A four year study was conducted with LEPA (Low Energy Precision Application) sprinklerirrigated field corn in western Kansas on a deep, well-drained, loessial silt loam to compare nitrogen (N) fertilization using preplant broadcast or in-season LEPA fertigation for five different applied-N amounts (0, 90, 145, 200 or 260 kg/ha). Residual soil N levels in the soil profile, corn yields, apparent nitrogen uptake (ANU), water use, and water use efficiency (WUE) were utilized as criteria for evaluating treatment differences. In general, results were similar for both application methods, indicating that either method is acceptable for corn production. Corn yield, ANU, and WUE all plateaued at approximately the same level of total applied N, 180 kg/ha (145 kg/ha with either primary method plus a 35 kg/ha starter application). Average yields at this level was 13.8 Mg/ha. Soil nitrate concentrations to a depth of 2.4 m for this same treatment were below 5 mg/kg at the conclusion of the study. The results emphasize that high-yielding corn production also can be efficient in nutrient and water use.


The lifetime behavior of a H2/O2 proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell with polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSSA) membrane have been investigated in order to give an insight into the degradation mechanism of the PSSA membrane. The distribution of sulfur concentration in the cross section of the PSSA membrane was measured by energy dispersive analysis of X-ray, and the chemical composition of the PSSA membrane was characterized by infrared spectroscopy before and after the lifetime experiment. The degradation mechanism of the PSSA membrane is postulated as: the oxygen reduction at the cathode proceeds through some peroxide intermediates during the fuel cell operation, and these intermediates have strong oxidative ability and may chemically attack the tertiary hydrogen at the α-carbon of the PSSA; the degradation of the PSSA membrane mainly takes place at the cathode side of the cell, and the loss of the aromatic rings and the SO3− groups simultaneously occurs from the PSSA membrane. A new kind of the PSSA-Nafion composite membrane, where the Nafion membrane is bonded with the PSSA membrane and located at the cathode of the cell, was designed to prevent oxidation degradation of the PSSA membrane in fuel cells. The performances of fuel cells with PSSA-Nafion101 and PSSA-recast Nafion composite membranes are demonstrated to be stable after 835 h and 240 h, respectively.


As the widespread acceptance of the E-learning standard:SCORM(sharable content object reference model),more and more learning materials now conform to SCORM.How to match between the special needs of the learner and the different kinds of learning materials become more urgent.This paper studies the SCORM specification and focuses on its sub-standard:LOM(learning object metadata) standard.By employing the technology of intelligent agent,analyze the metadata of the learning objects to obtain the relativity between the needs of the learner and the learning materials.Finally,give an example to show how this model works.


The application of special photogrammetric techniques has enabled the systematic mapping of Mars' topography at a scale of 1:2,000,000, using high-altitude Viking Orbiter pictures. In fiscal 86, compilation was completed of the 24 subquadrangles that make up the quadrangles MC-12, MC-13, MC-14, MC-15, MC-20, and MC-21. This work completes compilation of the 60 topographic maps covering the equatorial belt (lat. + or - 30 deg). The remaining 80 subquadrangles of Mars are planned to be completed within 3 years (27, 27 and 26 subquadrangles, in fiscal 87, 88, and 89, respectively). Elevations on all topographic maps are relative to the Mars topographic datum. The maps have a contour interval of 1 km and a precision of + or - 1 km. The equatorial-belt maps are Mercator projections having true scale at lat. + or - 27.476 deg. These maps provide more precise information than do those previously available and they will help in understanding the geologic processes that have shaped the Martian surface.


Efficient double emission-layer white organic light-emitting diodes comprising a yellow emission from bis[(4,6-difluorophenyl)-pyridinato-N,C2](picolinato)Ir(III) (FIrpic) sensitized [Cu(bis[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]ether) (6,7-Dicyanodipyrido[2,2-d : 2′, 3′-f] quinoxaline)]BF4(CuI complex) and a blue emission from 4, 4′-bis(2,2′-diphenylvinyl)-1, 1′-biphenyl (DPVBi) were demonstrated. The emission spectrum can be fine tuned by effectively controlling the thicknesses of the two emission layers. The optimized device with 18 nm FIrpic and the CuI complex codoped 4, 4′-N,N′-dicarbazole-biphenyl layer and 12 nm DPVBi layer shows a maximum current efficiency of 8.5 cd A−1, a maximum power efficiency of 5.3 lm W−1 and a maximum luminance of 3290 cd m−2. Moreover, the device exhibits a CIE coordinate of (0.345, 0.357) at a bias of 8 V and a slight colour variation with increased voltage from 6 to 16 V.


Based on the probabilistic approach introduced by Karp [14], we present two partitioning algorithms for the approximate solution of large instances of the rectilinear Steiner problem in the plane. The algorithms subdivide a set of given points into small groups, construct a minimum rectilinear Steiner tree for each small group, and then patch the subtrees together to form a near-optimum rectilinear Steiner tree for the given points. Suppose there are n given points, uniformly distributed over the unit square [0,1] × [0,1] and spanned by a minimum rectilinear Steiner tree To. Then for any given integer t > 0, the first algorithm runs in O(f(t)n + n log n) time and produces a rectilinear Steiner tree T1 such that with probability approaching 1 as n ∞, while the second algorithm has an expected running time of O(g(t)n) and it also produces a rectilinear Steiner tree T2 such that with probability approaching 1 as n ∞.


Abstract : SOX4 is a critical developmental transcription factor in vertebrates and is required for precise proliferation and differentiation in multiple tissues. SOX4 has also been implicated in tumorigenesis of multiple tumor types and has been shown by our lab to be upregulated in prostate cancer. However, the exact molecular role and the genes SOX4 transcriptionally influences remain unknown. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled to DNA microarrays (ChIP-chip) we have identified 282 high confidence SOX4 target genes and 3600 genomic binding sites. We have also used a unique protein binding, double-stranded DNA microarray to determine a novel SOX4 position-weight matrix for in silico binding site searches. Direct targets of SOX4 include key cellular regulators such as EGFR, Tenascin C, Frizzled-5 and Patched-1. In addition, SOX4 impacts other transcriptional networks through regulation of 23 transcription factors. We also show that SOX4 impacts the microRNAprocessing pathway through direct regulation of Dicer and Argonaute 1. For the first time, these data provide a snapshot of the global transcriptional regulatory network of SOX4 in prostate cancer. In tandem to molecular studies of SOX4 we have developed mice that harbor a prostate specific deletion of SOX4. Initial studies of our first mouse suggest that loss of SOX4 in the prostate has detrimental effects on fertility. While preliminary, these findings are exciting and hit at a previously unknown biological role for SOX4.


Abstract : EAGLE is an experimental pulse generator designed and built at Physics International Company (PI) for research in high-power switching, pulse compression, power flow, magnetic insulation, and dielectric breakdown. EAGLE is a wedge-shaped 1/20th slice (module) of ROULETTE, PI's conceptual design for a 40 to 50 TW, disk-shaped, modular accelerator designed to drive imploded plasma or particle beam loads. EAGLE's nominal design goals were a 100 ns, 2 TW, 2 MV, l MA pulse into a resistive load, or a 150 to 200 ns pulse at lower power. EAGLE has a 0.9 MJ Marx generator and four water-dielectric triplate transmission lines with adjustable impedances.


Introduction: Applying Multicultural and Global Education Principles to the Education of Diverse Gifted and Talented Children 1. Cognition and underachievement 2. Bilingually enriched students 3. Culturally diverse students 4. Socio-economic class issues 5. Ethnic promise and prejudice 6. Ethical perspectives 7. Gender issues 8. Exceptionality issues 9. Developmental age concerns 10. Global education issues 11. International profiles. Conclusion: A Glimpse of Life Poised and Open in Expectancy


This work presents a front-end LSI using 0.13 /spl mu/m-process developed for HD DVD disc drives. HD DVD is a recently proposed format for optical discs, in which a blue laser is adopted and high-density recording of over 15 GB per side is achieved. The LSI chip consists of 3 subsystems: partial response maximum likelihood (PRML) read channel subsystem, servo control subsystem and memory control subsystem. Using this LSI, we have also developed a HD DVD player and verified the performance to be sufficient for high-definition movies or other content. The ability to play back high-definition quality movies proves the basic potential of this LSI.


— It is evident that wireless sensor networking has a secure place in the future of communication systems. The potential and promise of such networks cannot be underestimated. A major advantage is the wide array of configurations and working environments that allow a wealth of applications. In the last few years, research on marine wireless sensor networks has been growing steadily. Nonetheless, there is an immediate need for further investigation into basic and applied research. In this paper, major challenges and applications are discussed. A perspective on target tracking in marine wireless sensor networks is thoroughly presented. In addition, the basic concept for underwater tracking algorithms is presented. From inhabitant monitoring to homeland security, the underwater environment is a major user of target tracking. The military field has greatly benefited from terrestrial wireless sensor networks. We strongly believe that the case with marine wireless sensor networks is no different. This paper discusses how underwater target tracking may enhance digital battlefields of the future. We also present a two-layer broadband wireless infrastructure for marine/terrestrial sensor networks with military and homeland security applications. The development of such infrastructure enhances the survivability of ad hoc networks, widens the domain of applicability, and emphasizes the role of marine wireless sensor networks in future battlefields.


