Objectives: To make new policy on private hospital development by investigation on number,scale,distribution,medical resources and medical service utilization in private hospital in Jiangsu province.Methods: Literature review and general investigation were used.All 446 private hospitals in Jiangsu province were research objects.Results: Private hospitals in Jiangsu province have been developed in number and scales and they have made much contribution on medical service provision.Problems in private hospitals were imbalance of regional development,small scales,poor development environment and lack of qualified human resources.Conclusions: Private hospitals need further development.Good development planning and classification guideline,implementing policies encouraging private hospital development and strengthening industry regulation are effectiveness way for private hospital development.


The duration of the cardiac effects of single intravenous doses of the ß‐antagonists, timolol and propranolol, was compared in 6 healthy male subjects. Timolol and propranolol were given in doses of 1 mg and 10 mg, respectively, and at specified times after their administration, ß‐blockade was assessed by the reduction of maximal exercise‐induced tachycardia and by the inhibition of the chronotropic and inotropic effects of isoproterenol. Inotropic effects were measured by changes in the pre‐ejection period of left ventricular systole obtained from systolic time intervals. There was no statistically significant difference in the timolol and propranolol time‐courses of ß‐blockade. The change in exercise‐tachycardia was maximal 5 min after ß‐antagonist infusion but dissipated rapidly so that no statistically significant change was observed 9 hr later. The chronotropic and inotropic effects of isoproterenol were almost completely antagonized for 1 V2 hr after ß‐antagonist infusion, and significant ß‐blockade could be demonstrated 9 hr later. There was no difference in the time‐course of the negative chronotropic and inotropic effects of either ß‐antagonist.


This paper proposes a deep-learning temperature measurement method using ultrasound images that is based on the thermal dependance of local changes in the speed of sound. In this method, the temperature distribution is measured using a non-invasive image analysis technique. In a previous study, we found a temperature measurement accuracy of 1.0 °C or less. However, our previous method has some disadvantages. First, the image analysis parameters (e.g., the size of the template and the cross-correlation threshold) are empirically determined. Second, it is necessary to obtain the thermal constant ktissue according to the type of tissue and the analysis parameters. To overcome these problems, we propose a new method using deep-learning. This new method is divided into three steps. The first step is to determine the image analysis parameters from the ultrasound images using a convolutional neural network (CNN). The second step is to analyze the image using the estimated analysis parameters to obtain a normalized temperature distribution. The third step is to determine the thermal constant ktissue to calibrate the temperature increase using multi-layered perceptron (MLP). In this paper, first, we propose three types of image fusion methods to input the ultrasound images into the CNN. Comparing the results of the three methods, we determine the optimal CNN structure. Second, we determine the optimal MLP structure by changing the number of hidden layers and neurons. Finally, as described above, we obtain the temperature distribution. Our results indicate that the proposed deep-learning method can effectively provide non-invasive temperature measurements.


BACKGROUND: Smoking rates are declining in the United States, except for young adults (age 18 to 24). Few organized programs target smoking cessation specifically for young adults, except programs for pregnant women. In contrast, the tobacco industry has invested much time and money studying young adult smoking patterns. Some of these data are now available in documents released through litigation.


The possibility of detection of the Kondo effect by means of the measurement of Bohm-Aharonov oscillations of the current going through a quantum dot embedded in one of the arms of a mesoscopic ring connected to two leads is demonstrated. The ring is threaded by a magnetic flux and the dot is subjected to a gate voltage V0 which controls its charge content. Whenever the dot has an odd number of electrons and, as a consequence, a net spin the system is in the Kondo regime. Thus, the Kondo effect can be turned on and off as the two dot levels and their associate Coulomb blockade peaks are tuned to the Fermi level by changing V0. Since the Kondo resonance provides a new channel for the electrons to tunnel through the dot it allows the flowing of current along the arm of the ring which contains the dot even though the dot levels are out of resonance. The interference between the waves going along the upper and lower arms of the ring gives rise to the Bohm-Aharonov oscillations of the current and is a clear si...


The aim of this study was to calculate and assess the cost of assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment cycles and live‐birth events in Japan in 2010.


Smart Antennas are the most prominent technologies used in the field of wireless communication. They are most widely used to improve the performance of wireless communication system by increasing coverage area ,system capacity and Quality of Service. Smart antenna describes multiple antennas which increases directivity of antennas by ensuring directional signal transmission and reception .Adaptive beamforming technique of smart antenna described in this paper is used to provide maximum signal strength in the direction of desired user and zeroing or nulling the interference. Using various adaptive beamforming algorithms such as LMS, NLMS and BBNLMS maximum possible directivity is achieved. These techniques are compared on the basis of beam pattern in terms of signal strength and MSE .The results are analyzed for multiple DOAs and multiple signals.


the problem of residential repair is a major proposition always accompanied by human development. This paper intends to integrate an economically applicable, operable and environmentally beneficial residential maintenance strategy from the generally scattered window disposal measures taken by households spontaneously at present, and make further discussion and interpretation about this strategy from multiple aspects in combination with the greening practice in daily life and other cases.


Perinatal morbidity is defined as presence of the disease which occurs as a result of side effect influences of treatment acting either on a fetus during pregnancy or newborn during the first week of life Young, [1]. The perinatal morbidity rates continue to increase despite the advancing maternal and neonatal care services in the Capricorn district, Limpopo province. Its prevention has major medical, social and economic costs. In the developing countries, the risk of perinatal morbidity is six times greater than in the developed countries; in the least developed countries it is over eight times higher. Globally, studies have shown that prematurity was observed to be a challenge and contributes to 40–80% of perinatal morbidity.


In China, for the longest time, the study of world history has followed the Soviet framework that once played a positive role in establishing and developing the field. However, the Soviet framework has inherent weaknesses. For one, it is woefully outdated because the historical background in which it was grounded has now virtually disappeared. It is also limited by coverage. The framework thus cannot deal with new research interests pursued by contemporary historians. This article proposes that we construct a new disciplinary framework of modern world history around the theme of modernization, because ever since the world entered the modern era, nearly all the world's events and changes have occurred in relation to modernization. From the perspective of modernization, we can reassess the development of modern world history by dividing it into five periods. These five periods sequentially interconnect with one another and have formed a complete process of modernization in the world.


Vision training is important for athletes and is key to win a sports game. Traditional vision training methods are suitable for sports that focus only on the ball. For basketball, however, players need to observe multiple moving objects (i.e., ball and players) concurrently on a large court. We propose BetterSight, an immersive vision training system for basketball that not only trains the vision of the player but also requires the player to dribble the ball stably, mimicking the situation in a real basketball game. BetterSight is composed of an Interaction Module (IM), a Training Content Generation Module (TCGM), and an Analysis Module (AM). IM allows the trainee to interact with the system more intuitively based on gesture and speech rather than the controller. TCGM simulates the training scenarios based on the training configurations selected by the trainee. AM collects the video sequences capturing the trainee and the trainee's eye movements during the training phase, and then analyzes the trainee's gaze, dribbling movements, and number of dribbles. The analyzed data can be used to evaluate the training effectiveness of using the proposed BetterSight.


A review of gas flow in microchannels of different cross-sections is presented in this article. The phenomenon of slip, slip models and measurement of slip coefficient are first discussed. The planar microchannels are dealt with in great detail; the different analytical, experimental and simulation approaches and solutions available in the literature are reviewed. A review of literature on square, rectangular and circular microchannels have revealed that these microchannels have also been extensively studied. Information on other shapes of microchannels such as triangular, trapezoidal and elliptical is also presented. It is recognized that surface roughness may play an important role; therefore the effect of surface roughness on flow characteristics and overall pressure drop is given due attention. It is further recognized that frequently the microchannels may not be straight; therefore, microchannels with bends or involving sudden expansion/contraction is considered. Empirical correlations and equations ...


Structural numerical analysis for TGP Stages-2 upstream Cofferdam is a typical interaction problem of concrete structure and soil. The mathematical procedure on contact of numerical analysis used to analyze the stress and strain of concrete impervious wall, is involved. Its difficulty not only lies in procedure on contact itself, but also in contact constitutive regulation. In this paper, the process and rule of strain and deformation of impervious wall are presented based on monitoring data of the second stage cofferdam of the Three Gorges Project. The relation of strain and deformation is given on the assumption that impervious wall is a pressed-bending structure, which reflects strain state of typical impervious wall section veritably. This result is refered for correctly comprehending the interaction mechanism of concrete structure-soil as well as analyzing the rationality of the mathematical procedure on contact.


The lipase from Candida paralipolytica was purified, as judged by disc electrophoresis. The purification was about 132 fold, based on protein, with a recovery of 3200 from the acetone precipitate of the cultivated broth. After purification, modification of the enzyme was performed by dialyzing its solution against 1 M sodium chloride in acetate buffer at room temperature and by separating the modified enzyme from an unknown substance(s) with a Sephadex G-75 column. The optimum pH for lipolysis of the purified lipase was 8.0, while that of the modi fied one was 7.0. Sodium taurocholate was required essentially by the purified enzyme, but not by the modified one. The purified lipase was stable below 37°C and in the pH range from 3.5 to 9.0 at 5°C.


