (TPS) that occurs because of ejection of under-expanded pyrolysis gases through the cracks in the TPS is studied by numerical modeling. The simulations are performed for an axisymmetric bluff body flying at Mach 7. The influence of the geometry of the TPS on heat transfer pattern was studied for two representative shapes. The results are presented for three different flight altitudes (low-ground level, moderate-20km and high-30km). At the low altitude the plume pressure is lower than the pressure behind the detached front shock wave and the plume propagates slowly along the wall surface. At high and moderate altitudes, the plume path and consequently, convective heat transfer between the TPS and the plume depends on the plume interaction with the bow shock wave. The effect of initial pressure of pyrolysis gas on the plume dynamics is significant. The presence of the blast wave associated with under-expanded plume alters the heat transfer and increases mixing. Finally, the enhanced heat transfer caused by the emergence of multiple plumes is investigated.


On-line impedance analysis allows impedances of devices and power lines to be determined for the optimum design of PLC systems. By measuring changes in impedance of devices such as transformers, motors or power lines, impending failures may also be detected. This paper discusses software for the control, signal processing and calibration of the Inductive Shunt On-Line Impedance Analyzer. The paper shows that the resulting combination of hardware and software results in accurate measurements of impedances over a wide frequency and impedance value range. Some on-line and off-line impedance measurements are presented.


A series of charge-balanced Si4+-M1+,2+ (M = Mg2+, K+, Li+) substitution compositions with the chemical formulae of SrFe12−2xSixMgxO19 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2), Sr1−yFe12−ySiyKyO19 (y = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2), and SrFe12−z(Si0.6Li0.6)zO19 (z = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6) were prepared using conventional ceramic processes. While the sole doping of Si with x = 0.1 (SrFe12−xSixO19 (x = 0.1)) causes a noticeable Fe2O3 phase formation, the co-doping of Si-Mg and Si-Li allow a single M-type phase formation with x up to x = 0.1 and z = 0.4, respectively. Notably, a 2.6% increase in the saturation magnetization was obtained for Si-Li-substituted SrM with z = 0.05—that is, SrFe11.95Si0.03Li0.03O19. Enhancement of the magnet performance can also be achieved when anisotropic permanent magnets are fabricated based on the substitution composition SrFe11.95Si0.03Li0.03O19. The remnant magnetic flux density was improved by 2.5% compared to that of the unsubstituted SrM (from 4207 to 4314 G). The maximum energy product (BHmax) value also increased from 4.24 to 4.46 M·G·Oe. The enhancement in permanent magnet performance is attributed to the increase in the MS of SrM by the optimal Si-Li substitution. This is a promising result because enhanced permanent magnet performance is achieved with intrinsic magnetic property improvement.


Previous theoretical and empirical research provides substantial support for a contingency approach toward international entry-mode selection. Similarly, additional empirical research supports the notion that different international ownership-based entry modes tend to be associated with varying performance levels. In this study we provide an initial attempt to use Werner, Brouthers and Brouthers' (1996) multiple measures of Perceived Environmental Uncertainty (PEU) to determine the entry mode choices of firms and link these risk-adjusted mode choices to managerial satisfaction with firm performance. We hypothesize and find that firms which make PEU risk-adjusted entry mode choices are significantly more satisfied with their firm's performance than firms whose entry mode choices cannot be predicted using multiple PEU risk measures.


This paper proposes a probabilistic approach for planning a WLAN. A measurement technique was used to collect data from a real WLAN network. The data collected were power and quality of service (QoS) metrics like, delay, jitter, packet loss, throughput and PMOS. They were analyzed through deductive statistical method. Finally, to optimize the QoS parameters to find the best distance from the AP to the receiver to guarantee the QoS ITU-T recommendations a particle swarm optimization (PSO) was applied.


Objective:There is currently no standard salvage regimen for patients with recurrent and refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma(NHL).This study investigated the efficacy of the DICE(dexamethasone,isofos-famide,cisplatin,and etoposide)regimen on recurrent and refractory NHL and observed the corresponding adverse events.Methods:We reviewed the clinical records of 22 patients with recurrent and refractory NHL who failed to achieve remission after 2-6 cycles of CHOP regimen and received DICE as a salvage regimen with a median of 4 cycles(range 2-7 cycles).Of the 22 patients,8 patients had malignancies originating from T-cells,and the other 14 had malignancies originating from B-cells.The efficacy of the DICE regimen and its adverse events were evaluated.Results:The total response rate(RR)of these 22 patients was 63.6%.The complete remission(CR)rate was 40.9%.The response rate was 75.0%for T-cell NHL and 57.1%for B-cell NHL.The CR rate was 37.5%for T-cell NHL and 42.9%for B-cell NHL(P0.05).Elevated serum levels of lac-tate dehydrogenase(LDH)and the presence of bulky disease were risk factors for the efficacy of the DICE regimen(P0.05).Major adverse events included myelosuppression,nausea,vomiting,and alopecia,and these adverse effects could be treated.No chemotherapy-related death occurred.Conclusion:The DICE regi-men is effective for treating recurrent and refractory NHL.