An actual, exchange as well as a total potential (hydrolytic) acidity of litter in bog birch forests was studied at the gradient from tall grass to sphagnum- dead cover forest types within ecological profile which was established transversely to the river-bed of an intrabog stream. It was found that all the kinds of acidity are closely correlated. Litters are characterized by acid and strongly acid reaction of environment by pH 3,7- 5,5 value. The analysis of interaction of acidic litter properties, of group and fractional composition of humus substances as well as the main mineral elements was performed. A close positive relation of litter acidity with fulvic acids of the 3-rd fraction and a negative relation with the sum of humic and fulvic acids of the 1-st fraction as well as with ash level, calcic and ferric oxides were found in its composition. Calcium deficit is the main factor of litter acidity: only calcium oxide is included in prognostic signs by the step-by-step algorithm of multiple regression. The main role in litter enrichment by mineral elements is played by ground vegetation which biogeochemical selection proceeds owing to succession of forest types under changing moistening. Leaf debris forms only a basic background. Thus, moisture of an edaphon which, mainly, defines the composition of ground vegetation in bog birch forests is, indirectly, as an initial source of formation of acidic litter properties.


Abstract Simsek, U.G., Ciftci, M., Cerci, I.H., Gurses, M. and Guvenc, M. 2009. Effect of improved housing design and sexing on carcass traits and fatty acid composition of meat in broiler chicken. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 219–222. To study the effects of improved housing design (sand bedding and provision of perches) and sexing on carcass traits and fatty acid composition, 480 Ross-308 chicks were assigned to two groups including equal number of male and female. At d 42, 8 representative males and 8 females were slaughtered from each group. Their carcasses were evaluated. Fatty acid composition of whole carcass (4 males, 4 females) and meat from breast and left thigh from the remaining 4 males and 4 females were evaluated. Carcass traits did not differ between groups. Total PUFA, ω-3 and ω-6 ratios increased and total SFA and MUFA ratios decreased (P<0.001), in the improved housing group. Total SFA was found to be higher in female than male broiler (P<0.05). It was concluded that improved housing with perches and sand bedding improved chicken meat quality and increased total polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio of the meat. Sexing significantly affected fatty acids composition of meat.


A nonlinear approach of controlling the illumination of a mixed white LED system was proposed. This LED system is made up of a warm color LED source and a cool color LED source. The overall illumination of the LED system is due to the combined emitted flux of both LED source. With reasonable approximation,the proposed theoretical models with three-dimensional conditions are simplified into practical solutions,which aim at providing a comprehensive LED system theory with physical explanations for electronics engineers and researchers working in LED system designs. The proposed model consists of simple process of optical and electrical measurements,which are easy for LED device manufactures and system designers to follow. The proposed method has been tested with mixed white LED system. The theoretical results are reasonably in good agreement with measured values. The idea is applicable to LED system with multiple sources and is not limited to white LEDs.


An important feature of the market economy is the freedom of economic activity of entities operating on this market. Therefore, the way of managing a market economy is characterized by high efficiency, as well as the ability to constantly adapt new knowledge resources and social wisdom. In implementing this principle, the company should strive to achieve better results through the effective use of economic resources and the use of improvements in technological processes as well as work organization. An aid in defining this objective is to determine the enterprise's possibilities of operation based on the study of the environment and internal operation of the enterprise. In company management, a strategic analysis of the company is required. The aim of the article is an attempt at strategic analysis of the company Select Comfort sp. O.o. in Kłodzko on selected examples. Enterprises operating in a market economy are burdened with a great responsibility connected with the necessity of continuous development, and hence an increase in the demand for strategic analysis as a basis for well thought-out decisions. Information derived from strategic analysis is the basis for getting to know and assessing facts and economic phenomena, as well as developing ways to improve the operations of the unit.


In this paper,the problem of robust (adaptive) synchronization of chaotic nonlinear systems with a unified model is considered.Two main methods are proposed in different cases.Sliding mode control is used when the states of the two synchronized systems can be measured,though the considered systems may contain uncertain parts.Adaptive control with an observer is employed when only output information about the systems is known,where sliding mode control is also adopted to improve the robustness of the adaptive control systems.


A multi-functional gas chromatograph gas path flow, the gas path flow uses two inlets, three chromatograph columns, one two-arm thermal conductivity detector, two hydrogen flame detector, and two inlets parallel connecting to the carrier gas inlet, behind the first inlet, parallel connecting two chromatograph columns, one chromatograph column linking the hydrogen flame detector, another chromatograph column linking the nickel catalyst furnace and the second hydrogen flame detector through the first arm of the thermal conductivity detector; the second inlet followed by the third chromatograph column and the second arm of the thermal conductivity detector. The invention using one thermal conductivity detector, two hydrogen flame detectors, to process oil dissolved gas analysis, a sampling can complete seven gases analysis, simple operation and short analysis time; when processing oil gas content analysis, the gas path need not any changes, two times sampling can complete nine gases analysis, and it can process not only oil dissolved gas analysis in the electricity transformer, but also oil gas content analysis.


The prevalence and factors associated with an increased risk of renal dysfunction in HIV‐infected patients receiving or not receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) have been poorly evaluated in observational settings.


The dimethyl methylene diphosphonic acid was synthesized with N.N-dimethyl formamide and phosphorus trichloride.The performance of inhibiting scale and inhibiting corrosion of the product was studied.The results show that the inhibiting corrosion of the product is good and better when it composed with Zn2+ or pre-filming.Meanwhile,the product has good inhibiting scale on calcium carbonate,calcium sulphate and calcium phosphate,even if the concentration of Ca2+ is higher.


Endocrine-like cells in the laryngeal mucosa ofadult rabbits were demonstrated by electron microscopy and by the Grimelius silver-impregnation method. Endocrine-like cells were found in both the ciliated pseudostratifred and non-ciliated stratified epithelium. Some ofthe cells reached the airway lumen with a tuft ofmicrovilli. The cells contained small round granules ofuniform size and with a core ofvariable electron density. Close apposition of nerve fibers to endocrine-like cells was occasionally seen. Endocrine-like cells were also seen in the epithelium of laryngeal submucosal glands. The epiglottic taste buds, similar in structure to the taste bud in the oral cavity, were occasionally seen in the vicinity of endocrine-like cells.


The present invention is to provide a coating apparatus which can promote the improvement of measurement efficiency and improved accuracy of measurement of the feed rate of the solution supplied from the nozzle. As a solution applying device for applying to supply the solution to the substrate, and a plurality of the coating head 22 for coating is disposed along the predetermined direction is supplied to the solution to a substrate, and the mounting table 7, the substrate is mounted on the upper surface, a first linear motor (8), and a scale 41 for measuring the weight of the solution supplied from the application head and a scale in a predetermined direction and a predetermined of relatively moving in a direction crossing the predetermined direction, the mounting table and the application head and a second linear motor 44 for moving the mounting table and independently in a direction crossing the direction. Application device, the application head, with a table, the linear motor, the balance


Abstract : This paper examines the problem of U.S. congressional funding priorities for Beyond Merida legislation and finds that inadequate resourcing of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) programs impedes U.S. and Mexican efforts to disrupt transnational drug cartel operations in the near term. The author uses a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) methodology to compare the efficacy of current State Department (DOS) initiatives against possible alternatives administered by DHS. The author draws conclusions that to better disrupt the operations of transnational drug cartels, the U.S. Congress should appropriate to the DHS funding that was previously identified to support the Merida Initiative. The paper recommends that Congress enact a Department of Homeland Security Authorization bill in perpetuity and advocate for Mexican inclusion into the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).


The recently improved observation of the fine structure constant has led to a negative $2.4\sigma$ anomaly of electron $g-2$. Combined with the long-existing positive $4.2\sigma$ discrepancy of the muon anomalous magnetic moment, it is interesting and difficult to explain these two anomalies with a consistent model without introducing flavor violations. We show that they can be simultaneously explained in the inverse seesaw extended next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (ISS-NMSSM) by the Higgsino--sneutrino contributions to $(g-2)_e$ and $(g-2)_\mu$. The spectrum features prefer light $\mu$, which can predict $m_Z$ naturally, and it is not difficult to obtain a $\tau$-type sneutrino dark matter candidate that is compatible with the observed dark matter relic density and the bounds from dark matter direct detection experiments. Due to the compressed spectra and the undetectable decay mode of selectrons, they can evade the current Large Hadron Collider (LHC) constraints.


OBJECTIVES: To study the expression patterns of apoptosis-related genes in Patu-8988 human pancreatic cancer cells induced by Kanglaite Injection(KLT). METHODS: Apoptosis of the Patu-8988 cells induced by Kanglaite Injection was determined by flow cytometry with Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide staining. The different expression patterns of apoptosis-related genes before and after KLT treatment were detected by a human apoptosis microarray containing 96 cDNA fragments. Then changes in the expression of selected gene products were confirmed by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: KLT induced apoptosis of Patu-8988 cells in a time-dependent manner. cDNA microarray analysis identified significant changes (more than 3 folds) in the expression of 17 genes among the 96 apoptosis-related target genes in the first 24 hours as a consequence of KLT treatment. Among the 17 genes, the expressions of 12 were up-regulated and 5 were downregulated. Western blot performed for protein expression changes of P53, Bcl-2, Bax and caspase-3 were consistent with the microarray results. The enhanced activity of caspase-3 was evidently verified by the cleavage of the substrate of caspase-3, 89x10 form of poly (ADP ribose) polymerase. CONCLUSIONS: KLT can alter the expression profile of multiple apoptosis-related genes in Patu8988 human pancreatic cancer cells, which further reveals its mechanism of action in inducing the apoptosis of human pancreatic cancer cells.


Wireless technology has brought many changes in the way of communication in modern days. With the increased worldwide employment of wireless technology, there is raising concern about the security standards of the technology. Many encryptions and decryption techniques have been implemented today to transmit data over the networks. [1] Penetration testing is the one which can be used to identify the unknown traffic in the network. This makes pen test crucial to validate the security mechanisms of the system and outcomes of penetration testing could be used to secure the network. This research will contain an overview of the network penetration testing. It is a technique which is used for keeping the highsecurity levels in the system by the effective study of loopholes present in the security system. The contents include penetration tests which are used for the purpose of network penetration. The types of penetration testing are further included in this research. The study also includes a detailed information of penetration or pen tests. The research will further discuss the methods of penetration testing and the various phases of the penetration as we proceed in the research. The study will be focused on the effectiveness of the technique that how it can be used in preventing the hacking and providing recommendations to resolve the threats. A framework is created to test the tools and to provide a mechanism to secure the system from being hacked KeywordsNetwork Penetration Testing, Pen Test, Pen Tester, Wireless Networks.


