An experimental technique that has been employed by a number of researchers is that of distorting recordings of speech in such a way that segmental cues are almost entirely removed. This has been made use of to see what information listeners can still extract from such a signal, particularly in respect of speaker identity (e.g. Abberton 1974) and language recognition. In the latter field, we find two distinct techniques being used, one being that of low-pass filtering of the audio tape recording (e.g. Bush 1967 and Richardson 1973). Ohala and Gilbert (1978) mention that Cohen and Starkwether (1961) used the same approach but it may be doubted whether their procedure of low-pass filtering speech samples at 600 Hz was sufficient to remove language-specific segmental cues. The other technique used has been that of recording the output of an electroglottograph (or 'laryngograph'), e.g. Maidment (1976) and Rodriguez (1986). In neither case would it be true to say that ALL segmental information is destroyed, nor that ALL suprasegmental information is preserved, though this belief seems to be implicit in some writings on the subject: Rodriguez (ibid: 74) states that using low-pass filtering '...would effectively remove all segmental cues...', while Abberton etal. (1976: 40) refer to the production of 'pure intonation' by using the laryngograph. The researchers who have used the laryngograph suggest that what is retained in the extracts produced includes voice fundamental frequency characteristics, voice quality information, overall signal amplitude variations and some durational characteristics. The laryngograph signal (usually abbreviated Lx) is an indication of short-term variations in glottal electrical resistance; it is, therefore, closely related to the original glottal waveform and virtually uninfluenced by the resonances of the vocal tract or by supraglottal noise sources (see Abberton 1974; Maidment 1976,1983). On the other hand, low-pass filtering applied to an audio recording will remove all information, including higher frequency components of the source waveform, above the cutoff frequency; it should be remembered that most filters do not cut off cleanly at the chosen frequency. Our concern in the work reported here has been to test whether the two different techniques produce different results when applied to the same material; if it can be shown that no significant difference results, this should make it possible to treat data derived by different researchers using the two techniques as comparable. The first step was to establish whether listeners could discriminate between Arabic and English in one condition. As a reference, we preferred to use the laryngograph technique rather than low-pass filtering because there was no need to decide on


A centralised optical processing unit that functions both as a wavelength converter and optical burst equaliser in a 10Gbit/s wavelength-converting optical access network is proposed and shown to extend the system dynamic range to 14.3dB.


The surface settlement (SS) induced by shield tunneling method can be predicted using the modified Peck formula based on the modified gap parameters proposed in this work. The modified gap parameters considered shield tunneling parameters (STPs) can be expressed with the support pressure ratio of shield (), fill rate of grouting (β), and eccentricity ratio of shield (). Based on the actual cases of the Xi'an subway line 2 in China, the results of sensitivity and back analysis of STPs show that β has a minimal effect on SS,  has a significant influence on SS, and  has the maximum effect on SS. The maximum SS and surface curvature due to shield tunneling are be considered to control the permitted deformation according to the Chinese standards. Thus the control standards of STPs are obtained and suggested through the back analysis of damage classification by using the modified Peck formula.


In the early 1990s it became clear that the 32-bit IPv4 address space would eventually limit the Internet's growth; since then the small size of that address space has led to many scanning attacks happening in the IPv4 network. IPv6 extended the Internet address space to 128 bits. The larger address space not only supports an increased number of connected devices, but also addresses a number of security issues. In particular, a large address space makes address-scanning attacks less successful in IPv6 networks. However, more and more studies [1,10,11] explored a number of techniques that can be used for IPv6 network reconnaissance, such as: leveraging DNS reverse mappings, reducing the Interface Identifier (IID) searching space. In this paper, we analyse the feasibility of leveraging IPv6 DNS servers to launch addressscanning attacks and look at how IPv6 IIDs are assigned in practice. The results show that a reverse DNS searching strategy is less successful in the IPv6 network. In addition, our study explores a difference among datasets, and demonstrates that IID allocation differs between regions (as we expected).


Making use of the self learning ability of neural networks to realize blind signal separation has been proven as an efficient method for signal separation. A different neural network model can produce distinct algorithm efficiency. Based on the feedforward and feedback neural network model, this paper develops a self-adaptive blind source separation algorithm and applies it to signal separation. The performance of the proposed algorithm is illustrated by theoretical analysis and computer simulation experiments.