THEME 7: Problems of the Caldonian / Ellesmerian Junction Summary: The North Greenland segment of the Franklinian Basin bordering the present Arctie Oeean accumulated up to 8 km of Cambrian-Devon strata. whieh are weIl exposed and permit reeognition of seven stages in the evolution ofthe basin. Eaeh stage (cxccpt the first) is eharaeterizcd by differentiation into a southern shelf and slopc and a northcrn dccp-watcr trough. With time thc basin expanded southwards leading to final foundering of the shelf areas in the late Silurian. Some stratigraphie al dcvelopments in the basin ean be linked to the rising Caledonian mountains in East and Nonh-East GreenlancI. Accumulation in the Franklinian Basin was brought to a elose in the latest Devonian by the Ellesmerian orogeny.


All the non-H atoms of the title compound, C12H10ClNO, lie on a crystallographic mirror plane orientated perpendicular to the crystallographic b axis.


Since the 21st century,China has witnessed its rapid development,good effect and great potential in Recreational Fishery,which is a new trend in the development of tourism in China.New opportunities appear in the traditional fishery.Located on the west coast of the Taiwan Straits,Fujian,with superior recreational fishery development conditions,is a big fishery province as well as a big ocean province in Southeast China.As a model of Recreational Fishery,Fishing Villages will boast as one of the three brands of the leisure agricultural tourism together with Forest Home and Happy Farmhouse Traveling.This paper begins with the status quo of recreational fisheries in Fujian,and then analyzes its brand development and comes up with some safeguard measures.


Job seekers with cognitive impairments, for example Asperger's syndrome and/or ADHD, have greater challenges in entering the labour market compared with other groups with impaired functional capacity (Hansen 2009). The importance of social skills, a more complex and dynamic working life and modern methods of organizing work, such as groupwork or teamwork in smaller groups with a flat structure, constitute some of the reasons for these challenges (Hawkins 2004, Attwood 2007).


This paper presents a study on harmonic resonance and its impact on harmonic distortion level in a typical industrial distribution system. The system utilised in the study is described and the cases considered are detailed. The study is performed using the frequency scan analysis method with the aid of the PSCAD and MATLAB computer programs. The results, which enable the visualization of the system impedance at various frequencies, represent the impedance observed from the bus injected with harmonics from an adjustable speed drive (ASD) load. The results reveal the resonance points of the several cases considered and how they affect the system.


This paper reports on a longitudinal study of the Project Preschool PLUS bilingual program conducted by two elementary schools in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. The program serves limited English proficient (LEP) students, the majority of whom qualify for free or reduced price lunches. It emphasizes whole group, small group, and individualized instruction, as well as field trips. Standard diagnostic tests were administered to students at the beginning and end of the school year during the preschool program, while the California Achievement Test (CAT) was administered to kindergartners and first-graders who had completed the program. The study found that Project PLUS was able to make noteworthy impacts on the preschoolers who finished the program. Seventy-one percent of these students were developmentally at o'above their chronological age by the end of the school year. On all subscales of the CAT, the former PLUS students scored significantly higher than a control group of similar LEP students. (HDM) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** co ti CD re.) A1e94.1og 9/94 Longitudinal Study of a Bilingual Program for Four Year Olds


The text teaching materials used by Ping-pong Tactics in colleges can not meet the basic needs of teaching, while the electric teaching material can integrate various Medias and use the advantages of multimedia technology to properly represent the teaching contents that are difficult for traditional teaching media to express, which can not only optimize the learning effects, but also can cultivate the autonomous learning ability of students. This study is based on the documentary research and investigation and it is started with the analysis of construction needs of electric teaching material of Ping-pong Tactics and conducts the systematic teaching design under the guidance of "Subject education theory" and develops the electric teaching material of Ping-pong Tactics to meet the needs of "teaching" and "learning" for teachers and students separately.


I examined the home range and habitat selection of 146 radio-collared female elk (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) from 2002 to 2005 during the calving period (15 May to 24 June). I determined the proportion of home ranges of parturient cow elk during the calving period and the proportion of birthing sites of elk that were in either forested protected areas or the adjacent fragmented agriculture-dominated matrix in southwestern Manitoba, Canada. Overall, 73% of the minimum convex polygon home ranges were entirely within a protected area, 6% were only on farmland, and 21% included both. Home ranges including farmland and protected area (mean = 17.9 km2) were 3.8 times larger than those entirely inside a protected area (mean = 4.7 km2) or only on farmland (mean = 4.5 km2) (U = –2.79, P = 0.005). Female elk remaining solely in protected areas selected deciduous and mixedwood forest, marsh and fen, and water at the scale of the home range. Elk exclusively on farmland selected forage crops only. At the scale of the bi...