The purpose of this study was to compare the antimicrobial efficacy of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and different natural essential oils for root canal irrigation using two activity tests (contact and diffusion agar tests). Thirty-seven extracted human teeth were collected and incubated with Staphylococcus aureus for 48 h. The teeth were divided into three divisions' experimental groups, negative control and one positive control group. The canals were instrumented and irrigated with both 5.25 and 2.5% NaOCl as positive control and with essential oils as experimental groups. Bacterial samples were collected after instrumentation/irrigation and after additional canal enlargement. The data showed that essential oils were very effective for disinfection of S. aureus in root canals of patient's teeth in dentistry clinic without significant difference between NaOCl and tested extracts. The statistical analysis of Furthermore, the essential oils were subjected to screening for their possible antioxidant activity by two complementary test system, 2,2´-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging and 2,2'- azino-bis [ethylbenzthiazoline-6- sulfonic acid] (ABTS) methods. Butylated hydroxyl anisole (BHA) was used as positive control in both systems.  All the tested essential oils showed antioxidant activity against DPPH and ABTS radical more than 50% but less than butylated hydroxyl anisole as synthetic standard.

 Key words: Essential oils, root canal irrigation; sodium hypochlorite, antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity, Staphylococcus aureus.


where φ, ψ ∈ L, H = −~ 2m ∆+V (~x) is essentially self-adjoint, H̄ is the closure ofH , and φ, ψ, V each carries at most a finite number of singularities and discontinuities. In flavor of physics literature, we will formulate the Feynman path integral with improper Riemann integrals. In hope that with further research we can formulate a rigorous polygonal path integral, we will also provide a Nonstandard Analysis version of the Feynman path integral. Using Nonstandard Analysis is not essential to our formulation, and the idea of using Nonstandard Analysis on the Feynman path integral is not a new concept. For readers interested in Nonstandard Analysis, and its applications to Feynman path integrals, see [1], [10], [13], [19], [22], and references within. We will assume that the reader is familiar with Nonstandard Analysis. In physics, the Feynman path integral is formulated on the propagator and it is formally given by (see [11], [14], and [21])


This article examines social work with immigrants in the welfare state context. The work is informed by two previous studies on immigrant and refugee integration in Finland and Canada. Taking a holistic perspective on resettlement, social work can be seen as a crucial support and bridging service through transition. Tasks involve active fostering of linkage to promote immigrant participation in the wider society, a mandate that goes beyond that of guaranteeing access to welfare benefits. The thrusts of empowerment for full participation and effective practice of citizenship include capacity building, networking of resources and fighting discriminatory barriers. Resettlement social work has a singular interest in reexamining the State-third sector and professional-paraprofessional divide. It would be to the advantage of the field to broaden the body of official stakeholders and actors, in the context of new partnerships. The immigrant communities hold needed stocks of cultural competence and resettlement experience, which complement areas of professional expertise. Collaborative partnerships could offer social work the possibility to access community-based resources and to reach needs and problems that may otherwise elude the mainstream social work system in the welfare state.


We apply lattice Boltzmann methods to study the relaxation of the velocity profile in binary fluids under shear during spinodal decomposition. In simple fluids, when a shear flow is applied on the boundaries of the system, the time required to obtain a triangular profile is inversely proportional to the viscosity and proportional to the square of the size of the system. We find that the same behaviour also occurs for binary mixtures, for any component ratio in the mixture and independently from the time when shear flow is switched on during phase separation.


We present the design of an ultrahigh vacuum dynamic force microscope incorporating a heterodyne Doppler interferometer and a superheterodyne circuit with an intermediate frequency of 10.7MHz. The method allowed the use of a low-noise narrow-band analog phase-locked loop with a voltage controlled crystal oscillator for demodulating the frequency shifts caused by the interaction force gradients between the tip and the sample at the intermediate frequency. The system could be used for a conventional cantilever operating in its fundamental and higher modes, as well as for small or stiff cantilevers with high resonance frequency up to 100MHz. A preliminary measurement was demonstrated by the observation of the Si(111)−7×7 reconstructed surface with the second resonance of 1.6MHz with subangstrom amplitudes.


As implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) moves ahead this fall, Americans remain startlingly uninformed about the landmark law and its prescriptions for the country's health care system. Fewer than 4 in 10 adults in a recent national survey were familiar with the new insurance marketplaces at the center of the law.1 In any democracy, public misunderstanding on this scale is troubling. Still more disturbing, this misunderstanding has helped paralyze policymaking at a critical point for the nation and its ailing health system. Ideological claims and counterclaims, often based on erroneous information, have displaced informed discussion about the trade-offs and compromises necessary in any major legislative reform. The uninformed public and policymaking paralysis are not the product of an information vacuum. Despite concern about the decline of newspapers—a real and troubling phenomenon—coverage of health care has been a relative bright spot. For instance, the Los AngelesTimesalonehaspublishedmorethan300front-page


Glass fiber/epoxy reinforced composite pipes are commonly used in the industry were circulation of extreme forced chemical fluids, industrial wastes and oil and natural gas transmission occurs. In oil and natural gas production, the heavy crude oil transporting pipe lines are exposed to unsteady pressure waves which generate rise and fall stress readings in the pipes. Computational fluid dynamic examination was implemented using Ansys 15.0 Fluent software to investigate the consequences of these pressure waves on some detailed joints in the pipes. Relating on the type of heavy crude oil being employed, the flow behaviour stated a significant degree of stress levels in evident attaching joints, triggering the joints to become delicate over a sustained phase of usage. In this analysis, the comparison among various pipe joints was done by using different materials, and the end result of the stress volume in the pipe joints was checked so that the life of the pipe joints can be optimized by the change of material.


Abstract Introduction: The gold standard treatment of early gallbladder carcinoma is radical cholecystectomy. This procedure involves en-block resection of the adjoining liver bed. Hemostasis control is the major concern during liver resection, particularly in laparoscopic approach. Mortality and morbidity are clearly associated with the amount of blood loss.1 The harmonic scalpel is commonly used for liver resection during the laparoscopic approach. However, this technique has been shown to have more incidence of bile leakage.2 Radiofrequency (RF) energy has been broadly used to ablate local unresectable liver tumor by causing coagulative necrosis of the liver parenchyma tissues.3 This alternating current also causes thrombosis and coagulation of the small blood vessels, which exhibits its potential in bloodless liver resection. RF-assisted liver resection shows minimal blood loss in human and animal model experiences.4–6 This novel technique is utilized during laparoscopic radical cholecystectomy to min...


ABSTRACT A new development in the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea, 2009 (commonly called Rotterdam rules) is the formula it adopted to deal with the basic question of the carrier's liability. It has set out a new structure of the carrier's liability and the burden of proof. Still its approach is not totally novel but extracted from the previous maritime conventions. It has preserved the 'fault-based liability system' established by the Brussels Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading, 1924 (also known as Hague Rules), the Hague Rules amended with 1968 Visby Protocol and the SDR protocol of 1979 (Hague-Visby Rules) and International Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea 1978 (Hamburg Rules). This piece of work analyses the new structure of carrier's liability introduced by this convention.


Metal oxide nanoparticles have great potential for selective adsorption and catalytic degradation of contaminants from aqueous solutions. In this study, we employ mass spectrometry and molecular dynamics simulations to better understand the chemical and physical mechanisms determining the affinity of chlorobenzenes and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). The experiments and simulations both demonstrate that the adsorption coefficients for chlorobenzenes increase steadily with the number of chlorine atoms, while, for PCBs, the relation is more complex. The simulations link this complexity to chlorine atoms at ortho positions hindering coplanar conformations. For a given number of chlorine atoms, the simulations predict decreasing adsorption affinity with increasing numbers of ortho substitutions. Consequently, the simulations predict that some of the highest adsorption affinities for ZnO NPs are exhibited by dioxin-like PCBs, suggesting the possibility of selective sequestration of these most acutely toxic PCBs. Remarkably, the experiments show that the PCB adsorption coefficients of ZnO NPs with diameters ≤ 80 nm exceed those of a soil sample by 5–7 orders of magnitude, meaning that a single gram of ZnO NPs could sequester low levels of PCB contamination from as much as a ton of soil.


This book is published under a grant from the Haggin Trust and thus affords one more illustration of the generous support given in the U.S.A. to promote the academic investigation of legal topics. It is divided into four parts and an appendix. The first part is a short historical introduction; the second a discussion of the nature and quality of criminally negligent conduct, and the third an account of legislation in various States on the subjects of ' negligent murder,' ' negligent manslaughter' and ' negligent homicide' much of which illustrates the obscurity and confusion caused in modern times by a failure to achieve a clear analysis of the mental processes contemplated by the ancient doctrine of tnens rea during its journey through the centuries to the present day. The fourth part consists of the author's conclusion, which is that criminal negligence, except in the case of murder, is objective and not subjective, but that a special degree of negligence is requisite for criminal liability; in fact, that ' civil and criminal negligence are the same in kind, differing only in degree.' While strongly holding that this conclusion is not true as a statement of the common law of England (although it may describe correctly the effect of some American State legislation) it is yet possible for a reviewer to welcome the present book as a contribution to the study of a topic in which English jurisprudence is at its weakest. Professor Moreland has collected and discussed material which must be considered by anyone who desires an improvement in this most unsatisfactory section of our criminal law. J. W. C. T.