The invention relates to a flame-retardant coating capable of sealing holes of a perforated polymeric sponge wave-absorbing material and a hole-sealed polymeric sponge wave-absorbing material prepared with the flame-retardant coating. The coating comprises, by mass, 7-10 percent of aluminum hydroxide, 4-5 percent of ammonium polyphosphate, 4-5 percent of pentaerythritol, 6-8 percent of titanium dioxide, 15-30 percent of a waterborne polyurethane emulsion, 24-40 percent of a pure acrylic emulsion, 0.3-0.5 percent of dispersing agents, 0.3-0.5 percent of defoaming agents and the balance being water. The flame-retardant coating capable of sealing the holes of the perforated polymeric sponge wave-absorbing material and the hole-sealed polymeric sponge wave-absorbing material prepared with the flame-retardant coating have the advantages that the polymeric sponge wave-absorbing material is changed from a perforated structure into a hole-sealed structure after the surface of the perforated polymeric sponge wave-absorbing material is coated with the prepared flame-retardant coating capable of sealing the holes of the perforated polymeric sponge wave-absorbing material, thereby solving the problems that wave absorbing agents and flame retardants fall off, are affected with damp and the like.


Thermochemical pretreatment or torrefaction of biomass is rapidly gaining attention because of simple operation, efficacy, and potential to produce valuable solid fuel. Torrefaction of lignocellulosic biomass is reviewed with the purpose of understanding the present state-of-the-art and future prospects. The following aspects have been discussed: biomass selection, optimization of engineering parameters, characterization of solid, liquid, and gaseous products and finally comparison with coal so that torrefied biomass may be blended with coal and utilized in a pulverized coal-fired furnace to produce electricity.


PURPOSE: A method for providing sale information about complex buildings and a system thereof are provided to supply optimal sale information satisfying user intention in real time and simultaneously supply a sale search result and a price checking result. CONSTITUTION: Sale information inputted by a user is received. The received sale information is analyzed. The analyzed sale information is processed. The processed sale information is evaluated. The evaluated sale information is transmitted. A search condition inputted by a user is received. The received search condition is analyzed. The sale information corresponding to the analyzed search condition is retrieved. [Reference numerals] (AA) Start; (BB) Selling product evaluation process selection; (CC) Representative selling product?; (DD) Child selling product?; (EE) Grandchild selling product?; (FF) Is there a reception stand-by representative selling product code?; (GG) Representative selling product DB save; (HH) Child selling product DB save; (II) Grandchild selling product DB save; (JJ) Selling product transmission process selection; (KK) End


The old view of educational history represented by Medynskiyi and Konstantinov is characterized by simplism,dependency,conflict,law,lineation and instrumentalism.The core of the old view of educational history is to make educational research purpose instrumental through dogmatizing the basic concepts of historical materialism on the basis of simplifying its basic principles.The negative impact of this view of educational history is the main cause that hinders the development of our educational history discipline.The purpose of criticizing the old view of educational history is to establish the starting point of the reconstruction of the educational history discipline.


Abstract : At present in the U.S. Army, rifle marksmanship training is conducted on TRAINFIRE ranges which were developed and installed during the late 1950's at selected Army Training Centers and other major U. S. Army installations. These ranges are rapidly becoming obsolete. As a consequence, the U. S. Army is considering the procurement of a new, improved live fire training system, the Infantry Remoted Target System (IRETS). This system has been designed to provide for the conduct of rifle marksmanship training in a threat oriented context. Early in 1976 the U.S. Army Infantry Center (USAIC) published threat oriented rifle marksmanship scenarios for the defense, the attack, and the counterattack. The USAIC defense scenario was subsequently incorporated into the IRETS specifications. In this regard, the defense scenario and its target presentation requirements served as the basis for the target conditions to be portrayed by and the live fire range requirements for the IRETS. Because it is planned to replace selected rifle marksmanship live fire ranges with the IRETS, it is important to know to what extent the planned capabilities of the IRETS are consistent with current concepts of threat oriented rifle marksmanship training. This report presents the findings of a comparative analysis of the specifications for the IRETS and the target presentation and training requirements for threat oriented rifle marksmanship training. The purpose of the analysis was to identify potential shortcomings in the threat oriented training capabilities of the IRETS.


Klein (1985) believes that appropriate gender-unbiased material mostly gives students the chance to accommodate more compliant mindsets towards gender roles. This study was conducted to observe the way genders are represented in local elementary textbooks in Indonesia, especially the textbook entitled "I Love Jakarta." The method applied in this study was qualitative research that used content analysis. The approach was used to describe the content of the textbook, by using the checklist adapted from Shallaita, et al. (2021), which includes all the texts, illustrations, vocabularies, and exercises, in every chapter of the book. The writers assessed the gender representation in the first grade of an elementary school textbook according to five categories adopted from Amini and Birjandi (2012); Visibility, Firstness, Feminine/Masculine Generic Construction, Activity, Occupation on every text and pictures in the book from unit one until sixteen. The results showed that (1) in terms of visibility, male (54%) was represented more than female (46%), (2) in terms of firstness, male (around nine mentions) in the majority of the cases was mentioned first than female (around five mentions), (3) in the category of feminine/masculine generic construction, there was no case found, (4) regarding the activities portrayed in the book, both male and female characters shared their parts of doing some of the general activities; however, there were cases where some activities were portrayed of being intended mainly for males, such as doing pencak silat and lifting heavy objects. On the other hand, there were portrayals of some of the activities which were mostly intended for females because of their less-aggressive nature, such as dancing and reading a book, (5) in terms of occupations depicted in the book, some of them were represented equally by both male and female characters; however, there were occupations which were considered more manly, such as fisherman and pedicab driver, therefore portrayed by male characters. To sum up, both genders were not represented equally in terms of the five categories.


There is a steady increase in the incidence of intra-cardiac device complications in patients with structural heart diseases. Cardiac electrical storm is associated with deleterious clinical and psychological sequelae. Management can be challenging in a resource-poor environment. Old anti-arrhythmic medications can still be effective when conventional ones fail.


An Intelligent data processing is essential to create a large amount of data in Internet of things. We progress the consistent smooth and computerized uses of artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep Learning. To analyze the data using deep learning that is subcategory of machine learning techniques. This investigation designed and implemented the intelligent system that is used to detect the rise of Covid-19 cases using various artificial intelligent algorithms through machine learning. Here best algorithm is chosen for prediction of Covid 19 Omicron cases based on their accuracy of performance metrics.


× Legislators included a general prohibition (subject to limited exceptions) on "decisions based solely on automated processing" in order to: 1) prevent data controllers from making legally significant decisions solely on the basis of an individual's "data shadow;" and 2) avoid situations where data controllers abdicate their responsibility by placing too much trust in outcomes reached through automated processes. The prohibition essentially establishes a presumption that decisions based solely on automated processes are unacceptable, and that controllers bear the burden of demonstrating compliance. KEY MESSAGES


International logistics information platform distributes information across countries with complicated businesses and various data sources. It is very difficult to combine many businesses into one. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the improvement in operating efficiency, safety and security of the movement of goods to partners with international logistics through the construction of an information platform. Web technologies that improve data and message transmissions facilitating business transactions from one end of the logistics to the other end play a prominent role. Based on service oriented architecture (SOA) and Web service, the paper presents a system architecture and implementations program of a distributed data exchange platform in a heterogeneous environment. The paper also analyzes and designs the business, and function architecture of the system. The function modules of the international logistics information platform are constructed to improve the level and efficiency of international logistics services significantly.


Language testing is useful to view from a historical perspective. Methods of testing of the past continue to exist in modified forms and are valid for further investigation. This paper will provide a brief outline of the history of an ambitious language testing project undertaken in New York City by the principal designer of the tests Benjamin D. Wood in the 1920s. Wood had a long and distinguished career and contributed a great deal to language testing. His tests represented a fundamental improvement over old-style translation or composition tests and were widely used and influential for perhaps two decades afterwards.


Biobased fuels from renewable resources has gained high research and development priority due to national security and environmental concerns. To ensure resilience and sustainability of the nation's agricultural and fuel sectors, it is essential to evaluate the effect of recent and foreseeable environmental effects from agricultural cultivation. This study examines the environmental impacts of fertilizers practices with the aim of improving environmental profile of corn-derived biofuel. A comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCAs) is conducted to elucidate overall environmental impacts of synthetic fertilizer and organic manure. Results show that using manure fertilizers as opposed to synthetic fertilizers requires less energy, however the use of manure generates significantly more CH4, N2O, CO2, and results in more variable concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus leaching from farmlands.


The Internal Classic is the earliest classical works of TCM in China. From medical and healthy-keeping angle, it explains and reiterates the articles on "treating pre-disease" in "Internal Classic. Plain Questions".


Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) has been studied by conventional cytogenetics and fluorescence in situ hybridization using DNA probes (FISH) on interphase nuclei and metaphase cells, but the relative clinical significance of proliferating (metaphase) versus non-proliferating (interphase) cells at diagnosis is poorly understood. We investigated a consecutive series of 154 patients (pts) with newly diagnosed untreated MM, and compared results for metaphase and interphase cells with survival. Methods: Bone marrow within 30 days of diagnosis was analyzed by standard cytogenetics. Leftover cells were stored at −70°C. Interphase and metaphase FISH was done using probes for IGH, FGFR3, CCND1, c-MAF, D13S319, LAMP1, p53 and D17Z1 to detect t(4;14), t(11;14), t(14;16) and chromosome 13 or 17 anomalies, respectively. We analyzed Results: 61 (39.6%) pts had abnormal metaphases by cytogenetics (43 pts) and/or FISH (46 pts): 12 (19.7%) had t(11;14) by cytogenetics (3 pts) and/or FISH (11 pts), 11 (18.0%) had t(4;14) by FISH but not cytogenetics, and 3 (4.9%) had t(14;16) by FISH but not cytogenetics. Metaphases with 13q- were seen in 30 pts (49.2%). Interphase FISH results were abnormal for 133 (86.3%) pts: mean percent neoplastic nuclei was 26.9 ± 21.6 (3.9 to 99.0). Mean percent plasma cells was 54.7 ± 24.6 (3.0 to 99.0). Each of the 61 pts with abnormal metaphases was also abnormal in interphase nuclei. Median survival for pts with ≥50% (20 pts) abnormal nuclei was 202 days vs. 1351 days for pts with Conclusions: Analysis of metaphases at diagnosis is important to detect proliferating disease which is a strong indicator of poor prognosis. Metaphase FISH is a necessary adjunct to conventional cytogenetics to detect cryptic t(4;14) and t(14;16), and accurately detect prognostic chromosome anomalies such as 13q-. Observing a 13q- in metaphase cells is a strong predictor of survival compared with observing 13q- in only interphase nuclei. At diagnosis, analysis of interphase nuclei is efficient, identifies an abnormal clone in 86% of pts and defines a subset of patients with ≥50% nuclei that have a poor prognosis. Since analysis of metaphases gives better prognostic information, interphase FISH is not a substitution in the cytogenetic work up of patients with MM.


The effect of tantalum (Ta) addition to ZnO films has been investigated. The films are synthesized using atomic layer deposition. The precursor for Ta is pentakis‐dimethylamino Ta (PDMAT) whereas, diethyl Zn (DEZ) is used for ZnO deposition with H2O as an oxidant. The surface reactions are studied using in situ downstream quadrupole mass spectrometry. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and photoluminescence show that at low Ta doping, oxygen vacancies are eliminated from the film, whereas at higher Ta doping, Zn vacancies are formed. These observations are supported by density functional theory calculations. Hall measurements show the lowest resistivity for a 30 nm Ta doped ZnO film to be 4 × 10−3 Ω cm with a peak carrier concentration of 1.2 × 1020 cm−3. The ideal cycle ratio used to achieve these properties is 40:1 of (DEZ+H2O):(PDMAT+H2O) pulses. Optical measurements show an average transmittance of 85% in the visible regime. The efficiency of Ta doping the ZnO, which represents the fraction of Ta5+ contributing to conductivity, is found to be at least 6.3%.


The article is devoted to the need to form a professional-pedagogical culture of future specialists of physical culture and sports specialties in the process of professional training in a higher education institution. The purpose of the article is to study the problem of the formation of a professional-pedagogical culture of future specialists of physical culture and sports specialties. The article substantiates the importance of professional-pedagogical culture in the formation of future specialists of physical culture and sports specialties as a basis for improving the level of general culture (physical, spiritual-moral, intellectual, legal, economic, and others) and as a carrier of professional competence, that is, the basis for the formation of a high professional-pedagogical level. The results of the research showed the need to organize in the institution of higher education conditions and a set of measures aimed at the formation of a professional-pedagogical culture of future specialists, which makes it possible to strengthen educational work with them based on the translation of the values of the cultural and sports heritage of the subject of the state, the effective formation of their professionalism and pedagogical culture.


A study of the time-integrated reflectivity of Al targets during laser-induced back ablation by 1064 nm, 10 ns laser pulses is reported. The Al target reflectance data is analyzed using a model which includes not only Al surface removal but also the possible production of Al plasma. Calculations based on a sharp Al film ablation fluence (Jth≈710 mJ/cm2) threshold agree with the reflectance data. Plasma reflectance contribution is found to be negligible for plasma electron densities of less than 0.3 critical density.


This paper deals with the South African chalicothere remains from Makapansgat, Potgietersrus, with mention of those from Serengeti described by Dietrich. From Makapansgat there are 12 post-cranial remains comprising 2 terminal phalanges, 1 intermediate phalanx, 1 co-ossified phalanx, 1 carpal or tarsal bone, 2 metacarpals, 2 tibiae, 2 innominates and 1 scapula: and 74 cranial r ema ins . This latter figure is made up of 45 isolated teeth, of which 36 are upper teeth and 9 are lower teeth, 7 maxillary fragments and 22 mandibular fragments. The South African form, classified as Afetaschizotherium transvaalensis is compared with the American forms Moropus elatus and Aforopus petersoni and is found to resemble more closely in size M. elatus . The reasons for retaining the classification of M. transvaalensis are given and discussed . Finally the relationship of the Makapansgat specimens to the osteodontokeratic culture is discussed.


he site of Les Petits Guinards in Creuzier-le-Vieux (Allier, France) yielded 1,230 fragments of Reindeer antler. his assemblage, which is unique for the Upper Palaeolithic of the Massif Central, comprises 43 fragments of hunting weapons and tools (shafts and projectile points, chisels) and a minimum of 30 waste products. Only a small proportion of this toolkit was manufactured at the site, mainly from Reindeer shed antler of medium and small modules. Another portion of artifacts, made prior to the occupation of Les Petits Guinards, comes from the exploitation of large modules. It relects the transport of more or less inished items (or even of male Reindeer shed antlers) from some unknown location of manufacture, which might be located in the northern source area of procurement of their allochthonous lint. he integration of data stemming from the zooarchaeological and technological analysis allows to document the patterns of Reindeer antler acquisition and exploitation, at the scale of the site as of an annual cycle of nomadism within a geographical area whose boundaries to be


Commissioned by the 8th conference of Rhine ministers,the ICPR and the CHR jointly developed the alarm model for the Rhine in 1990.WL Delft Hydraulics improved the model in 1998 and 1999.It can now be run with the Windows operating system and includes two-dimensional modules that also calculate the concentration distribution of pollutants in a cross section of the river.The current Windows version of the alarm model can be used to accurately predict the dispersion of harmful substances in the Rhine.


For any resource theory it is essential to identify tasks for which resource objects offer advantage over free objects. We show that this identification can always be accomplished for resource theories of quantum measurements in which free objects form a convex subset of measurements on a given Hilbert space. To this aim we prove that every resourceful measurement offers advantage for some quantum state discrimination task. Moreover, we give an operational interpretation of robustness, which quantifies the minimal amount of noise that must be added to a measurement to make it free. Specifically, we show that this geometric quantity is related to the maximal relative advantage that a resourceful measurement offers in a class of minimal-error state discrimination (MESD) problems. Finally, we apply our results to two classes of free measurements: incoherent measurements (measurements that are diagonal in the fixed basis) and separable measurements (measurements whose effects are separable operators). For both of these scenarios we find, in the asymptotic setting in which the dimension or the number of particles increase to infinity, the maximal relative advantage that resourceful measurements offer for state discrimination tasks.


Computational Complexity is concerned with how difficult, under some measure of difficulty, it is to evaluate certain functions or classes of functions. Most of the work in this area, however, deals with models of computation quite unlike a stored program computer, and functions very different from those which are actually computed. In this paper we turn our attention to techniques of computing some useful functions on "computer-like" devices in optimal or near optimal ways.


Training Individuals in Function-Based Behavior Intervention Plans Using Modeling, Rehearsal, and Self-Monitoring Aimee F. Giles Behavior intervention plans based on the function of problem behavior are more likely to be effective than non-function-based plans. However, plans developed by teachers often do not address behavior function. In addition to ensuring that teachers can write function-based behavior intervention plans, it is also important to ensure plans are implemented with a sufficient degree of fidelity. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate a multi-component training package to train teachers to write function-based behavior intervention plans and to accurately implement differential reinforcement of alternative behavior for escape-maintained problem behavior. Twenty public school teachers of children with emotional and behavior disorders participated in a 7 hr training. The training package consisted of video-modeling, didactic instructions, self-monitoring, and rehearsal. Data were collected using the Behavior Support Plan Qualitative Evaluation Guide on the quality of written plans produced by teachers during the training. Experimenter-developed treatment integrity checklists were used to collect data on the accuracy with which differential reinforcement of alternative behavior was implemented during role-plays. A pretest/posttest control group design was used. Statistical and visual analysis indicated increases in the quality of the written behavior plans and in the accuracy with which they implemented differential reinforcement of alternative behavior.


According to our aircraft maintenance technology of backward present situation,the paper designs the aircraft digitized maintenance service platform.This system use ASP technology coupled with the Access database,to achieve the long-range aircraft maintenance information management.Based on the realization of the basic functions in the system,like query,update,print,and statistics,the system by use modern network technology implement the maintenance information sharing between the departments,using computer for real-time control and management,strengthen sector of interoperability,increase efficiency of aircraft maintenance,reducing maintenance costs and improve their market competitiveness.


An 85-year-old man was taken to a local hospital after a motor vehicle accident. He had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) many years previously and was in good health before the accident. A computed tomographic scan revealed leakage of contrast dye into the pericardium. On transfer to our hospital, the patient had hemodynamic signs of possible cardiac tamponade. A transthoracic echocardiogram showed echogenic material in the pericardial space adjacent to the anteroapex of the right ventricle (RV) (Fig. 1). Immediately after cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) was requested, the patient went into cardiac arrest due to ventricular tachycardia. After precordial thump, synchronized DC shock, and restoration of sinus rhythm, he regained consciousness. We examined the patient and considered the possibility that his condition might deteriorate while he was in the scanner. We determined that early CMR would be advantageous to his safety, because it would expedite the diagnosis and enable us to evaluate the need for surgical repair. The procedure was performed that afternoon.