The neighborhood complexes of graphs were introduced by Lov\'asz in his proof of the Kneser conjecture. He showed that a certain topological property of $N(G)$ gives a lower bound for the chromatic number of $G$.
In this paper, we study a combinatorial description of the fundamental groups of the neighborhood complexes. For a positive integer $r$, we introduce the $r$-fundamental group $\pi_1^r(G,v)$ of a based graph $(G,v)$ and the $r$-neighborhood complex $N_r(G)$ of $G$. The $1$-neighborhood complex is the neighborhood complex. We show that the even part $\pi_1^{2r}(G,v)_{ev}$, which is a subgroup of $\pi_1^{2r}(G,v)$ with index 1 or 2, is isomorphic to the fundamental group of $(N_r(G),v)$ if $v$ is not isolated. We can use the $r$-fundamental groups to show the non-existence of graph homomorphisms. For example, we show that $\pi_1^3(KG_{2k+1,k})$ is isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z} /2$, and this implies that there is no graph homomorphism from $KG_{2k+1,k}$ to the 5-cycle graph $C_5$. We discuss the covering maps associated to $r$-fundamental groups.


This paper describes some recent studies conducted using a set of analytic point source transient free molecule equations generated to model behavior ranging from molecular effusion to rocket plumes. These studies include comparisons to experimental data regarding steady flow from a sonic orifice and generation of a thruster backflow environment, followed by a transient development of plumes due to steady thruster operations and to a single pulse.


A life member of the Eastern Goldfields Historical Society, Norma King spent her life living and recording history in the region.


Industrial turbines and engines have an extensive impact on manufacturing and electrical power generation in the United States. Improving engine and turbine efficiency, durability, and commercial competitiveness remains a vital priority in these industries. These improvements have been extensively researched by developing thermal barrier coating (TBC) technologies in commercial-scale engines and turbines. Current TBCs are fabricated from yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ). Despite significant TBC technology advances, turbines and engines are being introduced to harsher environmental conditions such as higher temperatures. These higher temperatures can cause adverse phase changes in conventional YSZ TBCs. Improving or replacing these TBCs will help increase turbine and engine performance, as well as reduce emissions.


the comprehensive ability required by the major of film and television arts is generally high, and students need to have some innovative ability and practical ability. Therefore, in the process of teaching, educators need to use some special ways to cultivate innovative talents. At present, china has entered a new period of rapid development. With the progress of society, the standard of living of ordinary people in the social market has also entered a new stage of development. People have begun to pursue higher-level things, not just in terms of clothing, food, and shelter. It requires beautiful clothes, delicious and delicious food, comfortable and exquisite living, and more convenient travel. People have begun to pay attention to how to live better and more refined. So in this situation, the film and television art industry has great development prospects. As far as the current situation is concerned, the development of the media industry is very rapid and it is exploding. Therefore, it is especially important to cultivate relevant film and television art talents, and it is also very suitable for the current market demand, which is conducive to continuously improving the quality of talents and effectiveness.


Background: Brucellosis, a multisystem infection that may imitate other conditions, shows a low incidence during childhood and may be misdiagnosed. Brucellosis has become a major medical problem in a number of the provinces in Iran. Objectives: To study the epidemiology, clinical and laboratory features, and management of brucellosis. Patients and Methods: We reviewed the charts of all patients who were diagnosed with brucellosis and showed an agglutination titer of 1:160 or more for Brucella at the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Qods Hospital from March 1995 to March 2004. We collected information on the age, gender, history of unpasteurized milk or milk-product ingestion, presenting symptoms, and physical signs of the patients. We also collected results of routine laboratory tests, treatment, and treatment outcome. Results: Patients younger than 12 years of age constituted all cases of brucellosis admissions. One hundred seventy-five patients (107 male and 68 female, 1.6:1 ratio) were diagnosed with brucellosis and had a Brucella titer of 1:160 with an odds ratio (OR) of 1:160. Eighty-seven patients (50%) were 1-6 years of age, 86 patients (49%) were 7-12 years of age, and only 2 patients were < 1 year of age. One hundred (57%) patients were from rural areas, and 75 (43%) were from cities. The most frequent seasons of disease occurrence were summer (76, 43%) and spring (52, 30%); there were fewer cases in winter (24, 14%) and autumn (23, 13%). One hundred fourteen cases (65%) had a history of consuming unpasteurized milk or milk products. The most frequent symptoms were arthralgia (79%) and fever (78%). The most common physical findings were fever (51%) and arthritis (26%). Of the cases, 157 (89.5%) were acute, and 17 (9%) were chronic. A normal white blood cell count was found in 123 cases (71%); anemia, in 33 (19%); increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), in 92 (53%); positive C-reactive protein (CRP), in 85 (48%), and positive radiologic changes, in 20 (11%). The most common antibiotics used were cotrimoxazole plus gentamycin in 83 cases (47.5%) and cotrimoxazole plus rifampin in 72 cases (41%). Conclusions: Brucellosis presents in various ways and should be differentiated from arthritis in countries where Brucella is endemic. Symptoms, signs, and first-line laboratory findings are not distinguishing; accordingly, agglutination tests and, if possible, blood culture should be performed in any child with prolonged fever. Treatment is effective, but disease prevention by education of high-risk families is indicated.


Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular rickettsial organism and the causative agent of Query fever, a zoonosis that occurs worldwide. In Korea, C. burnetii infection had occurred in humans and animals. However, the studies were only conducted in geographically limited area for detection of C. burnetii. The objective of this study was to detect C. burnetii in Korean native cattle and dairy cattle nationwide by real-time PCR. The total of 807 blood samples from 622 Korean native cattle and 185 dairy cows, 170 individual milk samples of dairy cows, and 348 bulk tank milk samples of dairy herds were collected nationwide. From blood samples, C. burnetii was detected in 17 (2.7%) out of 622 Korean native cattle and 2 (1.1%) of 185 dairy cows. From milk samples, C. burnetii was detected in 27 (15.9%) out of 170 individual milk samples of dairy cows. And C. burnetii was detected in 84 (24.1%) of 348 bulk tank milk samples. In conclusion, this study revealed that the detection rates are considerably high in cattle and the infection of C. burnetii has been continuously occurring in cattle of Korea. In order to prevent the hazards of a zoonosis Q-fever that occur both humans and domestic animals, further studies are needed to clarify the epidemiology of Q-fever of domestic animals and humans in Korea.


Extensive description and analysis of receptor-ligand interactions, including how the number of potential binding sites on a receptor and the affinity of each binding site for its ligand may be determined.


Abstract This paper explores whether the dominant fashion aesthetic is challenged or destabilized through the case study of Instagram style mums/moms. It considers how social media, such as Instagram, opens up new spaces for bodies to perform fashionability without the mediation of the fashion system. This space is potentially more "democratic," allowing those located outside the fashion system to exhibit fashionability through personal style, presenting alternatives to the normative fashionable body. However, conversely, Instagram is also a space that is increasingly colonized by big brands and celebrity "influencers" whose accounts display similar aesthetics to mainstream fashion. By examining a range of mums/moms, not just celebrity or "micro-celebrity" accounts, the paper explores the creative display of style and explorations of their maternal body—outside the dominant fashionable ideal—to discuss how these women implicitly, sometimes explicitly, challenge the aesthetics of fashion. In articulating a "technique of the self," this "mum style" opens space to navigate motherhood and fashionability at the same time. The aesthetic tropes of "mum style" are explored to unpack the contradictions and possibilities of this space.


Research conducted on complex Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data over the last two years has culminated in the development of a compression algorithm1 compatible with current imagery standards. This new algorithm also includes adaptive attributes which identify the radar data type, data characteristics, and then selects optimal quantization parameters, generated based on the statistics of the data, from a knowledge base. This algorithm has achieved near-lossless compression ratios in excess of 20 to 1, with reduced Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and increased Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). This algorithm also produces minimal degradation when producing phase-derived radar products. This paper describes the algorithm development, operation, and test results obtained using this compression algorithm., The algorithm component elements are described including the use of an adaptive preprocessor, modified quantizer, and knowledge base. This paper details the improved results observed for compressed data, magnitude imagery, and phase-derived products generated during the study.


A stratospheric balloon, carrying a NaI (T1) scintillation counter for measuring 20-100keV bremsstrahlung X-ray was launched from Stamsund (L=5.6) in Norway during the recovery phase of a magnetospheric substorm. The scintillation counter recorded X-ray pulsations with periods of 20-30s when the balloon was located at L=5.4-4.8 and at 0950-1300 MLT. A rising tone type of quasi-periodic (QP) VLF emissions and Pc 3 magnetic pulsations observed at Andoya (L=6.15), located at 160km northeast of Stamsund, were closely associated with these X-ray pulsations. The one-to-one correspondence between occurrences of QP emissions and enhancements of X-ray count rate suggests that QP emissions (whistler mode waves) modulate the pitch angle diffusion rate of energetic electrons trapped in the magnetosphere through the cyclotron interaction. Further a close relation between QP emissions and Pc 3 magnetic pulsations suggests that compressional mode Pc 3 waves propagating in radial direction from the dayside magnetopause toward the earth modulate the growth rate of whistler mode waves.