The hemipteran, Macrolophus pygmaeus Rumber, is an effective biocontrol agent against many crop pests including tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta Meyrick. Sublethal effects of azadirachtin (Neem Azal ® ), indoxacarb (Avaunt ® ), and emamectin benzoate+lufenuron (Proclim Fit) were studied on biological characteristics and functional response of the predatory bug in laboratory conditions at 25±1°C, 6 ±5% RH, and a photoperiod of 16:8 hour (L:D). For this purpose, females of the predatory bug were exposed to sublethal residues (10% of field concentration) of the insecticides. Twosex life table and Roger's model were used to investigate effects of the insecticides on biological parameters and functional response of the predator, respectively. Results indicated that sublethal residues of indoxacarb and azadirachtin had the highest and lowest side effects on life table parameters of M. pygmaeus. Whereas azadirachtin has no significant effects on the bug biological parameters, total fecundity and longevity of the bug in indoxacarb treatment were significantly lower (14.6%) and higher (6.9%) than the control. The predator showed type III functional response. The type of functional response was not affected by the insecticide residues. However, the coefficient of attack rate (b) for the indoxacarb treatment (0.1521) was significantly lower than for other treatments. However, there was no significant difference between the handling Times (Th) of the treatments. In conclusion, the experiments proved that azadirachtin is a low risk insecticide to M. pygmaeus, which can be integrated with biological control by the


Lymphoid cells from Aleutian disease virus (ADV)-infected and noninfected mink were cultured in vitro and the synthesis of Ig M, IgG, and viral-specific antibody measured. Compared to noninfected mink, lymph node cells from mink with Aleutian disease (AD) contained a higher percentage of plasma cells and immunoglobulin-bearing lymphocytes, synthesized significantly more IgG, and produced detectable quantities of ADV-specific antibody. No significant difference in IgM synthesis was observed.


A direct write technique has the potential for replacing the lithographic process used for fabricating micro-fluidic channels and expedite the field of


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Correspondence: Willy A Flegel e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com 1Department of Transfusion Medicine, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America; 2Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China RhD negative individuals are rare in East Asia1. Their prevalence among patients and blood donors in China, Korea and Japan is 1% or less2. The serologic weak D phenotype is even rarer3,4. Since there are so few susceptible patients, anti-D is encountered infrequently in East Asia5. As known from other regions, the anti-D immunisation rate is at least nearly 20%6,7 and can exceed 50%8,9, when vulnerable patients10 are exposed to RhD positive transfusion. Proper identification of weak D and DEL phenotypes can contribute to patient safety and determine if RhD negative red cell transfusion is required. Management of the D antigen in transfusion and pregnancy is unique; the atypically high immunisation rate is combined with a relative abundance of susceptible RhD negative individuals in Western (10-17%) compared to a low-prevalence in East Asian countries (<1%)11. Anti-D remains a serious consequence in women of childbearing age12-18 and limits the blood supply for patients in East Asia, when large volumes are needed in emergency situations19. However, blood donor and patient typing20-22 and sophisticated blood inventory management enable an adequate inventory of RhD negative red cell units even in East Asia. Specialised DEL or weak D inventories are possible; with the exception of women of childbearing age, DEL red cell units are for now used for transfusions of RhD negative recipients in Japan23, although this is not general practice in Western health care systems24. Among East Asian countries, transfusion practice for patients who are RhD negative is variable. For example, Lin-Chu and colleagues25 decided "that it is unnecessary to include D typing in pre-transfusion testing" in Taiwan, because anti-D is rarely encountered. Patients are transfused with RhD positive red cells, irrespective of their –often unknown– RhD status, a practice corroborated since 19885,26. The prevalence of DEL among individuals who are typing as RhD negative in Taiwan5, reportedly as high as 32.6%27, may protect against anti-D immunisation in many carriers of DEL among serologically RhD negative patients28-33. However, 10 patients among 22 with anti-D were immunised by RhD positive transfusions including 1 by DEL red cell units5. As proposed by Weinstock34 in the context of a study from South Asia35, it is worthwhile to accrue data for antigen frequencies in distinct populations. Chung and colleagues have contributed such data to inform the DEL and weak D aspect needed for transfusion medicine practice in East Asia36. Recent studies identified 32 novel alleles among individuals with a serologic weak D phenotype in Japan37,38. Likewise, new alleles expressing weak antigens in other blood group systems were reported from China39. Chung and colleagues further explored the molecular basis of weak D in Korea and its impact


Dwork, Hardt, Pitassi, Reingold, & Zemel [6] introduced two notions of fairness, each of which is meant to formalize the notion of similar treatment for similarly qualified individuals. The first of these notions, which we call additive metric fairness, has received much attention in subsequent work studying the fairness of a system composed of classifiers which are fair when considered in isolation [3, 4, 7, 8, 12] and in work studying the relationship between fair treatment of individuals and fair treatment of groups [6, 7, 13]. Here, we extend these lines of research to the second, less-studied notion, which we call multiplicative metric fairness. In particular, we exactly characterize the fairness of conjunctions and disjunctions of multiplicative metric fair classifiers, and the extent to which a classifier which satisfies multiplicative metric fairness also treats groups fairly. This characterization reveals that whereas additive metric fairness becomes easier to satisfy when probabilities of acceptance are small, leading to unfairness under functional and group compositions, multiplicative metric fairness is better-behaved, due to its scale-invariance. 2012


We consider global stability for the fractional incompressible Navier‐Stokes equations in a 3‐D critical Fourier‐Herz space. By introducing a weighted norm space and using Fourier localization technique, the stability of mild solutions with small initial FB˙p,q4−α−3p(R3) perturbation is established. With the Friedrichs method, the stability of weak solutions is proved under arbitrary large initial L2(R3) perturbation.


The patient was a 57-year-old white man who was hrst seen in August, 1948, complaining of hoarseness of several years' duration. Examination of the larynx revealed a smooth, thickened, slightly enlarged right arytenoid, with some limitation of motion of the left hemilarynx; the vocal cords appeared normal. No biopsy was taken. He was discharged with a diagnosis of chronic laryngitis. l h e patient's hoarseness gradually increased; he developed an aching pain in the throat, ears, and neck, which radiated to the axilla. When next examined in April, 1950, he had an edematous, granulomatous lesion involving the right external larynx. A biopsy taken at this time was reported "highly anaplastic squamous cell carcinoma." Radiation therapy was then given (3200 r to each of two lateral ports), which eventually resulted in gross healing of the lesion; however, for about s1x months after irradiation, the patient had considerable difficulty owing to local edema, sloughing, and excessive mucus accumulation. The patient was €allowed rather closely. There was never any evidence, from laryngeal examination, of tumor recurrence. A single biopsy taken in April, 1952, was reported as a connective-tissue polyp. Late in this same year he began to complain of pain in the right shoulder. Physical and roentgenographic examinations of the area failed to disclose any lesions; however, the pain persisted and he developed weakness and numbness of the right


Abiotic stresses lead to an array of physiological and biochemical changes in crops which affect their growth and development leading to grain yield reductions. Oilseed Brassica species are vulnerable to heat and drought stress, especially in the early reproductive stage. We evaluated the use of several non-destructive phenomic tools to predict heat and drought tolerance at anthesis in three Brassica species, including five B. rapa, five B. napus and two B. juncea genotypes. Heat, drought or combined heat and drought treatments were applied for seven days from the beginning of anthesis, following which plants were returned to normal temperatures and well-watered conditions. Leaf and floral bud temperatures increased relative to ambient, and leaf conductance decreased in response to seven days of drought or combined treatments, but not to heat or control treatments. The drought and/or heat treatment significantly affected three photosynthesis-related parameters: the maximum carboxylation rate allowed by Rubisco (Vcmax), the photosynthetic electron transport rate and the rate of triose phosphate use. One day after the beginning of the heat and combined heat and drought treatments, Vcmax increased to more than double the basal level but remained low in the drought and control treatments. Vcmax on the first day of heat and combined treatments was positively correlated to the harvested seed yield of genotypes (r = 0.670 and 0.878, respectively), suggesting that a rapid increase in Vcmax in response to heat stress during anthesis was a positive predictor of final grain yield. The tissue volume of the whole plant, detected by plant growth imaging using a digital imaging system, was positively correlated with the above-ground fresh weight of genotypes after seven days in all treatments and was, therefore, an excellent surrogate for above-ground biomass of the whole plant. The volume of the yellow flowers after seven days in all treatments was positively correlated with the harvested seed yield of genotypes, and is a potential non-destructive phenomic screen for heat and drought stress tolerance in Brassica germplasm.


The objective of the study is to investigate depressive symptoms before and after the initiation of chemotherapy and their impact on overall survival (OS) among patients with hematological malignancies.


LCD and matrix keyboard are used usually in embedded systems for the intercourse between the user and the machine.In this paper,a 192×64 LCD is used as the monitor,two ZigBee nodes are used for wireless control,and a matrix keyboard is used to connect with the LCD module through which the user can send command to the control system.The LCD module can display Chinese and English characters together,homochromous bitmaps,and objects in reverse.The measured maximum distance can reach to 50 m and stable communication can be realized within 20 m.This man-machine interface can be used in wireless meter reading system,numeric control system,etc.


Several storage and fresh-keeping technologies of strawberry were summarized,the merits and drawbacks of different fresh-keeping technologies were compared,and their prospects of application were also discussed.