Fig. 1 Two-dimensional echocardiogram (modified 4-chamber view) shows an ill-defined hypoechogenic zone (arrow).

Real-time cine images obtained by CMR showed a collection of abnormal fluid and fibrosis located outside the RV epicardium, yet retained within the RV pericardium—the 1st definitive and objective evidence of cardiac sequelae after the accident (Fig. 2). To confirm the diagnosis, a CMR perfusion scan was performed. The gadolinium contrast produced an initial bright contrast signal into the right atrium and RV, which then uncharacteristically extended beyond the apical free wall of the RV, suggesting a contained RV free-wall (apical) rupture. (Fig. 3). Within 2 minutes of perfusion imaging, a post-contrast enhancement (delayed-hyperenhancement [DHE]) sequence was performed in the same plane as the perfusion sequence. It showed a 3.6 × 2.1-cm mushroom-shaped object traversing the RV apical wall, with fluid or material from the object distributing into a moderate apical extracardiac space (Fig. 4). Of note, this space was maintained by extensive pericardial scarring and fibrosis and by epicardial fat and sternal adhesions, presumably due to the prior CABG. There was no evidence that myocardial infarction had occurred either before or after the motor vehicle accident.

Fig. 2 Steady-state free precession CMR image (4-chamber view) shows loss of right ventricular apical continuity, with an apparent continuation of the blood signal into the intrapericardial space (arrow). CMR = cardiac magnetic resonance Real-time motion ...

Fig. 3 Cardiac magnetic resonance perfusion image (4-chamber view) shows an early, rapid influx of gadolinium into the extra-pericardial space (arrow). Note that Figure 4 (the delayed-hyperenhancement image) punctuates this finding. Real-time motion image ...

Fig. 4 Delayed-hyperenhancement CMR image, obtained 2 minutes after the perfusion sequence, confirms the presence of a contained right ventricular rupture. The mushroom-shaped extrapericardial signal is diagnostic of the fortuitous pericardial and mediastinal ...

The patient's condition stabilized, and we discharged him without RV repair. His age made the risk of sternotomy and RV repair too great,1,2 and the residual pericardial adhesions and fibrosis afforded natural protection.


At NIKO d.d. company, a producer of binding mechanisms, the improvements are usually a trial-and-error process. For this reason, our company has taken a more systematic approach. The prescriptive model of searching for changes has been used. The use of the model on the mechanism M75 has shown that the model is also suitable for companies with limited R&D human resources. It also has a positive effect on the creativeness of the process of searching for changes. Its deficiency lies in the fact that decomposition does not keep the relations between the parts. Searching and assessing the changes proved the main problem. The proposed changes should contribute to a better competitiveness of the product on the market.


Malaria, one of the world's most common and serious tropical diseases, causes at least one million deaths every year. This proportion increases each year because of deteriorating health systems, growing drug and insecticide resistance, climate change, natural disasters and armed conflicts. In Ghana however, statistics shows that one in five childhood deaths is as a result of malaria. The cost of treatment of malaria alone is crippling the health budget, in that in 2007 alone the cost of treating malaria amounted to about US $772 million. HBMM was introduced to ensure prompt and effective treatment of malaria at the household level. The potency of HBMM has been established but little was known about the cost and sustainability of HBMM. A cross sectional study involving the use of quantitative and qualitative surveys with caregivers, community medicine distributors (CMDs) was designed and implemented from July-September 2010. The study involved a population sample of 500 people. Questionnaires were administered for data collection. Data was entered and analyzed with SPSS. Female CMDs dominated and affordability of HBMM was associated with the type of occupation; traders could afford price range of GHp10 to GHp20 while majority of the farmers could afford it at GHp5. Supplies and incentives to CMDs were the two key factors influencing cost of HBMM. Cost incurred in accessing HBMM was less as compared to the one sought from the health facilities. The study revealed that the sustainability of HBMM is bleak as the upkeep of volunteers; their kits, incentives, communal support and ownership remained unknown. Perceptions about who owns HBMM were mixed. There is attrition among CMDs and could affect smooth implementation of HBMM. Delays in supplies, unattractive CMDs' incentives and cost were the barriers to the implementation and sustainability of the HBMM. The monthly allowances giving to the CMDs compared to the national salary wage was far less. The CMDs lose more money for being on HBMM programme than they would have received if they were working elsewhere. Efforts should be made to increase community ownership of HBMM, supervisory visit, improve CMDs incentives, and early supplies of medicines and logistics in HBMM.


Abstract  The mosquito fungal pathogen, Lagenidium giganteum, was used to kill mosquito larvae of Guizhou. China, in the laboratory. The infection rates in Aeds albopictus ranged 25–89%, while those in Culex quingue fasciatus 90–100%. Five additional species and one genus of mosquitoes were added to the host list of L. giganteum.


Abstract
 This chapter introduces the fundamental nature of tourism routes. Sections discuss: the taking and following of routes and trails; routes as ways of describing and defining the movement of travellers; routes and trails as ways of structuring tourism; routes, trails and adventure; and the identity of routes. A case study is presented of the development of the themed route of Camino Real in Panama.


An N-class problem can be fully decomposed into N-independent small neural networks called modules (or sub-problems) in a modular neural network classifier. Each sub-problem is a two-class ( 'yes ' or 'no ' ) problem. Hence, the optimal input feature space for each module is also likely to be a subset of the original feature space. Therefore, feature selection plays an important role in finding these useful features. Some feature selection techniques have been developed from different perspectives but are not suitable, however, for the two-class problems resulting from complete task decomposition. In this paper, we propose two feature selection techniques— Relative Importance Factor (RIF) and Relative FLD Weight Analysis (RFWA) for modular neural network classifiers. Our approaches involve the use of Fisher's linear discriminant (FLD) function to obtain the importance of each feature and to find the correlation among features. In RIF, the input features are classified as relevant and irrelevant based on their contribution in classification. In RFWA, the irrelevant features are further classified into noise or redundant features based on the correlation among features. The proposed techniques have been applied to several classification problems. The results show that these techniques can successfully detect the irrelevant features in each module and improve accuracy while reducing computation effort. Reprint requests to: Both authors are with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore. 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260; e-mail address: firstname.lastname@example.com


Developments in the Chinese army since the death of Mao Zedong have been dominated by two somewhat contradictory features. On the one hand, the military has vigorously asserted its professional interests and has instituted important reforms designed to put the People's Liberation Army (pla)1 on a more professional basis. On the other hand, the demand of military officers for large-scale technological modernization of the armed forces has been rejected, and even the policy of selective re-equipment, which had apparently been agreed upon, has yet to bear fruit. Both features are the product of changes that have occurred in China in the post-Mao period. The death of Mao and the concomitant downfall of his radical supporters now stigmatized as the Gang of Four removed the chief barrier to the expression of professional views by the military. The army's crucial role in the succession struggle and in the consolidation of the new leadership gave the military substantial influence over national policy. This leadership, moreover, shares the military's commitment to professionalism and views its requirements with sympathy and understanding. However, this same leadership is also committed to the accelerated modernization of China and the military is only one of the four main sectors the others being industry, agriculture, and


THE SIMULTANEOUS EXPANSION of information operations (IO) and the effects-based approach to operations is challenging traditional notions of military public affairs (PA). (1) Politicians looking for more support in waging an ideological war against extremism, and military commanders seeking more precise effects on the battlefield through the coherent application of all elements of alliance and national power, are blurring the boundaries between IO and PA. (2) The Pentagon's short-lived Office of Strategic Influence (OSI) is an example of the move toward a more propagandistic information model. According to one news report, the aim of this Orwellian organization was to "influence public opinion abroad," a mandate that some U.S. generals felt would "undermine the Pentagon's credibility and America's attempts to portray herself as the beacon of liberty and democratic values." (3) Although OSI was dismantled (at least in name), the U.S. military and many other armed forces are continuing to invest in IO capabilities. At the same time, commanders are pressing PA to contribute more tangibly to achieving effects or gaining influence on the battlefield and elsewhere. Public affairs doctrine, however, traditionally seeks to inform audiences, not influence them. NATO policy, for example, specifically states that while PA's "overall aim is ultimately to promote public understanding and support of the Alliance and its activities, information is provided in such a way that media representatives and the citizens of the countries concerned are able to make their own judgment as independently as possible." (4) Similarly, U.S. doctrine, as cited in a Department of Defense (DOD) directive, states that "propaganda has no place in DOD public affairs programs." (5) Some might suggest that this statement only applies within America's borders, but the same directive says, "Open and independent reporting shall be the principle means of coverage of U.S. military operations." (6) At a glance, these lofty principles seem to offer politicians and military commanders little hope that PA can bring any tangible capabilities to the battlefield or anywhere else. Where are its measurable effects? In contrast, the effects of enemy propaganda seem evident, from decreasing support for U.S. interventions to increasing numbers of suicide bombers. It may be true that PA "effects" are not always immediately evident, but this is a consequence of Western political ideology, which calls for transparent government, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and other such principles that militate against shaping public opinion. Therefore, before discarding current doctrine because of a desire to see immediate effects, its origins in the democratic tradition should be carefully considered. Modern democracies find their roots in the 17th-century Age of Reason and the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment. The philosophers of those ages nurtured the radical notion that all men and women are created equal. This belief began to erode the long-accepted view that kings, queens, and other nobles were somehow superior and better suited to rule. Early liberal democracies like France and the United States entrenched these notions in their constitutions. The American Declaration of Independence, written in 1776, reflects this new political outlook: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." (7) Central to the new outlook were the notions of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. One of the most influential arguments in favor of such rights can be attributed to the English poet John Milton, whose pamphlet "Areopagitica" assailed the British Government's licensing of books. …