Objectives. This paper presents the design and experimental results for a reverberation chamber based exposure setup for individually housed unconstrained rodents suitable for
 exposure over extended periods. The idea of using reverberation chambers for animalexposure to electromagnetic fields was first suggested by the National Institute of Standards and Technology
 (NIST) in a special session at BEMS 2001. A preliminary study involving an experimental investigation performed by NIST and a preliminary numerical dosimetry study performed by IT'IS, both
 funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in the USA. The results of this preliminary study were very encouraging and in January 2006 the main study to
 evaluate the potential toxicity and carcinogenicity of cell phone RF radiation in laboratory animals was issued by NIEHS under the National Toxicology Program. These results constitute the
 out come of the chamber prototype development and evaluation phase of the study. Methods. Reverberation chambers are resonant enclosures where the field structure is continuously altered
 using stirrers such that they provide a statistically homogeneous field distribution within a specific volume in the chamber. In the NTP studies, rats will be chronically exposed at 900MHz
 and mice at 1.9GHz, different exposure groups will be subjected to either GSM or IS95 signals at one of three SAR levels or sham, over an entire lifespan. The design of the reverberation
 chamber had to encompass both the electrical design and animal housing issues, this resulted in a fully welded stainless steel design with two mode stirrers. The rodents have to be supplied
 with drinking water without energy absorption in the water or increased SAR in or RF burns to the animal whilst drinking. The exposure in the chambers is controlled using a closed loop
 system. This system is based on the measurement of three orthogonal components of both the electric and magnetic field at two locations in each chamber. The required field strength was
 determined from numerical dosimetry using high resolution animal models based on 4 different size models covering the whole life span. Each model has over one hundred different tissue types
 differentiated. Using the models the average field strengths required to produce the target SAR in the animals in each exposure group was determined. Results. The important performance
 metrics for a reverberation chamber used for animal exposure are: the field uniformity, field isotropy, SAR uniformity and efficiency. Using EField probes the measured electric-field
 uniformity (one standard deviation) in the empty chamber measured on a 300mm 3D grid was 0.6dB and the field isotropy 0.85dB and in the fully loaded chamber, over a reduced number of points,
 0.74dB and 1.3dB respectively. Figure 1, shows the E-field uniformity results. The SAR uniformity measured in rat and mouse phantoms, using the temperature method, were 0.46dB and 0.40dB
 respectively. The design achieves an overall efficiency of ~70% for adult rats and 45% for adult mice. A water system was developed could be installed in the chambers without introducing
 additional loss. The design for use in a reverberation chamber environment with high RF fields (up to 400 V/m) was developed that avoided or minimized: 1) high local SAR peaks in the animal
 whilst drinking, 2) variations in whole-body average SAR with respect to the animal not drinking, 3) significant distortions in the fields around the water system. The design uses flanged
 quarter wave choke tubes integrated into a stainless steel automatic water system. The numerical analysis was performed with SEMCAD using high resolution anatomical models. Figure 2 shows
 both the flanged choke arrangement and the anatomical model used for the numerical dosimetry. The experimental verification was done using gel animal phantoms and temperature probes. The
 designed water system provides a safe drinking environment without disturbing the field homogeneity and isotropy within the animal enclosures. Conclusions. Overall, the performance across all
 the criteria of the reverberation chamber for animal exposure is excellent, with all target performance metrics being met or exceeded. The performance of this exposure environment is
 comparable to the best exposure setups using constrained animals. Acknowledgements. This work was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
 (N01-ES-55544).


We used molecular genetic techniques to identify the source population of northern pike (Esox lucius) illegally introduced into Lake Davis, California, and to study the dynamics of genetic change since the introduction. We typed 10 tetranucleotide microsatellite loci from 11 populations and used measures of population differentiation, phylogenetic analysis, and assignment tests to determine the origins of the pre- and post-rotenone-treatment populations. We found that levels of genetic differentiation were low between the pre- and both post-treatment Lake Davis samples and phylogenetic analysis revealed that they were all closely related. Assignment tests classified a high proportion of posttreatment individuals to the original Lake Davis population. Consequently, our results indicate that the fish population that reappeared in 1999 and a subsequent sample in 2002 were descendents or survivors of the initial population. We were unable to assign the pre- or post-treatment individuals consistently to any on...


This report describes a conceptual design for a low temperature heavy water reactor with no electricity generation (LTHWR-NE) to be built as a new production reactor at the Savannah River Plant (SRP). The reactor design is based on the proven SRP reactor design with enhancements and state-of-the-art equipment. Aluminum cladding temperatures would be the same as with current operations. The reactor will be built on a time schedule to allow startup testing in September 1991 and first operation in March 1992. A modified reactor design using the same aluminum cladding temperatures as C-Reactor but permitting natural circulation in both the primary and secondary coolant loops is presented in the Appendix. This concept would use the same primary loop flow, temperature range, and secondary coolant parameters as the design in Section I of this report. The differences between the two reactor designs are also discussed in the Appendix.