Historically, urban areas expanded proportionally to the maximum speed one could travel within natural travel time budgets. However, driven by the availability of private motorised transport, major urban areas are now expanding so fast that achievable increases in transport speed cannot compensate for the growth in size. More importantly, such issue highlights that these shortcomings are inherent to traditional engineering approaches. Therefore, radical innovation is critical to support the future structures of megalopoleis. We thus propose a new framework for engineering radical change that is based on projection rather than prediction, illustrated by a new concept of operations for metro systems. Our models show that this novel approach can increase door-to-door achievable distances within the natural time budgets by approximately 50% without further increases in maximum line speeds. Expanding the potential applications of this framework, we position this research as a starting point to a new perspective on developing systems to support the complex urban environments of the future.


Abstract This analysis describes the prevalence of contraindications to nirmatrelvir/ritonavir among 66 007 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in a large health care system. A possible contradiction was present in 9830 patients (14.8%), with the prevalence of contraindications increasing with higher acuity of illness.


: Obesity may cause lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Eating slowly and chewing well are essential to prevent obesity. This research aims to improve the consciousness of dietary behavior based on eating habits by quantifying eating behavior. It proposes "ChewReminder," a smartphone application software that detects eating activities in real-time under a natural meal environment and gives feedback based on detected activity. ChewReminder detects four activities: chewing, swallowing, talking, and other.The smartwatch gives feedback using vibration depend on chewing count per one bite which information was linked from the smartphone. Also, the total feedback about the meal was displayed on the smartphone after finishing the meal. The chewing count for 70% subjects and chewing pace for more than half subjects was improved with using ChewReminder by the result of total chewing count, average of chewing count per bite and chewing pace. ChewReminder is effective especially people who are aware of fast eating. Also, the result of long-term experiment indicated that feedback displayed on a smartphone was effective to improve consciousness of eating activity. Therefore, the result of both experiment shows that ChewReminder is a valid system to improve consciousness of eating activity especially chewing activity.


sense of scrupulous fidelity to original fabric was rarely adhered to in nineteenth-century practices, it became an article of faith in the modern, twentieth-century discipline of preservation. Now, in self-professed reaction to the fundamentalism and purism of the modern movement, both Jack Quinan and David Fixler propose alternatives to the fetishization of the "architect's original vision," as Quinan describes the ideal state of a building at a determined "date of significance," and the "traditional linkage of the concept of authenticity with the conservation of original materials," as Fixler defines the urge to retain, at all costs, the original "materiality of a structure." From their very different positions—one is a scholar especially interested in matters of reception and interpretation, the other a preservation architect focusing on nuts-andbolts questions—both Quinan and Fixler agree that the idea of authenticity must be expanded, relativized, and made more flexible in order to accommodate present-day conditions and needs. Both also pose the issue almost exclusively in terms of individual buildings by named architects that are considered worthy of preservation in large part because of those very architects' names. I say "almost exclusively" because Quinan alludes to a broader question, which is the one I want to address here. In remarking on the direct link, even comparability in terms of authenticity, between the effort in Buffalo to restore the Martin House and the related one to construct designs of Wright not built in the architect's lifetime, Quinan exposes one of the most tortuous, intensifying, and underexplored fault lines in the contemporary preservation/restoration story. Assessing the authenticity of a posthumous work of architecture can have no recourse to a comparison between present and past. Instead, there is only the present simulacrum of a past that never was, an architectural phenomenon that some might say gives new meaning to the term "Disneyfication."1 While the posthumous production of a building may at first seem to bear little or no relationship to the field of preservation, one has only to think of its effect on the archive to begin to appreciate the significance of the connection. If the ultimate purpose of preservation is the passing on to later generations of architectural ideas and forms that represent meaningful expressions of, and contributions to, cultural history, then the status of the archive is profoundly embedded in how one conceives and constitutes such a legacy and thus demands that we fold into the usual conception of the physical, built record a parallel one of drawings and documents. Indeed, this record can prove to be the more authentic of the two since it is usually immune to the kinds of large-scale and often radical restorative and reconstructive interventions that buildings undergo, whether for reasons of neglect, destruction, or adaptive reuse. * * * Let me start with a couple of obvious points: 1) the word "preservation" is a misnomer and what we usually mean by the term is something more like restoration, reconstruction, or re-creation; and 2) these different types of intervention constitute a sliding scale of reproduction of the past along which the building of the unbuilt recently has come to occupy a significant place, extreme as it is. It would be great if everyone could agree, either at the time things were built or shortly thereafter, that certain buildings were important enough to be maintained and preserved and that resources were put into that effort. Clearly such has rarely been the case, and buildings, no matter how valued, deteriorate over time. The question then becomes what to do short of merely preserving the remains. Two good examples of deterioration were the late fourteenthearly fifteenth-century Château of Pierrefonds, as it existed in a ruinous state by the 1850s, and the Oak Park house Frank Lloyd Wright built for himself in 1889–90, as it was later transformed into a multiunit rental property. Simply to preserve either Pierrefonds, a rare example of domestic architecture of the late Gothic period, or Wright's house, his first notable building, in the condition they were in would have rendered imperspicuous what they stood for historically. A fundamental goal of preservation has been to give to a building the appearance that made it seem valuable in the first place. Viollet-le-Duc, who restored Pierrefonds, was the


Intrinsic optical bistability experiments are reviewed and their contributions summarized. Very large nonlinearities in semiconductors give reason to hope that practical devices may evolve in the near future. Characteristics important for practical optical logic devices are discussed: size, temperature range, holding intensity, switching energy, switching times, and wavelength range and stability.


Governments have briskly enforced lockdown and national social distancing across many societies to varying degrees, internationally, due to the outbreak of the SARSCoV- 2 coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. This article addresses challenges and implications posed by addiction under the novel conditions at a time when the infectious disease currently has no cure. Although substance misuse is mentioned, alcohol issues areprominently emphasised due to the dearth of information available regarding substance misuse specifi cally at this stage of the pandemic.


It is quite common for e-Commerce Web sites and enterprise data-processing systems to accumulate hundreds of millions of records of data over time. If all of these records need to be readily available at all times, over time a single database server will become overburdened and response time will suffer. An approach to solving this problem is to scale out horizontally by partitioning data across multiple servers. When data is distributed over multiple servers in a network, this becomes what is known as a distributed database environment. In a distributed database environment, a federation of databases is made up of two or more database servers who function autonomously, but agree to share data and processing for a larger workload. A federation of databases might be a versatile solution to this problem by scaling out the data and processing to handle the growth requirements of extremely large databases. In this paper, a methodology is presented for designing and implementing homogeneous federated databases in SQL Server. This methodology includes design patterns for federated databases, how to implement a federation, how to design applications to use a federation, how to ensure availability, and how to handle federation maintenance. In this methodology we are proposing eleven steps to implement a homogeneous federated database. The steps are as follows: Profile Database, Design Partitions, Setup Servers, Setup Linked Servers, Setup Security, Set Lazy Schema Validation Server Option, Partition Data, Define CHECK Constraints, Define Data Dependent Routing Table, Create Distributed Partitioned Views, and Setup Replication.


An analysis is made of the transfer function (TF) of heart-common-femoral blood flow, in order to test the plausibility of simple mathematical models proposed in the literature for clinical use as well as the physical significance of their parameters. The results show that: (1) it is necessary to limit greatly the frequency range considered (generally no more than 10 Hz) in order to have acceptable fits with simple models (characterized by no more than four zeros or poles); (2) the aortic-flow-common-femoral-flow TF is described well by at least three poles; (3) the aortic-pressure-common-femoral-flow TF is described well by at least one zero and four poles; and (4) finding a precise physical meaning of zeros and poles, as done for example in the Laplace transform method, is rather complicated.<<ETX>>


The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic and environmental determinants of metabolic syndrome among the adult inhabitants of island Vis. A total of 1,024 respondents were recruited during 2003 and 2004. A number of phenotypic measurements were made for each respondent, supplemented with the genealogical information and genotypes (microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNP). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 48% using ATP III definition (38% for men and 56% for women), and 58% using IDF definition (46% for men and 66% for women). Age-standardised prevalence using ATP III was 33% (26% for men and 40% for women), while IDF definition yielded the age-standardised prevalence of 42% (33% for men and 50% for women). Definitions overlaped in 86% of all cases. While bivariate analysis revealed numerous associations, mixed model results yielded significant association of metabolic syndrome with age, gender, HOMA index, insulin, tPA, uric acid, fibrinogen and cortisol. Individual genome-wide heterozygosity was inversely associated with the metabolic syndrome odds. Metabolic syndrome heritability was 34% when ATP III definition was used, and 43% for IDF definition, but environmental contribution to the metabolic syndrome variance was higher; percent of explained variance was 51% for ATP III and 56% for IDF definition. Genome-wide analysis implied four SNPs, two of which were significantly associated with metabolic syndrome in the logistic regression model (rs3881953 was also associated with waist circumference, and rs10511595 was associated with serum glucose level). Overall results indicate higher environmental variance share, nevertheless with high heritability. High prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the adult population of island Vis requires public health intervention, aiming to reduce the prevalence of metabolic syndrome as one of the most important cardiovascular disease risk factors.


The usage of ultrasound imaging for medical diagnosis is limited due to the presence of speckle noise. In this study Modified Adaptive Wavelet Shrinkage Filter (MAWSF) in the translational invariant domain is proposed for the removal of speckle noise. The adaptive wavelet threshold function removes the fixed bias of soft thresholding. A new inter-scale dependency model is proposed, to perform a primary clustering of signal of interest and noise. Then, anew sub-band adaptive threshold is determined for all high frequency sub-bands at various decomposition levels, to shrink the noisy coefficients. Experiment is conducted on several ultrasound scan images. The results show that this method yields better visual quality and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). Improvement in preservation of edge details is also found measured with Edge Preservation Index (EPI) measure.