Series Foreword by Henry A. Giroux Preface Multiculturalism: Forcing a Change in Counselor Education Exclusionary Aspects within Psychological Foundations of Counselor Education Forming a Language of Analysis: Critical Theory Critical Pedagogy and Educational Counseling A Critical Psychology: Deepening the Understanding of Critical Counselor Education Counselor Education in Postmodern Times: Taking Critical Theory into the Future Teaching Counselor Education for the Twenty-First Century: An Application to an Introductory Course in Counseling A Critical Postmodern Approach to a Multicultural Counseling Course Bibliography Index


Lianas are increasing in relative abundance and biomass, mainly in seasonally dry forests, but it is unclear if this is associated with their hydraulic strategy. Here, we ask whether liana of seasonally dry forests are safer and more efficient in water transport than those of rainforest, which could explain liana distribution patterns and their recent increases. We measured hydraulic traits on five pairs of congeneric liana species (tribe Bignonieae) on one seasonal dry Atlantic forest and one Amazon rainforest. The predawn and minimum water potential, and the water potential at which 50% of the maximum gas amount was discharged were, on average, more negative in the liana species of the seasonal forest. However, these patterns were not constant at the genus level. The positive hydraulic safety margins and hydraulic efficiency were similar among species congeners across sites. The Bignonieae lianas studied likely experience equally low levels of embolism during drought, and maintain a high conductive capacity with efficient use of xylem space, which may favor survival and growth across tropical forests. The likely evolutionary convergence of high hydraulic safety associated with the opportunistic strategy of rapid growth, especially in disturbed areas can favor the abundant liana species in seasonal forests. Highlight Tropical forest liana species have high hydraulic efficiency and high interspecific variability in hydraulic safety. Despite this variability, some seasonal forest liana species have greater hydraulic safety than rainforest lianas, indicating an evolutionary convergence across lineages.


Recently, we have successfully evaluated the carrier transfer properties in polyethylene (PE) with the aid of a first-principles based multi-scale modeling method. In order to develop a framework for materials design, it is crucial to assess the robustness and versatility of our model. Thus, in this study, carrier transfer properties in benzene doped PE oligomer, which gives implications of that in polystyrene (PS) is investigated. Both the partial density of states of benzene/PE oligomer cluster and the ionization energies of benzene molecules and PE oligomers show that hole localized states at benzene molecules are energetically favorable compared to those at PE oligomers. Indeed computed hole hopping rates from PE oligomers to benzene molecules are larger than those from benzene molecules to PE oligomers. However, since (1) the reorganization energy of hole transfer between PE oligomers (- 900 meV) are larger than those between PE oligomers and benzene molecules (~ 600 meV), and (2) the electronic couplings between PE oligomers are (~ 10meV) smaller than that between PE oligomers and benzene molecules (several tens of meV), hole hopping rates from benzene molecules to PE oligomers are larger than those between PE oligomers. Accordingly, the hole mobility in benzene doped PE oligomer increases with increasing benzene concentration. This is in line with experimental findings that the hole mobility in PS is larger than that in PE. These findings emphasize the necessity of evaluating the microscopic parameters that are relevant to carrier transfer.


The present invention provides a data transfer system apparatus that automatically loads the necessary drivers and code through two interface elements to facilitate the transfer of electronic data from one EDP to another. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the apparatus consists of a cable, USB interface plug, floppy drive transfer device (diskette), processor, controller, memory,circuitry components and software code. The electronic components and software applications are contained in the cable housing unit. Each interface element is attached at one end of the cable so theycan be inserted into the respective EDP interfaces. Insertion of the apparatus into the EDP interfaces automatically triggers the execution of the embedded software for auto loading of the necessary code to control the transfer of the data directly from one EDP to the other. The system emulates the apparatus as a peripheral device attached to the EDP through its USB port interface coupled to the other EDP using its FDD to transfer the data, using the data storage capacity of the receiving EDP as the serial bus end-point.


Abstract This article investigates an ARCH model with trend and proposes a two-step estimation method and develops an ARCH effect test. The trend is estimated by the linear B-spline method, and then the least squares estimation (LSE) and a Lagrange multiplier (LM) test based on the residuals are presented. Under mild conditions, it is shown that the proposed LSE and the test statistic enjoy the oracle properties; namely, they perform as well as if the true trend function were known and then removed to obtain the ARCH errors. Simulation studies assess the finite-sample performance of the LSE and the test statistic. An empirical example on the US gross private saving series is analyzed to illustrate the usefulness of our procedure.


Abstract Ictidosaurian genera are allocated to two families, Tritheledontidae and Therioherpetidae. This paper provides a diagnosis for Ictidosauria. The previously named family Brasilodontidae is shown to be a junior synonym of a family, Therioherpetidae. It is concluded that Ictidosauria originated from Late Permian procynosuchid non-mammalian cynodonts rather than from Middle Triassic probainognathid non-mammalian cynodonts. The structure of the skull and jaws of a derived traversodontid Ischignathus sudamericanus from the early Late Triassic of Argentina supports an earlier view that tritylodontids are more closely related to traversodontid than probainognathid non-mammalian cynodonts. Tritylodontids should not be included in Ictidosauria, nor should they considered to be a sister group to mammaliaforms.


The existence of negative resistance in double barrier resonant tunneling structures has led to the proposal of various applications for these devices. For many of these applications, stability is an important consideration. This paper will discuss the effect that various device parameters have on stability and on the capability of high frequency device operation. It is concluded that the circuit and device conditions required for stable operation greatly reduce the amount of power that can be produced by these devices at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies.


Brown bullheads (Ameiurus nebulosus) express two different isoforms of apolipoprotein A-I in the serum, a predominant form characterized by a pI of 6.9 and a more acidic isoform with a pI of 6.65. The two proteins were identified by N-terminal amino acid sequencing, with 50 residues for the pI 6.9 isoform and 20 residues for the pI 6.65 isoform. Sequences for the two proteins were identical for the first 20 amino acids; however, differences in their primary sequences were deduced by analysis of peptide maps obtained through proteolytic digestion. The ratio of the isoforms changes from 75% pI 6.9/25% pI 6.65 (no tumors) to equal amounts of both isoforms in bullheads with hepato- or cholangio-cellular carcinomas. This is the first report of these serum isoforms in feral fish showing that the expression of these proteins is directly related to both cholangio- and hepato-cellular carcinomas. The potential use of these proteins as tumor biomarkers is discussed.


The molecularstructure ofmonoclinic crystals ofyeastphenylalanine tRNA isanalyzed bycom- paringittotheorthorhombic crystal ofthesamematerial whosestructure has beendetermined. Changingthe packingofthemoleculefromthehead-to-head, tail-to- tail arrangement intheorthorhombic lattice toahead-to- tailpackingmakesitpossible to generatea proposed structure forthemonoclinic unitcell. The structure factors fortheproposed arrangement havebeencalculated andcomparedwiththoseexperimentally observed from monoclinic crystals. The residuals fromthiscomparison arelowenoughtoconclude thatat4-Aresolution, the three-dimensional structure ofthemolecule inthemono- clinic crystal isessentially thesameasthatintheortho- rhombiccrystal. In addition, a correlation coefficient calculated fromintensities basedon a skeletal modelof themoleculealsoconfirmed thestructure inthemono- clinic cell. Electron density difference maps,aswellas thepresence ofclose contacts intheanticodon loopregion ofthemonoclinic crystal, suggest thattheanticodon loop may haveaslightly different conformation thanthatob- served intheorthorhombic crystals. Thethree-dimensional structure ofanorthorhombic crystal of yeast phenylalanine transfer RNA hasbeendetermined by x-ray diffraction analysis toaresolution of3.0A (1). Inthat crystal themolecule hasanextended L-shaped forminwhich theanticodon isatoneendoftheL,theC-C-Aacceptor stem isattheother end,andthecorner oftheLisformed bythe folding together ofthedihydrouracil andT-4-Cloops ofthe familiar cloverleaf diagram. Oneofthepeculiar features ofthe crystallography oftransfer RNA isthefact that thesystem is intensely polymorphic; these molecules crystallize inmany different forms. There are, forexample, adozen different unit cells inwhich yeast phenylalanine tRNAisknowntocrystal- lize andthese differ notonlyinthemodeofmolecular packing butalso intheresolution ofthex-ray diffraction pattern (2-5). Thisimmediately makesonewonder whether thethree-dimen- sional conformation ofthemolecule isthesameinthese vari- ouspolymorphic forms. Transfer RNA isapolyelectrolyte in which electrostatic repulsions playanimportant part indeter- mining conformational stability; thusitcould beargued that these different modesofpacking represent different waysof folding themolecule. Inthepresent paper wecarry outan analysis ofthex-ray diffraction pattern obtained fromthe monoclinic crystal form(3-5) andcompare itwiththeortho- rhombic crystals. Wedemonstrate thatthemolecule hasvir- tually thesameconformation inthemonoclinic unit cell asit hasintheorthorhombic unitcell. Theonly exception tothis maybeasmall difference neartheanticodon endofthemole- cule. Themonoclinic crystal formwaschosen foranalysis fortwo reasons. AsshowninTable 1,themonoclinic andorthorhombic unitcells areclosely related: theaandbaxesareidentical andtheaangle of900ispreserved, thustheonlychange is thatfound inthecaxis. Inaddition, thediffraction pattern produced bythemonoclinic crystal formhasahighenough resolution tomakeacomparison informative. Figs. 1and2showviews oftheacandbcplanes ofboththe monoclinic andorthorhombic unitcells whereanirregular asymmetric figure represents themolecules. Thesymmetry axesareshown, andinspection ofthefigure suggests that the monoclinic cell canbegenerated fromtheorthorhombic cell bysimply changing themolecular packing fromthehead-to head, tail-to-tail arrangement seen intheorthorhombic lattice toahead-to-tail arrangement seeninthemonoclinic. This canbedonebytaking theshaded pair ofmolecules ontheleft oftheorthorhombic lattice andinverting themsothatthe direction oforientation isparallel tothat ofthemolecules on theright ofthefigure. Themolecules canthenslide together until therepeat distance corresponds tothe63-A caxis seen in themonoclinic cell. Thistransformation hasthemerit of preserving thepacking ofthemolecules along theaaxis aswell asthe2-fold screwinteractions whichrelate molecules in alternate layers along thebaxis oftheorthorhombic unitcell. Thissuggests thatthechange fromorthorhombic tomono- clinic packing maybeduetoasimple rearrangement ofthe molecules. Hereweevaluate thisproposed structure forthe monoclinic unit cell.