Copies of Inferno and Purgatorio were already circulating in northern Italy when Dante died in September 1321, and these lost early exemplars were the forerunners of hundreds of fourteenth-century manuscripts of the Commedia , complete and partial. Few vernacular texts achieved so rapid or widespread a diffusion anywhere in medieval Europe. But Dante's poem was not long allowed to go about unaccompanied. By 1322 commentators were working on Inferno ; by the decade's end a commentary on the whole Commedia had appeared, and the first century of Dante criticism eventually yielded a vast crop of exegesis. It includes full-scale commentaries, in which theoretical prologues, proems to each canto and textual glosses are combined to form an organic whole; sets of individual glosses ( chiose ), either discontinuous or in connected prose; and a variety of paraphrases, summaries, introductions, biographies, and other prolegomena, frequently in verse, which flourished on the margins of commentary proper, especially in the 1320s. New material continues to come to light: a long-lost Neapolitan commentary on Inferno , of 1369–73, was published in 1998. Commentators wrote in Italian and Latin, all over Italy (Naples, Milan, Bologna, Venice, Verona, Pisa) and abroad (Germany). Even Dante's loved and hated native city paid tribute to the poem that so ruthlessly dissects it: Giovanni Boccaccio and Filippo Villani lectured and wrote on Inferno in Florence, while the Ottimo commento and the work ascribed to the 'Anonimo Fiorentino' almost certainly originated there.


Although the efficiency of steel fibres for improving mechanical properties (cracking resistance and failure toughness) of the concrete has been broadly discussed in the literature, the number of studies dedicated to the fibre effect on structural behaviour of the externally bonded elements is limited. This experimental study investigates the influence of steel fibres on the failure character of concrete elements strengthened with external carbon fibre reinforced polymer sheets. The elements were subjected to different loading conditions. The test data of four ties and eight beams are presented. Different materials were used for the internal bar reinforcement: in addition to the conventional steel, high-grade steel and glass fibre reinforced polymer bars were also considered. The experimental results indicated that the fibres, by significantly increasing the cracking resistance, alter the failure character from splitting of the concrete to the bond loss of the external sheets and thus noticeably increase the load bearing capacity of the elements.


[Para. 1 of Summary]

Over the past decade, the use of "microbubbles" has enhanced the use of ultrasound for non-invasive diagnostic imaging. Microbubbles have also been shown to hold immense promise in the context of the site-specific delivery of drugs; for example, directly to cancer cells as well as to specific regions of the brain.


In Marketing, making a choice highly depends upon the reviews and ratings. A purchase decision can easily get affected by the rating of five stars from several reviewers. A trend regarding fashion goods is increasing in Pakistan. The present research was conducted on bandwagon and its effect on the consumption of fashion goods in Sialkot. The purpose was to know how others' perceptions influence youth in Sialkot, Pakistan. Quantitative research nature was used. While the self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted for the collection of data and distributed among sample size of 200 youth in Sialkot Pakistan. Correlation and Regression analyses were carried out in SPSS for testing hypotheses. Results indicate that bandwagon has positive and significant influence on the consumption of fashion goods. Findings will be beneficial to the fashion good companies to help them in making strategies in Sialkot Pakistan.


INTRODUCTION: Using retrospective evaluation of pregnancies complicated by preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), this project developed a profile that can be used to predict onset of labor in the setting of PPROM. METHODS: Patients between 24 and 34 weeks of gestation admitted with PPROM during a 2-year period were evaluated retrospectively recording the following variables: vaginal cultures, cervical dilation, fetal heart rate, vaginal bleeding or discharge, and record of nursing concern. These variables were scored at four time points preceding the actual time of spontaneous labor onset. The model using the presence of dichotomous variables at 12 hours before the onset of labor was used to make the composite score. Each variable was assigned a number of points based on its &bgr; coefficient in the multivariate model. We set a cutoff score, determined by the receiver operating characteristic curves, that signified the likelihood of starting labor in 12 hours. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in all the variables at 12 hours before the labor. We arrived at a composite score that predicted the likelihood of labor within 12 hours while maintaining a significantly high negative predictive value. A score of 18 yielded a negative predictive value 80.5% and a positive predictive value of 52%. CONCLUSION: A composite prognostic index score was developed that helps anticipate onset of labor in patients with PPROM. This score may serve as a useful tool in settings where patients admitted with PPROM require transfer to labor units, magnesium sulfate for neuroprotection, or a rescue dose of steroids for optimal care.