This paper is the latest result of a research – shared with a few scholars of the Department of Architecture of the University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti and Pescara – on how colors can shape the perception of contemporary urban space. In particular, we present here a research that investigates the complex relationships that colors and space of Public Art establish with the citizens, the city and the specific architectures of Pescara. Over the years, Abruzzo's city has been the setting for a series of interesting works of public art – both ephemeral and long-lasting – in which colors play a fundamental role in establishing paths of urban transformation but also as synesthetic acts and gestures of communication on different scales; artistic and socializing processes capable of releasing new aesthetic and participatory meanings to inhabit the collective and intimate space of urban spaces between art, architecture and design (and more). The works have been selected and divided using four keywords which highlight certain aesthetic characteristics of the colors that shape their perception. Ephemeral fluid red: Huge Wine Glass by Toyo Ito (in Piazza della Rinascita). Big Blue: A Fountain by Ettore Spalletti (placed in the square in front of the new Tribunal). Black & White: Dream by Millo (a mural painted on a blind facade of a building in the Fontanelle district) and My safe place (realized on a façade of a school). Habitable rainbow: The enchanted garden and Piazza Caduti del Mare by Franco Summa.


Abstract : Mesoporous intercalation electrode materials were prepared, characterized, and their electrochemical performance evaluated. The usual characterization techniques were complemented by our (novel!) use of electron microprobe analysis to examine the homogeneity oft he products. The results show that in many cases, oxidation/reduction does not significantly alter the local structure about the electroactive metal ions in these relatively open structures, thus increasing the electrochemical reversibility. These structures also appear to facilitate ionic diffusion. Well-ordered mesoporous SnO and SnO2 were successfully prepared and exhibited higher specific capacities than the carbon materials presently used in the anodes of lithium ion batteries. These materials clearly have potential application as intercalation anode materials. The cycling behavior of manganese and vanadium substituted into a mesoporous host aluminophosphate framework showed very good reversibility, while rate capacity studies indicated excellent capacity retention. It is clear that the open mesoporous host structures facilitate the transport of lithium ions through the framework. The University provided funds to purchase an x-ray system in support of this work, with the provision that it be shared with other scientists on campus. Although no ARO funds were used for the purchase, the grant support from ARO played a major role in this acquisition.


Data indicates that the decision to ship compromised cull cows is too common. Compromised culled dairy cattle continue to arrive at slaughter plants. Leadership within the industry is needed to address this welfare challenge. Dairy cattle veterinarians are uniquely positioned to and responsible for meeting this task. It is supposed by the author that while the next generation of cattle veterinarians are also uniquely qualified to deliver meaningful progress, there is no secret weapon, treatment or single answer that will deliver success; merely one simple ingredient, compassion.


The research featured the repressions of the 1930s, or the Great Purge. The article focuses on the case of the town of Leninsk-Kuznetskiy. The study was based on materials obtained from the press of that time (newspapers "Leninskiy Shakhter" and "Sovetskaia Sibir"), the State archive of the Kemerovo region, and scientific publications. The author highlighted the so-called Children's Case and the trial of NKVD officers. Both events occurred in 1939 and marked the end of the Great Terror of 1937–1938. The repressions that took place in Leninsk-Kuznetskiy proved more severe than in the rest of Kuzbass. The author proposes several reasons for that fact. First of all, the town failed to meet the goals of industrial development during the first five-year plans, and the plans for coal mining industry were impossible. Second, the town owed its rapid increase in population to the categories that later would be called "enemies of the people". Third, the local NKVD desperately wanted to become the best in the West Siberia. The fact that the purges received abundant media coverage disproves the popular opinion that average public did not know about the repressions. The author developed an approach to newspapers as a historical source on the history of the Great Purge. If one factors in the specifics of this source, archival newspapers can be a reliable source about the Great Terror and the mechanisms of public opinion formation. However, newspapers alone cannot restore the full picture of local repressions, which requires a wide range of sources.


Further to our report in January, this article by Miguel Chuquisengo, discribes the true horror ot the New Year's Eve fire in Lima, Peru, and its effects on the city's fireghters in graphic detail. Readers will be aware that we have followed initiatives to help equip and train many of the units in this city, but there is obviously still much, much more to be done. In effect, this incident report is also a plea for fire departments around the world to consider their colleagues in a beleaguered volunteer five service which is hampered by insufficient equipment and training.


The concept of energy Internet (EI) emphasizes comprehensive utilization of the whole energy system and has been considered as a new development stage of the smart grid. As the core device of an EI, the energy router (ER) is used to connect various electrical equipment. The access of ERs brings new challenges for the energy management issues in EI. In this paper, an improved ER's structure is investigated, and the network structure of the wide area EI in an off-grid mode is introduced. In addition, in order to maximize the utilization of renewable energy sources (RESs) and to reduce power transmission loss, we propose a novel distributed energy management approach based on deep learning algorithm. Only the local information exchange among the neighboring ERs is required and the global optimization effect is achieved. Finally, simulation results within a 100-routers test system are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


Genetically modified (GM) crops generated by agricultural biotechnology are rapidlyincreasing and cultivated in many countries since they have delivered substantially agronomic, environ-mental, economic, and social benefits to farmers. The disease resistant transgenic rice, which expressescholine kinase gene (OsCK1), was developed. With the potential problems of safety, the detection methodis required as an essential element for the GMO labeling system or GMO traceability of transgeniccrops. In this study, gene, construct and event-specific primer pairs with 134, 306 and 243 bp amplicon,respectively, were used for PCR amplification of disease resistant (OsCK1) GM rice and no amplifiedproduct was observed from any other crops as templates. The limits of detection (LOD) of qualitativeduplex PCR were 0.05% for OsCK1 GM rice using the event-specific primer pair CKRB32-1/02-2. Forquantitative detection using TaqMan real-time PCR system, plasmid pSPSCKR as reference moleculewas constructed, which contains rice endogenous gene sequence and 5'-junction DNA sequence ofOsCK1 GM rice. The absolute detection limit of quantitative PCR method was around 10 copies for oneplasmid molecule pSPSCKR. Thereafter, five mixed transgenic rice containing 0.5, 1, 3, 5 and 10% werequantified to evaluate the accuracy and precision of the established real-time PCR system. The bias andthe relative deviations were all within the range of 20% for OsCK1 GM rice. These results demonstratethat the developed event-specific qualitative and quantitative PCR methods are acceptable for monitor-ing and traceability of GM rice.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE:The main drawback of the artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) in women is the technical complexity of its implantation. Over the past five years, several teams have reporte...


Abstract : Ovarian epithelial tumors are highly diverse and the exact tissue of origin is still unclear. Until recently, all five histological subtypes of ovarian epithelial tumors (serous, endometrioid, mucinous, clear cell and transitional adenocarcinomas) were believed to arise in the coelomic epithelium that covers the ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) which then undergoes metaplasia and changes to m llerian -like epithelium before malignant transformation. More recently, however, it has been suggested that they could instead arise directly from extraovarian tissues that are embryologically derived from the m llerian ducts. Although scientific evidence in support of both theories exists, further studies on disease pathogenesis are needed. Our studies use previously described, genetically engineered mice (Cre-loxP) that carry the lox-Stop-loxPKrasG12D oncoallele and a floxed region within region encoding for the phosphatase domain of the Pten gene (KrasPten mice1). We postulate that similarly to intrabursal injections, AdCre injection along various other sites of the genital tract of KrasPten and of our recently described MUC1KrasPten mice 2 will allow us to study in vivo tumor initiation and progression and to identify important disease pathogenesis mechanisms in ovarian tumors and other cancers of the genital tract. Furthermore, in conjunction with our clinical studies we aim to identify novel disease biomarkers that may help in the early diagnostic of ovarian cancer and provide new therapeutic/preventive targets.


In this paper, we apply the concept of intuitionistic fuzzy sets to theory of semigroups. We give some properties of intuitionistic fuzzy ideals and intuitionistic fuzzy bi-ideals, and characterize which is left [right] simple, left [right] duo and a semilattice of left [right] simple semigroups or another type of semigroups in terms of intuitionistic fuzzy ideals and intuitionistic fuzzy bi-ideals.


Abstract : This human dimensions assessment quantified the impact of changes in the work environment of soldiers and leaders who participated in the brigade level task force (TF XXI) Advanced Warfighter Experiment (AWE). The TF XXI AWE investigated the potential for digitizing land combat forces through the fielding of new technology equipment and accompanying changes in organizational design, tactics, techniques and procedures. Surveys and structured interviews were used to assess soldier and leader perceptions of TF XXI, the work environment, and organizational outcomes. The major finding is that as soldiers and leaders became more familiar with the new technology and its use, they were less threatened by it, and appreciated more the positive impact it would have on them, their units, and the Army as a whole. The findings also underscore potential problems with a number of different but clearly interrelated human dimensions. One example is the new career opportunities created by this technology within but also outside the Army, and the possible impact of these opportunities on Army wide personnel retention and recruitment programs. This study contributes to the requirement to define, quantify, and record empirical information to more fully understand and respond to the human dimensions of the Force XXI program.


Wireless energy harvesting is an efficient way to prolong the lifetime of energy constrained networks. In this paper, a two-way amplify-and-forward (AF) based relay network is considered, where two communicating nodes concurrently transmit there information signals to a relay node using time switching based relaying protocol (TSR). The relay node is energy constrained and therefore it first harvests the energy from the received radio frequency (RF) signals. After successful energy harvesting the relay utilizes the harvested energy to amplify and forward the received information signal to its destination. We derive the analytical expression for outage probability and achievable throughput at the receiving nodes. Our numerical results verify our analytical derivation and shows the effect of different system parameters on achievable throughput at receiving nodes.


This chapter provides an overview of the scope of the book. It also provides guidance for clinical medical students studying ear, nose, and throat (ENT). A detailed curriculum and a set of learning objectives are provided. The role of research and audit in ENT practice is highlighted.