This paper presents the benefits of using active antennas, especially active steering antennas for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. An active steering antenna for ISM 2.4 GHz frequency band is implemented on an existing commercial product within the original device antenna volume. The active steering antenna concept is originally developed through Electromagnetic (EM) simulations using CST Microwave Studio and later implemented and tested on the commercial device. The antenna structure has adaptive radiation patterns to optimize the signal strength between the device and the gateway.


The past few years have witnessed the rediscovery of an old distinction between "civic" and "ethnic" nationalisms. This renaissance has been driven in part by the new prominence of nationalism on the world political scene in the wake of the events of 1989. Yet the distinction between civic and ethnic nationalisms, however timely, has been taken up with special eagerness by political theorists because it also speaks to a problem in the theory of liberal democracy that antedates the most recent wave of nationalism, namely, the question of the relationship between liberal democracy and the affective dimensions of political life. Skeptical of passion and identification, liberals have tried to exchange the dangerous romance of polis and patria for the calm certitudes of reason, or for the underrated pleasures of what Hobbes calls "peaceable, sociable, and comfortable living."' In turn, liberalism's critics have charged that its aversion to affect is unsustainable. Modern procedural liberalism has no room for the strong passions of belonging, loyalty, and allegiance, and so it "cannot inspire the moral and civic engagement selfgovernment requires."' The concern, in Scruton's pithy expression, is that "the public sphere cannot stand so serenely above the loyalties that feed it."3 The distinction between civic and ethnic nationalisms has offered liberals an attractive answer to this charge because it promises to isolate a kind of


In the paper we present a research on heterogeneity of Saint Petersburg districts with respect to children morbidity rate. We used methods of cluster analysis for discovering groups of similar districts. As most of present distances work well with long time series but have biased results for short ones, the dissimilarity measure for short time series based on its characteristics is proposed. We constructed several clustering models to determine clusters which did not depend on the method. Five objects (districts) were distributed to several clusters in different models. For dealing with this problem an heuristic algorithm for inclusion of indeterminate objects to potential clusters was built. As a result we got three groups of districts which were similar in some sense. Mathematics Subject Classification: 62-07


The aim of this study is to exhibit the mutual connection between surface and in depth hardness values in the case of surface-treated metal samples with inhomogeneous hardness distribution in the surface layer. The reason for surface treatments of metal alloys is most commonly to increase the hardness and wear resistance at the surface. Case depth, as a result of surface treatment and the in-depth hardness distribution, can be determined by measuring the hardness of a section perpendicular to the treated surface and by metallographic examination. The result of heat treatment can also be checked rapidly by surface hardness testing. Surface hardness carries only indirect information regarding case depth and hardness distribution. Surface and cross-sectional hardness can be related to the mathematical modeling of the plastic zone developing in the indentation process. The mathematical model applied in this study allows the conversion of the surface hardness function into the in-depth hardness function and vice-versa. The calculation method presented was validated by analyzing the hardness data of nitrocarburized samples of various case depths. The validation result proves that cross-sectional hardness distribution can be adequately estimated by surface hardness data in the case of a surface layer with monotonically decreasing hardness distribution.


Border crossing delays between New York State and Southern Ontario cause problems like enormous economic loss and massive environmental pollutions. In this area, there are three border-crossing ports: Peace Bridge (PB), Rainbow Bridge (RB) and Lewiston-Queenston Bridge (LQ) at Niagara Frontier border. The goals of this paper are to figure out whether the distributions of bi-national wait times for commercial and passenger vehicles are evenly distributed among the three ports and uncover the hidden significant influential factors that result in the possible insufficient utilization. The historical border wait time data from 7:00 to 21:00 between 08/22/2016 and 06/20/2017 are archived, as well as the corresponding temporal and weather data. For each vehicle type towards each direction, a Decision Tree is built to identify the various border delay patterns over the three bridges. We find that for the passenger vehicles to the USA, the convenient connections between the Canada freeways with USA I-190 by LQ and PB may cause these two bridges more congested than RB, especially when it is a holiday in Canada. For the passenger vehicles in the other bound, RB is much more congested than LQ and PB in some cases, and the visitors to Niagara Falls in the USA in summer may be a reason. For the commercial trucks to the USA, the various delay patterns show PB is always more congested than LQ. Hour interval and weekend are the most significant factors appearing in all the four Decision Trees. These Decision Trees can help the authorities to make specific routing suggestions when the corresponding conditions are satisfied.


Public policy oriented urban planning is a necessary trend in the transition of contemporary China's society and economy.To achieve this purpose,urban-rural planning system will need to be adjusted accordingly.This article reviews the practical situations in China and observes that the job elements of urban-rural planning in this new phase of history should include at least four parts: decision,technology,procedure,and feedback.These four parts of the job elements,their substance,expression,relationships,and strategies for achieving the transformation of organizational structure and work process to embrace these job elements are then discussed.


ABSTRACT Salinity caused by excess salts in soil solutions is one of the most limiting environmental stresses in agriculture worldwide. In this scenario, among strategies that favor the expression of the genetic potential of plants, the use of biostimulants stands out. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of a seaweed-based biostimulant on growth, forage production, gas exchange, and accumulation of sodium and potassium ions in pangolão grass (Digitaria pentzii) under saline stress. The experiment was conducted from March to July 2019 using a randomized block design, in a 2 × 3 factorial scheme with two concentrations of biostimulant (0 and 8 mL L-1) and three electrical conductivities of irrigation water (0.03, 2 and 4 dS m-1), with four replicates. The accumulation of 50 µmol g-1 of sodium in leaves corresponded to a reduction of 0.3 g of dry matter in the leaf blade production per plot. The biostimulant did not influence the structural characteristics, phytomass accumulation, or stomatal conductance of the pangolão grass, regardless of salinity. At the level of 4 dS m-1 in irrigation water, the ionic stress toxicity due to the accumulation of salts in the aerial part of pangolão grass was more severe. This is the first evidence of the "moderate" salinity tolerance of pangolão grass in semi-arid regions.


it is an essay about the responsibilities of those who would influence social policy with knowledge derived from the social sciences. Beyond the Best Interests of the Child will be used as a case study to demonstrate that policy developed with disregard for these responsibilities may be unwise or even harmful. A short review of the book's major suggestions is included to provide a background for the reader unfamiliar with them. We shall discuss, in turn, the responsibilities: (1) to develop a thorough data base which draws on the total body of relevant knowledge, and which proceeds from a profound awareness of the limitations on such data; (2) to develop an optimal plan


Business continuity is a management process that identifies potential factors that threaten an organization and provides a framework for building resilience and the capability for an effective response. This response must safeguard the interests of its key stakeholders, as well as the organization's reputation, brand, and value-creating activities. Business continuity management is the subject of continuing development and research. In the United Kingdom, some aspects of business continuity management are covered by legislation; others are covered by industry safety standards such as the British Standard Code of Practice, BS25999 (first issued in 2006 and now incorporating various subsequent updates and supporting documents). This article considers "the mitigation of emergencies, crises and disasters" in more detail, first defining what can be considered to be a major disaster and then examining how organizations can respond to disasters. The more recently developed business continuity management techniques for ensuring that organizations are prepared and resilient, including the use of risk assessment and business continuity planning and the importance of crisis management plans will then be discussed.


Sugarcane variety, Co Pant 90223with mid-late maturing duration was developed at Pantnagai University from an open pollinated cross on cultivar, BO 91. It recorded 11-15 percent highercommercial cane sugar yield (9.20 Vha) than cultivars, Co 1148 CoS 767 and CoLk 8102 in all India Coordinated varietaltrials in North Western Zone. It yielded 7-11.5 per cent higher cane yield (73.25 t/ha) than the checks. Co Pant 90223 registered 0.38-0.45 unit highersugarrecovery percent cane (12.69%) than checks at 11-12 months. It is moderately resistant to red rot disease under inoculated conditions. It forms tall medium thick canes with broad dark green leaves. It performs well under normal irrigated as well as stress environments such as drought, cold and waterlogging. It had been released for cultivation in UttarPradesh on March 15, 1999, and forHaryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and UttarPradesh by Central Variety Release Committee, Govemment of India, New Delhi on June 20,2002.