This paper analyzes the causes,forms,guidelines,problems and influence of the reconstruction of German journalism education by the western allies during the occupation period(1945—1949).It holds that the present German journalism education is not the natural development from the traditional German journalism education,but from the new basis that was laid down by the allies' reconstruction in this area,in which the western allies played a more important role.


Following in the footsteps of international organizations, including the United Nations, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and the International Telecommunications Union, on 2 May 2013, Google replaced the words "Palestinian Territories" with "Palestine" on all of its sites and products. Israeli deputy foreign minister Ze'ev Elkin immediately sent a letter to Google's CEO urging him to reconsider the decision that "in essence recogniz[es] the existence of a Palestinian state."1 It was not the first time that an Israeli official took issue with "Palestine" emerging as a recognized entity in the virtual world. In 1998, for example, Ariel Sharon, then foreign minister, personally lobbied the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) against its decision to award Palestinians an international telephone code. He claimed, in terms echoed fifteen years later in the Google com- motion, that Palestine is "not a territorial or geopolitical entity," and that the "insistence upon the illegitimate use of the term 'Palestine' is liable to unfairly prejudice the outcome of . . . negotiations [at the time]."2Palestine "exists" on Google and increasingly in various other "virtual" ways. But are "Palestine" on Google or the acquisition of the google.ps domain name in 2009 examples of political resistance on the internet? For Palestinian politicians, virtual presence has historical significance. Consider, for example, the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology's (MTIT) suggestion that "ICTs [information and communica- tions technology] contribute directly to the national goal of establishing and building an independent state."3 Within that context, Sabri Saydam, adviser to Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas and a former MTIT minister himself, posited Google's 2013 move as "a step towards...libera- tion."4 For Israeli politicians, as quoted above, the emergence of (a virtual) "Palestine" poses ideological and practical dangers. Both camps ascribe power to the internet. Their only disagreement is over the ends to which the internet is a means: The internet is a threat to the existence of the state of Israel or a step toward a future state. At heart, however, both views are a form of technological determinism. They remove the internet from human, historical, and geopolitical contexts, and posit it as agent of political, social, or economic change. We contend that neither position is valid.Besides overlooking power relations and on-the-ground dynamics, a technological determinist view is inherently ahistorical. It neither con- textualizes technological change itself nor the rhetoric around it. In the Palestinian case, the belief that new technologies hold within them positive liberatory powers is not new. In the early 1990s, for example, the internet hype came under the guise of connecting Palestinians, regardless of geo- graphic location (in Israel, in the occupied territories, in refugee camps in Lebanon, and farther away in the diaspora), to each other and the world. And as the politicians' statements evidence, the internet emerged for some as an instrument of economic development under the framework of state- building within the occupied territories. At the end of the second intifada in the mid-2000s, scholars, politicians, and investors were still speaking of technology's political promise, now under the framework of user-generated content (web 2.0).5 In tech jargon, web 1.0 indicates one-to-many consump- tion, whereby most users simply download content. Web 2.0 connotes user-created websites, self-publishing platforms, and the many-to-many interactions available through participatory and social networks. The enthusiasm for online activism raises questions about whether new forms of Palestinian political activism are possible thanks to the convergence of physical and virtual worlds, for example through participatory (blogs, wiki), social (Facebook), and geospatial (Foursquare) spaces. …


Abstract The histories of anthropology and photography owe a great debt to Christianity. This is not from any specific theological dictum, but from the men and women who visited many parts of the world (usually uninvited) attempting to convert people in countries very different from their own. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, missionaries not only carried the word of their god, but also they had cameras. Their photographs and observations often provided anthropologists with their first glimpse of many non-Western cultures. In addition to taking photographs, the missionaries served as knowledgeable guides and hosts to many scientific visitors, who without their assistance, would never have completed their research trips.


1. Spotting the Real Innovators.2. Where Do Radical Innovations Come From?3. From New Technologies to New Markets.4. Colonists and Consolidators.5. From Colonization to Consolidation.6. Racing to Be Second: When to Enter New Markets.7. The Changing Basis of Competition.8. Creating the Markets of the Twenty-First Century.Notes.Further Reading.Acknowledgments.The Authors.Index.


The purpose of this paper is to trace the history and legacy of Islamic finance (IF) in Sri Lanka in the context of the emergence of life finance. It tracks the social life of finance through a genealogy of trust and capital.,The methodology used is qualitative. It is an extended case study using conversations, company documents and newspaper archival research.,Trust, transparency and ethics must be understood locally to have salience. The implicit effect of locally understood ideas of trust that have been built into the movement of capital (via ethical branding and transparency in IF, education and social awareness) can reconfigure relationships between communities in a country that has been ravaged by war.,There have been few studies on IF in Sri Lanka; this study will enrich those offerings. However, they must be understood in relation to the emergence of life finance.,This study presents a new viewpoint on the relationship between finance and social well-being and new categories through which to understand finance.,The implicit effect of locally understood ideas of trust which have been built into movements of capital (via ethical branding and transparency in IF, education, socially aware) can reconfigure relationships between communities in a country that has been ravaged by war.,There have been few studies on Islamic Finance in Sri Lanka; this study will enrich those offerings. But they must be understood in relation to the emergence of life-finance in South Asia.