Most of the non-linear transceivers, which are based on Tomlinson Harashima (TH) precoding and have been proposed in the literature for two-way relay networks, assume perfect channel state information (CSI). In this paper, we propose a novel and robust TH precoding scheme for two-way relay networks with multiple antennas at the transceiver and the relay nodes. We assume imperfect CSI and that the channel uncertainty is bounded by a spherical region. Furthermore, we consider the sum of the mean square error as the objective function, under a limited power constraint for transceiver and relay nodes. Simulations are provided to evaluate the performance and to validate the efficiency of the proposed scheme.


The invention relates to a Thermosiphonkollektor comprising at least a liquid reservoir for a liquid heat transfer medium and at least one solar absorber with at least the solar absorber is formed of a double-walled extruded sheet having at least two channels, wherein at least a first channel with a lower portion of the liquid reservoir in fluid communication, and at least a second channel to an upper portion of the liquid reservoir is in fluid communication and at least a first channel with at least a second channel at the end facing away from the liquid reservoir of the solar absorber is in fluid communication.


Tripolar electrodes have been shown to have less mutual information and higher spatial resolution than disc electrodes. In this work, a four-layer anisotropic concentric spherical head computer model was programmed, then four configurations of time-varying dipole signals were used to generate the scalp surface signals that would be obtained with tripolar and disc electrodes, and four important EEG artifacts were tested: eye blinking, cheek movements, jaw movements, and talking. Finally, a fast fixed-point algorithm was used for signal independent component analysis (ICA). The results show that signals from tripolar electrodes generated better ICA separation results than from disc electrodes for EEG signals with these four types of artifacts.


To identify markers for the everbearing gene in strawberries, 199 F 1 progeny plants were produced from a cross between 'Ever Berry' (a Japanese everbearing strawberry) and 'Toyonoka' (a Japanese Junebearing strawberry) as the experimental population. The results of flowering tests produced 97 everbears and 102 Junebears. The chi-square test gave a goodness of fit for the expected ratio of 1 : 1 for everbears to Junebears, suggesting the inheritance of the everbearing trait is controlled by a monogenic dominant gene. RAPD analyses on this trait were carried out using 'Ever Berry' and Toyonoka'. Seventy-one primers, which produced 89 polymorphic fragments between the two parents, were identified from a total of 175 primers. Five markers relating to the everbearing trait were selected from 26 of the 199 progeny plants. The remaining 173 seedlings were analysed with these five markers and a linkage map was constructed using all of the 199 F 1 progeny plants. The length of this linkage group is 39.7 cM. The closest markers found. OPE07-1 and OPB05-1, are respectively mapped at 11.8 and 15.8 cM on each side of the everbearing gene.


In this work, we study the generalization of decohered average symmetry-protected topological phases to open quantum systems with a combination of subsystem symmetries and global symmetries. In particular, we provide examples of two types of intrinsic average higher-order topological phases with average subsystem symmetries. A classification scheme for these phases based on generalized anomaly cancellation criteria of average symmetry is also discussed.


Many expert committees have drawn attention to the need to evolve an urban transport policy in Indian cities, to conserve energy and encourage use of public transport. Several analytical studies have been conducted, and some solutions have been suggested, not all of which are practicable. Some additional studies, conducted in Chennai, the fourth most populated Indian city, have shown that most commuters give top priority to travel time and second priority to the comfort and convenience of the transport mode. To achieve these aims, they would be willing to pay more for improved public transport. Due to the widespread poverty in India, public transport costs must be considerably less than private transport costs, to make it attractive. The city has a large port, quite an extensive local railway network which is relatively little used, three major radial roads, and incomplete orbital roads. The provision of footways is poor, and there are no cycle tracks on the busy radials. This paper describes a study applying a two-part Delphi technique to develop future transport scenarios and decide modal choice policy issues in Chennai. It analyses responses on six main issues and several other issues, and identifies twelve actions which the expert panel considered desirable and feasible to improve transport in Chennai.


Objectives: The objectives of the study were the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) identification and comparison of the chemical constituents, evaluation of the antifungal and anticancer activities of two species of genus Chenopodium, for example, Chenopodium ambrosioides (Ca) and Chenopodium botrys (Cb) growing in Kashmir, Himalayan region.Methods: The hydrodistilled essential oil of Ca and Cb was subjected to GC-MS analysis and antifungal activity for minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination against different human pathogenic fungal strains using broth microdilution assay in 96-well microtiter plates as per the protocol of the clinical and laboratory standards institute (2008 M27-A3). The anti-proliferative ability of the essential oils was also evaluated against the two cell lines MCF-7 (human mammary carcinoma cells) and A549 (Human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cells).Results: A total of 34 compounds identified in Ca with α-terpinene (37.17%), isoascaridole (20.48%), and ascaridole (14.83%) as the key compounds. The key compounds of Cb were shyobunol (18.91%), and hedycaryol (9.51%), germacrene-D-4-ol (8.57%), with 65 identified compounds. Both the species were found to have comparable antifungal activities against human pathogenic fungi with MIC80 values in the range of 0.031 mg/ml– 0.256 mg/ml for Ca and 0.031 mg/ml–0.126 mg/ml in case of Cb. Maximum anti-proliferative activity was observed at 125 μg/ml concentration in A549 cell line, while as the oils inhibited the growth of MCF-7 cell line at a lower concentration of 31.25 μg/ml.Conclusion: The essential oils of Ca and Cb were found to have potent anticancer and antifungal activities and can have potential use as a natural fungicide.


Chapter I. Review of the Literature 6 I. Background on Thermal Stress 6 II. Physiological Changes to Exercise in the Heat 7 a. Heat Balance and Thermoregulation 7 b. Cardiovascular Changes, Cardiovascular Drift and Exercise in the Heat 8 III. Exercise Performance 11 a. Critical Limiting Core Temperature Theory 11 b. Central Fatigue Theory 12 IV. Exertional Heat Stroke 13 a. Predisposing Factors 14 b. Recognition 15 c. Treatment 16 d. Misconceptions Surrounding Cold-Water Immersion 17 V. Body Cooling 19 a. Cold-Water Immersion and Performance Benefits 20 b. Hand Cooling 22 c. Ice Towels 23 d. Clothing Garments 23 e. Ice Slushy and Performance Benefits 25 f. Head and Neck Cooling 27 VI. American Football Uniform 30 VII. Equipment Laden Activities and the Need for Effective Cooling 34 Chapter II. The Influence of Head Cooling Combined with Various Cooling Modalities on Cooling Rate After Exercise in the Heat 36 Introduction 37 Methods 38 I. Experimental Protocol 38 II. Participants 40


In order to meet the imperative need of"the Ninth Five-Year Plan"project in Shuanghe oilfield,this pa-per studies the geometrical scale,plane distribution,petrophysical characteristic of the sedimentary microfacies and their controls on the distribution of remaining oil.There are mainly distributary channel,river mouth bar,front sheet sand,gravity flow sand and overbank sand in the fan delta front of Shuanghe oilfield.Each of them holds its own features of geometrical scale,plane distribution and petrophysics.These features control injection and liquid producing capaci-ties of the pay zones,plane oil-water movement and well-pattern controlled degree;furthermore,they also control the re-maining oil distribution.The remaining oil divided into the lace-like and the lens-like occurs richly in the microfacies sand bodies with poor petrophysical property and small scales during the late period of development.


The problem of semi-supervised dimensionality reduction with kernels called KS2DR is considered for semi-supervised learning. In this setting, domain knowledge in the form of pair constraints is adopted to specify whether pairs of instances belong to the same class or not. KS2DR can project the samples data onto a set of 'useful' features and preserve the structure of unlabeled samples data as well as both similar and dissimilar constraints defined in the feature space, under which the samples with different class labels are easier to be effectively partitioned from each other. We demonstrate the practical usefulness and high scalability of KS2DR algorithms in data visualization and classification tasks through extensive simulation studies. Experimental results show the proposed methods can almost always achieve the highest accuracy when the dimension is reduced. And KS2DR methods outperform some established dimensionality reduction methods no matter how many numbers of constraints, dimensions are used.


Inspired of the decrease of the prices of oil between January 2014 and January 2016, this article wonders about the capacity of resilience of the congolese economy in relation to the decrease of the mining product prices noticed since June 2015. The econometric analysis teaches that that a decrease of 10% of the export returns entails a reduction of the growth rate of 4% and a decrease of 20% of export returns entails a decrease of 9%. If the tendency observed since June 2015 continues, the economic growth will be blown in 2018 according to our simulations. Thus, we propose the creation of a mining fund to palliate the volatility of the mining product prices.


Abstract The phenomenon of unconscious interaction between people was developed extensively following Melanie Klein's conception of projective identification. The same phenomenon, although described differently, may have been elucidated by Eric Berne in his theory of games. Games have a significant behavioural component, but are played unconsciously by the participants. Projective identification, on the other hand, is conceived as an intra-psychic phantasy, which, when externalized, 'often does cause some impact on the other person'. This paper explores the form and phenomenology of games and projective identification and summarizes their relational meaning by comparing the different types of games with the different categories of projective identification elaborated by Cashdan; and clinical examples of this are described. In particular, the 'switch', the defining characteristic of a game, seems to be a mechanism by which the individual can share a secondary experience with, or maintain some form of contr...