Starch processing industries have increased their production recently due to high demand in various food products. As a result, water consumption was increased and discharged without proper treatment which may cause pollution. Major problems caused by tapioca starch wastewater is water pollution due to high biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and suspended solids (SS) concentrations causing low water quality. Untreated starch wastewater contained high BOD3, COD and SS concentrations at 2,532 mg/L, 14,966 mg/L and 4,869 mg/L with pH 6.33 and high colour range at 1770 ADMI, respectively. High water consumed had increased the production cost for treatment of starch processing wastewater. Sequencing batch reactor (SBR) is a simple, compact and save spacing technology to treat wastewater due to simultaneous operation in one tank. SBR also had great potential to remove organic matter as desired with variables cycle time and operation. In this study, starch wastewater was treated at organic loading rate of 1.5 kg COD/m3d. SBR was operated at 24h cycle for 60 days. The treatment was conducted in two columns namely R1; operated without granules and R2; operated with granules in activated sludge, respectively. The efficiencies of BOD3, COD and colour removals were observed to monitor the SBR performance while mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS) and mixed liquor volatile suspended solid (MLVSS) were the parameters that used to monitor the activated sludge performance in SBR. After 60 days of operation, R1 showed BOD3, COD and colour removal achieved at an average of 97%, 70% to 96% and 50% to 89% while R2 showed higher removal at an average of 98%, 85% to 94% and 76% to 95% removals respectively


Fifteen new species of the xeromelissine bee genus Chilicola are described. Most are either outliers not obviously belonging to currently known subgenera or expand our concepts of previously described subgenera. Species that do not readily fall into presently recognized subgenera are: Chilicola obesifrons Packer, n. sp. and the closely related C. catamarcense Packer, n. sp.; C. unicarinata Packer, n. sp. and the closely related C. chubutense Packer, n. sp., and three comparatively isolated species: C. biguttata Packer, n. sp., C. tregualemu Packer, n. sp., and C. setosicornis Packer, n. sp.. Species that fall within previously described subgenera are: C. (Chilioediscelis) aenigma Packer, n. sp., C. (Prosopoides) granulosa Packer, n. sp., C. (Pseudiscelis) nanula Packer, n. sp., C. (Stenoediscelis) denisii Packer, n. sp., C. tricarinata Packer, n. sp., C. tricarinatoides Packer, n. sp., and C. clavillo Packer, n. sp. The last three species belong to "Oedis- celisca", a subgenus subsumed within Oediscelis by Michener (1995) but requiring re-evaluation. Chilicola nanula and C. aenigma expand the scope of their respective subgenera. A fifteenth species, C. liliana Packer, n. sp., is not placed to subgenus due to a lack of males. Toro and Moldenke's (1979) subgenus Stenoediscelis is returned from synonymy and new characters justifying this resurrection are provided.


For the cluster validity problems, the most commonly used method is that one selects or defines a cluster validity index and performs a traditional clustering algorithm for all possible numbers of clusters in sequence to find the clustering structure with the best cluster validity. This process is a tedious and time-consuming work. To efficiently solve the cluster validity problems (i.e., determining the optimal number of clusters and constructing the clusters with good validity at the same time), an automatic clustering algorithm that does not require users to give each possible number of clusters is proposed based on the concepts of tabu search. The proposed algorithm treats the number of clusters as a variable and evolves it to an optimal number. Compared with five types of exhaustive searches using different traditional clustering algorithms, the superiority of the proposed algorithm in solving the cluster validity problems is demonstrated through experiments conducted on three artificial data sets and three real-life data sets.


The intertestamental period, also called the second temple period, is the time between the writing of the last Old Testament book and the beginning of the events described in the New Testament.


Organized interscholastic athletics are no doubt the most highly advertised of all extra-curriculum activities in either high school or college. Considerable time and energy are expended by the pupils who engage in the major interschool athletic contests. There are persons who will contend that pupils who devote the hours, the strength, and the attention required to participate in these contests do so at the expense of their scholarship in school. Others will stoutly defend the thesis that what is lost in scholarship by the participant is more than compensated for by the rich experiences gained. The question which naturally arises is: Who has lost, the athlete or the non-athlete? The studies made in this field at the high-school level have been open to criticism because teachers' marks were invariably used as the measure of achievement. The studies of Cook and Thompson published in 1928,' Finch in 1932,2 and Eaton and Shannon in 19343 are undoubtedly the best. Cook and Thompson compared 91 letter boys with ioo non-letter boys in the Hughes High School in Cincinnati. These investigators found that the athletes were slightly lower in scholarship, made poorer records during participation, were more likely to graduate, remained longer in school, and were more likely to enter college than non-athletes. Finch collected data from the scholarship records of 174 boys who were graduated from the


Roberton Williams, Senior Fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, talks about the historically low tax rates currently paid by the richest U.S. taxpayers, why taxing the rich by itself won?t bridge the budget gap, and why raising taxes on capital gains is a complicated policy option.


This paper both elaborates and interrogates the transactional model of human experience at the center of Shannon W. Sullivan's Living Across and Through Skins. In particular, it highlights the need (especially given her concerns and commitments) to supplement her account with a psychoanalytic reading of our gendered subjectivities. Moreover, it stresses the necessity to focus on such humanly important—and irreducibly somatic—phenomena as grief and eros.


It is demonstrated numerically that a separable expansion of the two-body {ital t} matrix gives us an exact method of solving the Faddeev equation with a local potential. The method of a separable expansion adopted is simple and systematic. The result of the three-body calculation on the {ital n}-{ital d} scattering is stable at least in four significant figures with a lower truncation of the separable series.


Human reproduction has 2 components. The 1st is the reproduction of human lives and the 2nd is the reproduction of labor force. The reproduction of human lives depends on environmental resources -- e.g., food, water, and land, as well as proper population density and population structure. To enhance the reproduction of lives, it is necessary to improve the quality of genes and to improve the living environment. In the process of reproduction of lives, resources and energy are consumed. The continued reproduction of lives needs the proper balance between the existence and the consumption of energy and resources. The current population in China is too large for its available resources and for its environmental situation. Promoting decline of fertility and improving the quality of population is essential. Reproduction of labor force includes the reproduction of physical and mental capability and reproduction of products of labor. Both kinds of reproduction depend on the suitable environmental and socioeconomic conditions. In the modern world, technological development needs highly trained, skilled workers. Increasing the education of workers is one of the major tasks of labor reproduction. Meanwhile, the skills of labor are also increased through consumption and reproduction of materials. As part of the labor force, workers are restricted by the level of productivity of a society and the availability of production materials. On the other hand, a person's need to consume is unconditional. Under such circumstance, the reproduction of human lives should be compatible with the growth of productivity and materials available for consumption. In view of the above restrictions and needs, the reproduction of human lives is to be kept within the range that is sustainable under the stage of the economic development and environmental conditions.


Objective:To evaluate the efficiency of the second trimester maternal serum marker screening for Down syndrome.Methods: Maternal serum AFP,f-βHCG of 9453 pregnant women was detected by time-resolved flourimmunoassay,and the risk was estimated by Multicalc Soft.Women with high risk were counseled and offered fetal chromosome karyotype analysis or ultrasonic.High-risk pregnancies were followed up until the birth.Results: There were 113 cases of 343 high-risk pregnancies accepted fetal chromosome karyotype analysis,detecting 2 cases Down syndrome,3 cases Edwards syndrome and one case other chromosomal abnormalities.Furthermore,4 cases of abnormalities were found in following.Conclusion: The second trimester maternal serum marker screening followed by fetal chromosome karyotype analysis is an effective method for decreasing birth defect.


The article describes the chronology of development of the system of reference materials in the nuclear industry of the Russian Federation. The basic documents used in the sphere of nuclear energy are described. The nomenclature of reference materials and feature of their application in the "Rosatom" is given. The prospects of development activities in the field of reference materials are formulated.


Phenylalanine ammonia- lyase(PAL) is widespread in plant as the first key enzyme of phenylpropanoid pathway, it can be used to produce L- phenylalanine(L- Phe) through its reverse catalytic activity in biochemical industry. Nowadays, it is an important way to screen the PAL sources with high activity and stability for increasing the yield of L-Phe. In this study, a phenylalanine ammonia-lyase gene from Fagopyrum tatarcium(FtPAL) was constructed to pET- 30b(+) and expressed in E.coli BL21(DE3), target protein FtPAL's reverse catalyze properties was characterized after purification. The results showed that FtPAL arrived at the highest forward catalytic activity 24.17 U/mg after induction of 5 h. Furthermore, the forward and reverse catalytic activities of purified FtPAL were 158.74 U/mg and 194.11 U/mg, respectively.Meanwhile, thin-layer chromatography(TLC) analysis also indicated FtPAL has the ability to catalyze transcinnamic acid into L-Phe. FtPAL was most active at 30 ℃ and pH 10, and showed the low thermal stability and moderate pH stability. FtPAL activity was activated by Mg2 +ion(P0.01), but was inhibited by othermetal ions(Na+、Mn2 +、Fe2 +、Fe3 +、Cu2 +and Ca2 +)(P0.05 or P0.01). Particularly, Hg2 +could make FtPAL lose activity completely. Our study not only proves FtPAL has the activity to synthesize L-Phe, but also lays the foundation for improving its catalytic efficiency and stability through the genetic engineering.