Compound dry and hot events or extremes (CDHEs) may cause more severe impacts on natural and human systems than individual extremes and have received increasing attention in recent years. Previous studies on variations of CDHEs in China mainly focused on individual characteristics based on single drought indicators, which falls short in characterizing the variability of CDHEs. This study assesses changes in multiple characteristics of CDHEs (i.e., frequency, duration, severity, magnitude, and timing) in China during summer from 1960 to 2017 based on different drought indicators, including Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Results show that CDHEs become more frequent, longer, severer, stronger, and earlier in most parts of mainland China. Specifically, the frequency, duration, and severity of CDHEs show significant increases in the area from northeastern to southwestern China, whereas certain decreases are found in eastern China, central China, and parts of northwestern China. Changes in characteristics of CDHEs with various drought indicators differ to some extent, especially in arid regions. Furthermore, the spatiotemporal changes in precipitation, temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and sunshine duration are employed to explain changes in CDHEs. Our findings could be useful for assessing the changes in CDHEs to cope with climate extremes under global warming.


Kinetic studies on the oxidation of benzene-l,4-diol (H2bqn) by palladium(II) compounds in aqueous solution show that the reactions occur in two stages. The first stage involves the conjugate base of a palladium(II) aqua-ion and results in the formation of a palladium(0)–benzoquinone intermediate which then slowly decomposes in the second stage. A palladium(0)–benzoquinone compound has been isolated from reaction mixtures. The reactions are inhibited by chloride ion and show some mechanistic similarities to those in which palladium(II) compounds actas homogeneous catalysts for olefin oxidation.


Jar-test was conducted to study the removal effect and mechanism of intracellular and dissolved(extracellular) microcystins from raw water by coagulation processes.The results show that when pH of raw water is adjusted to 5.5-6.0 and coagulant of 25 mg/L is added,the intracellular microcystins can be removed effectively,with the removal rate of 97.4%. Addition of 10 mg/L PAC has adsorption effect on odorous substances.The enhanced coagulation process can effectively improve the removal effect of dissolved microcystins,with the removal rates of MC-RR and MC-LR being 60% to 70%.The reason is that the enhanced coagulation process improves the removal effect of small molecular weight hydrophobic organic matters.


The study of media credibility arguably began as early as the appearance of media itself. However, not until the 1950s when television became popular did the industry begin to study seriously the perceived trustworthiness of different forms of news media. With the popularization of the Internet in the 1990s, the focus of such studies began to shift to the credibility of online versus traditional media. Probably because of the political sensitivity of the issue, media credibility rarely has been studied in Mainland China. Around the world, media credibility is often associated with freedom of the press, media independence, and professional practices against self-censorship. Moreover, scientific studies of media credibility invariably require independent social surveys along with other scientific instruments. However, these international attitudes and requirements are hurdles to the study of media credibility in Mainland China. Against this background, Hongzhong Zhang's effort to document the credibility of Chinese media through primary studies must be applauded. By cooperating with a popular magazine Xiandai Guanggao [Modern Advertising ], the author designed a series of random telephone surveys in 10 major cities of China, covering various aspects of media credibility. In terms of media types, the author's "absolute" plus "relative" credibility measurements covered six forms of media: television, newspapers, radio, magazines, the Internet, and even cell phones. The inclusion of cell phones as a form of media is quite innovative, and probably very relevant to the study of communications in China. Nevertheless, as with the "recent" addition of the Internet to media credibility studies, more work has to be done on whether cell phones are carriers of contents provided by other media or direct information providers. In societies where traditional media are placed under heavy surveillance and censorship, devices such as smart phones and tablet computers can easily be mistaken as news providers when they are in fact just information carriers. However, with the rapid emergence of participatory media in its different forms, the roles of Internet service providers (ISP), network service providers (NSP), application service providers (ASP), telecommunication service providers (TSP), and so on, are blurred. It therefore comes as no surprise that the author did not go beyond measuring the credibility of cell phones in general as a form of media like radio and magazines. For newspapers and Internet providers, separate rating questions were used to measure the "absolute credibility" of these media. However, only the "relative credibility" of different television stations was measured, and even then, not at the channel level. This strategy is justifiable in light of resources constraint, the nature of the project sponsor, and the state of media development in Mainland China. However, one important methodological question arises: where a medium is