A typical dissolution wetting system, Bi-Sn eutectic filler metal over a Bi substrate in a high-purity argon atmosphere was investigated first using real-time in situ hot stage microscopy for the extensive use of the sharp-interface model and the diffuse-interface model in the modeling of brazing/soldering related wetting systems. Subsequently, the similarities and differences between the aforementioned models in describing the issues of the wetting and spreading interfaces were discussed in terms of soldering definition and theoretical formula derivation. It is noted that (i) the mutual dissolution diffusion between the liquid Bi-Sn solder and Bi substrate were obvious. As a result, the composition and volume of the liquid solder is constantly changing during the wetting and spreading process; (ii) the sharp-interface model is a special case of the diffuse-interface model of the Cahn-Hilliard nonlinear diffuse-equation under the convective dominant condition; (iii) although there are differences between the sharp-interface model and the diffuse-interface model, both of them could be used in brazing/soldering related processes; and, (iv) the agreement between the experimental and simulation results of the sharp-interface model is not as good as that of the diffuse-interface model, which can be attributed to the effects of the elements' diffusion and the phase transformation.


HE COUNTRIES of East Asia are facing a major challenge in the provision of infrastructure even as their economies grow at rapid rates. As the World Bank's World Development Report 1994 pointed out, the provision of infrastructure plays a crucial role in facilitating economic growth and international competitiveness. Historically, for each percentage point of growth in a country's per capita GDP, its infrastructure stock has grown by 1 percent. The East Asian countries, for example, have been devoting 4.7 percent of their GDP to infrastructure investments (2.1 percent for the power sector) but are now planning to increase this to 7 percent a year to keep pace with the high economic growth rates projected for the late 1990s. East Asia's need for infrastructure is massive, amounting to $1.2–1.5 trillion over the next decade (Table 1). This need is being driven by projected economic growth rates of 6–8 percent in the region; bottlenecks owing to the lack of available financing in the past; growth in urbanization, as a result of which an additional 1 billion people will live in cities in 2010; and globalization of trade, which requires adequate and efficient infrastructure, including power, roads, and telecommunications systems. Businesses recognize the increasing importance to international competitiveness of decisions affecting the cost effectiveness and choice of infrastructure services and are therefore demanding better quality and service. The growth rate of electricity provided in Asia, for example, is expected to average 7–8 percent per annum over the next decade. (See Table 2 for information on recent energy use and production in the region.) Installed generation capacity was about 329,000 megawatts (MW) in 1993, and it is estimated that an additional generation capacity of 340,000 MW would be required in the following decade. Total investments of about $550 billion would be required to provide the necessary upgrading of power generation, transmission, and distribution. A number of forces that converged in the 1980s and early 1990s have led to a fundamental change in governments' perceptions of their role in the infrastructure sector: • Investment requirements exceed the capacities of national utilities and governments. • The performance of the infrastructure sector has, in general, not met international standards. In the power sector, for example, in spite Power Telecommunications Transport Water Total


Site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) is a plant-based approach, which enables rice farmers to optimally supply their crop with essential nutrients. The optimal supply of nutrients for rice can vary from field-to-field depending on crop and soil management, historical use of fertilizers, management of crop residues and organic materials, and crop cultivar. Hence, the SSNM approach provides the principles and guidelines for tailoring nutrient management practices to specific field conditions. Optimally supplying rice with essential nutrients as and when needed to achieve high yield and high efficiency of input use involves three steps. The first step is to establish an attainable yield target, which is location and season-specific depending upon climate, rice cultivar, and crop management. This yield target or goal reflects the total amount of nutrients that must be taken up by the crop. The second step is to ensure effective use of existing indigenous nutrients such as from soil, organic amendments, crop residue, manure, and irrigation water. The third step is to apply fertilizer to dynamically fill the deficit between crop needs and indigenous supply and to maintain soil fertility. The requirement for fertilizer N can be approximated from the response in grain yield to fertilizer N and a targeted efficiency of fertilizer N use. The optimal efficiency of fertilizer N use at maximum profit is often 18 to 25 kg grain yield increase per kg of applied N. The optimal fertilizer N rate for each ton of increase in grain yield is therefore in the range 40 to 55 kg N/ha. The required fertilizer N is apportioned in several doses during the growing season to ensure N supply matches the crop need. The leaf color chart (LCC) is a tool for adjusting fertilizer N use to field-specific needs of rice from tillering onward. The nutrient omission plot technique is a tool for determining crop requirements for fertilizer P or K. When farmers use less than the estimated crop requirement for a nutrient, a nutrient addition plot technique can be used by farmers to determine the merit of using more of the nutrient. The nutrient addition plot technique is particularly useful for K and micronutrients. Opportunities exist to use farmers' historical use of fertilizer P and K, farmers' straw management practice, yield targets of farmers, and simple field observations to estimate fieldspecific fertilizer P and K needs. Simple guidelines are needed for using such information together with existing knowledge on soils to empower farmers in using improved practices for their specific rice fields. The SSNM approach is now being widely promoted through expanded partnerships with research and extension organizations, non-government organizations, and the private sector in Asia. A web site on SSNM (www.irri.org/irrc/ssnm) features the principles for making N, P, and K recommendations, local recommendations developed for major rice-growing areas in Asia, tools and techniques for implementing SSNM, publications, and training materials.


The Hf‐doped indium zinc tin oxide (Hf:InZnSnO) channel for high performance and stable transparent thin film transistors (TFTs) is developed by using a simultaneous cosputtering of InZnSnO and HfO2 targets. The effects of In and Hf composition in Hf:InZnSnO channel on the performance and stability under bias stress for the Hf:InZnSnO channel‐based TFTs are investigated. Herein, the In cations enhance the electrical properties, while the Hf cations reduce the oxygen vacancies in the Hf:InZnSnO channel layer. Adjusting the atomic ratio of In of the InZnSnO target improves the performance of the Hf:InZnSnO‐based TFTs, while introducing an adequate amount of HfO2 improves the bias stabilities and hysteresis characteristics of the Hf:InZnSnO‐based TFTs. The transparent TFT with optimized Hf:InZnSnO channel, with a stoichiometry of Hf0.27In25.96Zn6.99Sn6.16O60.62, that is cosputtered at RF power of 100 W applied to InZnSnO target (In:Zn:Sn = 4:1:1 at%), and RF power of 50 W applied to HfO2 target exhibits a field effect mobility of 11.84 cm2 V−1 s−1 and low shift of threshold voltage of less than 2.5 V under bias stress for 3000 s. The high performance and stability of the Hf:InZnSnO channel‐based TFTs demonstrate the feasibility of transparent TFTs‐related next‐generation display applications.


he resid hydrocracker at the PKN Orlen refinery in Poland processes Ural crude vacuum residue (VR) to produce lowsulfur fuel oil (< 1 wt% sulfur) and lighter distillate products. Since the unit startup in October 1999, the refinery has reduced heavy heating oil production while increasing yield of more valuable lighter products. Ural VR is a difficult feed to process due to its low stability potential linked to the high content of refractory asphaltenes. Fouling can be particularly troublesome and impacts vacuum fractionation column and bottom exchanger operating cycles. However, equipment design and operation improvements have progressively increased cycle lengths as shown in Fig. 1. In addition, the Ural blend nitrogen content is generally in the range of 1,850 –1,900 ppm, which substantially exceeds standard feeds: Arabian Light (900 ppm), Arabian Heavy (1,500 ppm). Resid hydrocracking thus leads to nitrogen-rich gasoil (GO) fractions. With the change in product slate to less heavy heating oil and additional lighter products, there was high interest to improve the quality of the hydrocracked GO, i.e., to increase stability, to improve color and to reduce sulfur content to ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) levels. The initial solution was upgrading the atmospheric GO by feeding it to the VGO hydrocracker. However, this option is not the most economic; it would use VGO hydrocracker capacity that is needed to convert additional VGO. For this refinery, the design and implementation of a gasoil hydrotreater, integrated into the existing resid hydrocracker, was the most cost-effective solution that responded best to the facility's constraints. As a first of its kind, this unit produces ULSD from the hydrocracked-resid GO without the addition of a make-up or recycle compressor.


Mobile operated anti-snoring pillow that analyzes Breathing noise and shifts the slippers head position until snoring stops, which can be used to reduce or enlarged the air chamber of pillow to change the head position of slipper. The Pillow has air chamber, the system can be used to control the pressure of air chamber in order to change the head position of the slipper to obtain optimum breathing position at which snoring will be stopped completely. Snoring is quite a common phenomenon for adults especially when the age is 40 years up. Snoring is mainly due to the obstruction of air flow caused by the blockage in mouth of human being and will create vibration on respiratory structure and sounds. Snoring is quite an embarrassing act specially when a person shares a room. It is much annoying and disturbing to the roommates. The Embedded System circuit can be used to stop snoring.


This paper proposes a novel technique and algorithm for the simultaneous sensing of three-phase currents based on multiple air-core coils. The basic principle for the current measurement in one conductor using one and two air-core coils is derived, and a means of self-calibration is determined. In order to measure the three-phase currents in parallel overhead lines, a novel smart current sensor has been developed, consisting of four air-core coils located in close proximity to the conductors. Algorithms are derived, simulations and extensive experimental verification is conducted, and a first prototype is fabricated and tested. Measurement errors introduced by variations in sensor orientation and the effect of adjacent conductors are both analyzed. The proposed technique and algorithm promise a novel smart current sensor for three-phase currents, simultaneously sensing the overhead conductors, which are low cost, small in size, easy to deploy extensively, do not require clamping around the utility conductor, and have the capability to self-calibrate. Integrated with the wireless-sensor network technique, these smart sensors can be widely applied in dynamic state estimation, monitoring, and optimal operation of the distribution network, and will become an integral part of energy-management systems of future power distribution networks.


Individuals who are privileged are often unaware of the unearned advantages that they have. Because of this lack of awareness, individuals with privilege may attribute poor performance of a non-privileged individual to that individual's lack of effort or ability, rather than recognizing that the non-privileged person may not have had sufficient opportunities or resources. Without fully being aware of such privilege, it can be difficult for students to appreciate the diversity surrounding them, both in the classroom and in the workplace. This experiential exercise and suggested debrief strategies illustrate the concept and consequences of privilege.