There is still much to learn about the mechanisms and interactions by which psychological and cognitive factors influence creative performance in design, and more explicitly in design's ideation stage. The present study aims to explore such influences for Design by Analogy (DbA) ideation methods. 69 participants from 52 companies in Mexico and Singapore executed two ideation sessions (phase I and phase II) to generate solution ideas for a service design problem (same design problem was used for both phases). Between the two phases participants were assigned and trained with one of three selected ideation conditions: Control, WordTree and SCAMPER. Finally, they were asked to self-evaluate 11 factors that may influence their creative performance. The explored factors comprised individual, performance self-perception and contextual factors. Individual factors are considered with respect to the ideation activity and the design problem. In the case of the ideation activity evaluated factors are: entertainment (boring-fun), motivation, inspiration and easiness (difficult-easy). For the design problem, interest, easiness and inspiration are considered. Performance self-perception factors are: commitment (minimal effort-hard work), concentration (unfocused-focused) and level of success (unsuccessful-successful). Lastly, the Contextual factor considered is the self-perceived relation of time with respect to ideas. Two main analyses are presented and discussed in this article: the effect of learning and applying DbA ideation methods on participants' factor self-evaluation, and; the relationship between the 11 self-evaluated factors and creative performance using the metrics of Fluency, Novelty and Fixation.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


No. 123 — May 2007 (pp. 172–76), as well as more expected entries such as media effects (pp. 114–17) and political advertising (pp. 147–51). The book argues that the contexts of political communication must also be understood in order to be able to understand 'the functions and roles' of a communication (p. 17). This emphasis on context highlights one noticeable absence from the list of concepts: political culture. Although arguably not a political communication concept, some discussion of the concept and the controversies which surround it would have been a useful addition to the book's concerns about reception, especially as most of the concepts in the book are defined in terms of a politics focused around electoral competition. The book largely achieves its aim of providing a 'foundation for further research' for 'newcomers' to political communication studies (p. 21). Even those more familiar with the field may find the up-to-date definitions and sketches of current research handy and its discussion of reception valuable, although some mention of critical theory, its terminology and concerns would have been welcome. As it is, the emphasis seems to be more on practical issues and empirical contexts largely to do with formal state politics, despite the complexity of general communications, media and political theory. — Sandey Fitzgerald, Sociology, Macquarie University


We essentially present some experimental results which concern three softwares implemented on two computers : a
B6700 and a DPS 8/70 .


I review some recent flavour physics results of CDF and D0 experiments at the Tevatron and discuss the expected performance of the LHCb experiment at LHC. While the Tevatron experiments have proven the potential for flavour
physics studies at hadron machines, producing outstanding results in the Bs sector, the LHCb experiment, that has just started to take data at the LHC, is expected to
significantly improve the precision reached in some key measurements already with the data collected in the first LHC run (expected to end in 2011).


According to the recent trend of miniaturization and weight reduction of portable electronic parts, the size and weight of the fastener parts have also been reduced to meet the recent requirements. As both screw length and pitch decrease in subminiature screws, the resulting clamping force diminishes because the length of the actual joints becomes shorter. In order to increase the clamping force of the subminiature screws, many solutions can be introduced such as design modification, material change, and surface treatments. In this study, the change of screw material was proposed, from a carbon steel (SWCH18A) to a stainless steel (SUS XM7). Detailed material properties were analyzed and compared for both materials.


We describe the CoNLL-2001 shared task: dividing text into clauses. We give background information on the data sets, present a general overview of the systems that have taken part in the shared task and briefly discuss their performance.


Programmes in popular music studies and popular music performance are increasingly prevalent in higher education, especially at undergraduate level. Historically, however, popular music has been identifiable as a set of performance, commercial and creative practice whose currency has resided in championing values that sit in opposition to institutionalised culture and to notions o vocational training for employment in the professions, both of which are represented by the conservatoire and university. The presenters discuss some different and potentially oppositional dimensions of authenticity in popular music (including as commercialised artefact, in performance and in education) suggested by Adorno (1941), Green (2002), Lilliestam (1996), Soderman (2013), O'Hara and others, proposing that authenticity is a contested and unstable value concept in popular music. The authors argue that various dimensions of authenticity in popular music are problematised when popular music is brought into higher educaton, where the aesthetic and cultural values of staff and students may contradict those enshrined in curricula and pedagogy designed in response to state-prescribed impratives such as employability (e.g. QAA, 2008). Through a combination of interviews with staff and students, policy and curricula analysis and a review of current literature in the field of popular musc education, the authors propose steps towards attaining a multi-vocal (Kreber, 2007) and inclusive understanding of authenticity in the burgeoning field of popular music education.


EDITOR,—Arnfinn Seim and colleagues give some useful reminders about improvements that can be achieved by treating urinary incontinence in women in general practice.1 At the end of their study, however, 80% of the women were still incontinent to some extent. It is interesting that only 16% of the patients …


for 30minat 37°C. Afterwashingin phosphate-buffered saline. the slides were mounted in buffered glyceroland read by fluorescence microscopy. Typical cytoplasmicfluorescence of infected cells was regarded as a positivereaction (7, 10). For absorption studies 100 il of a 1:16dilution of a selected specimen that appeared to reactnonspecifically


This pilot study explored the feasibility of mobile media players as a resource to help veterans in recovery for alcohol abuse and dependence disorders. Twenty veterans, enrolled in intensive outpatient treatment at a Veterans Hospital, participated in this study. Participants were provided an iPod loaded with recovery-related audio podcasts, and surveys were conducted before and after the intervention. Participants generally indicated they used the device regularly, thought it was useful and wished they had access to this type of support earlier in their recovery process.


IntroductionIgnored until recently, gender issues are now seen to be directly relevant to many of the most important variables in development equation such as education, health, productivity of labour, mobilization of capital, enterprises, and ultimately economic growth. Discussion of gender issues recently became an important addition to the development debate after Ester Boserup's landmark publication 'Women's Role in Economic Development' in 1970. The emergence of gender as an important aspect in the analysis of development process is mainly because of two reasons. Firstly, the strengthening of the feminist movements in response to the widespread discrimination against women in developing countries, and, secondly, the availability and reliability of gender disaggregated data in developing countries (Anthony et al. 2009).A serious issue in this regard, which is particularly very common in poor countries, is the increasing proportion of women poverty. Women poverty has many dimensions. Recently, the most important of these is women time poverty which can be defined the unavailability of time for productive work. Most of the time of rural women is spent in non-productive chores (including reproductive as well as community works) such as raring children, caring elderly and sick people, cooking and serving, cleaning, fetching water, collection of fire wood from the surrounding hills, and participation in social festivities. This time could otherwise be utilized in productive works. This paper attempts to assess the gender time poverty due to fuel wood collection and its implication on women economic poverty.In many developing countries fuel wood collection and use is primarily responsibility of women who allocate ample time to this activity. Kumar and Hotchkiss (2003) estimated that women in the hilly areas of Nepal spent 2.5 h ours per day on fuel collection. Similarly, Karekezi et al. (2005) recorded that in Botswana, the average time spent on fuel wood collection was about 3.3 hours. This research found that women sometimes spent up to 6 hours per day on collecting fuel wood.One of the reasons why women spent more time on fuel wood collection is the large quantity of fuel wood required for a household consumption. The fuel wood is used in traditional cooking stoves having less thermal efficiency and more wood consumption. One of the adaptation strategies is to introduce improved cooking stoves to minimize the fuel wood consumption. Previous research shows that the combustion efficiency increases with improved cooking stove which not only reduces cooking time but also minimizes the fuel wood demand of a household (Berrueta et al. 2008; Johnson et al. 2008). This not only reduces household cash outlays for fuel wood, but also reduces time spent by women for collecting fuel wood (Garcia-Frapolli et al. 2010). A similar study by WHO (2007) highlighted the social, economic, environmental, and health benefits of improved cooking stoves called 'Plancha' in Guatemala. Beside other benefits, the use of improved cooking stoves also substantially reduced women's time during cooking and fuel wood collection.Objective of the StudyThis study is conducted with the aim to assess gender time poverty and its implication for the development policy. The specific objective of the study is to determine the time women spent on collecting fuel wood from the nearby woods.Research MethodologyThe study was conducted in two villages, namely Barkaley and Chail, in the Swat District - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Most of the population in these villages belong to either low or lower middle income class. People in the area live on hills covered with tress and vegetation. The main sources of livelihood are agriculture, labor, biomass selling, etc. People depend on biomass for their domestic energy purposes which they collect from the surrounding forest. The socioeconomic characteristics, demographic structures, topographic conditions, land tenure system, livelihood structures, and living conditions are almost the same in all neighbouring villages of Swat. …


Abstract Sequence stratigraphic correlations indicate that intermittent changes of the kinematic far-field stress-field regimes, and the associated geodynamic re-organisations at the plate-tectonic contacts of the African, Apulian, Iberian and European plates, affected the Tertiary palaeogeographic evolution of the West European Platform through a combination of intra-plate tectonics and fluctuations of relative sea level. A temporal sequence of first-order stages in structural, palaeotopographic and palaeohydrographic development of the platform can be distinguished from the Paleocene onwards. These formative stages are closely linked to major plate-boundary events involving the development of the Pyrenean and Alpine orogens, and can be traced throughout the West European Platform.