As competition is increasing among the companies, it is necessary for them to know about the consumers' perception about the price, promotion, product and the other important factors that are playing a vital role to choose the telecommunication service providers. This study aims to find out what are critical factors those are playing an important role to select the telecommunication service provider. Result provides a comprehensive analysis of the important factors for playing an important role for the customer to select the telecommunication service provider. The analysis confirms the significant positive relationship of price, service quality, product quality and availability, and promotional offer for consumer perception. These factors are expected to have a great role during the time to choose telecommunication service provider. In conclusion, practitioners can be deriving a better understanding of the activities that are being played a vital role for the consumer perception. INTRODUCTION The world economy has undergone a radical transformation in the last two decades. The companies are, emerging at faster level. The technological and advance have permitted companies to widen substantially both the market and supplier sources. Now as companies are emerging with their new products, marketing has become exuberant activity in expanding the market globally. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customers so well, that the product or services fits him and sells it. The customers becomes a prey to the product also acts as an instrument to live up to the standard and life style of the economy with the help of marketing. Marketing has a widest connection which includes in its fold, selling, buying, transportation, warehousing, pricing and packaging all these activities geared up together to each strong preferences for what is known as "BRAND AWARENESS". What is Brand? It seems that everyone is talking about brand this and brand that. Brand is becoming one of the most popular words used today but the answer to what a Brand varies widely. Some think a brand is a name or a trademark. Some think it is a product, or even a commitment. Essentially all these could be correct. * Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore.Email: email@example.com ** Research Scholar, Department of Commerce, Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore. The 21st Century Consumers A Behavioural Perspective Edited by M. Ganesh Babu, G. Vani and Dr. N. Panchanatham Publish by Global Vision Publishing House 10 M. Dhanabhakyam and Anitha Jayakar Pai With the opening of the market or the post liberalization period has resulted in many companies entering the markets with offering of their goods and services. In the earlier stages of economic revolution consumer had to accept what the manufacturers has produced. But today's consumer are much more educated, demanding expect lot more to suit their ever changing life style. There by their quality expectation have been elevated from time to time in order to rebuild it-self around its customer, the manufacturer should be able to satisfy with the type pf product and services to match the ever-changing customer's requirements. In developing a marketing strategy for products, he sellers have to confront the branding decision. Brand is a major issue in product. Customers have strong preference for particulate version and brands of basic goods and services, the manufacturers eventually learn the market power lies with the brand name. Consumers buying decision are influenced by the brand. In this competitive world, the brand plays an important role and a brand is very prominent assets owned by an organization. Brand is endowed with awareness, perceived quality, associations and brand loyalty. Brand is presented as creative idea. Who is a consumer? The consumer is a focal point of the marketing mix. He is not depending on the seller, in reality the seller is depending upon him. He, is not an interruption of sellers workhe is the purpose of it, Marketing describes a mutually beneficial relationship between a commercial firm and a consumer. Consumer behaviour is at the core of the marketing function, the concept is difficult to understand but it is important for efficient and effective marketing, Consumer behaviour consists of actions, reaction and responses in relation to the products bought and services sought. Factors like personality, perception, attitude and learning on the one hand and the products, price physical attributes, advertising and societal influences on the other shape the behaviour of consumers. Therefore the marketers have to comprehend this element for better understanding of the consumers interestingly consumers reaction to marketing are often low-key and passive. In many instances, the consumer is not prepared get back to the trader or supplier to redress his grievances in relation to a product. Objectives of the Study The following objectives have been framed keeping in view their relevance under the present marketing scenario To study the reason of selecting the particular brand of Mobile Services among the respondents To investigate the role of family and friends in consumer buying decision To study the brand awareness among the consumers To study the effectiveness of advertisement in respect to mobile services. DATA COLLECTION, METHODOLOGY & LIMITATION A Sample of 100 consumers was selected for the present study, the study was mainly focused towards residents of Bangalore who belong to different age group and reside in different localities, in order to find their [reference given to particular brand. The obvious limitation A Study of Consumer Perception Towards Mobile Services 11 is that the response reflects those of a sample picked up from a small geographic region. More importantly, he sample size is rather small and the results are not statistically valid. The findings are nonetheless being considered as indicatory though not conclusive. SURVEY FINDINGS & RESULT Age Profile of the Respondents The age profile of the sample respondents is indicated in Exhibit 1. 50% were under the age of 30. The mobile users are mostly the younger generation. And this is category of people who are more responsive when a new brand is introduced. Table 1: Classification of respondents on the basis of their age group Age Group No. of Respondents Percentage


Linear stability theory is used to determine the effect of transverse curvature on the estimated location of the onset of transition for supersonic boundary layers. Results have been obtained for Mach 5 and Mach 1.25 boundary layers formed over cylinders and sharp cones. As transverse curvature increases, the growth rates for the first mode (asymmetric) instability increase, whereas those for the second mode decrease. The overall effect of increasing curvature is to lower the transition Reynolds number at the Mach numbers studied


To the Editor: —In connection with the communication by Dr. Thorns (The Journal, April 13, 1918, p. 1115), I wish to say that while I agree that his technic is effective, it is possible to obtain equally good results with weaker solutions than he uses. Lambert of New York has shown us that an aqueous solution of iodin (1:2,000) will prove effective against the Staphylococcus pyogenes , and that it will not prevent cell growth. Alcohol alone is an irritant, and any diluted tincture of iodin may cause pain and irritation when used on delicate or sensitive surfaces. After anesthesia has been induced, we use the diluted tincture, U. S. P., 1 part to 3, of 95 per cent, alcohol. This is perfectly satisfactory in skin sterilization of any part of the body or any mucous surface. After an experience of many years I have had no reason to return to


Presenters were: • Cherisse Berry, MD – " Race Affects Mortality After Moderate To Severe Traumatic Brain Injury. " • Ankur Gupta, MD – " In-Vitro Generation of Insulin Producing Cells From Human Embryonic Stem Cells For In-Vitro Use " • Tsuyoshi Todo, MD – " Anti CD3Ε Induced B220 DIM Splenic B Cell Subset In Mouse Skin Allotransplantation " The Lipkin award is voted by the faculty present at the Lipkin Symposium on the best research presentation. This symposium is dedicated to a surgery resident who lost his life in a tragic car accident while vacationing in Hawaii. The recipient of the Dr. Craig A. Lipkin Award will be announced on June 22 , 2010 at the DOS graduation. Julie Lipkin-Tesser would like to thank Cedars-Sinai for holding this event and would like for everyone to know that " my brother would be honored to know that Cedars Sinai acknowledges his memory in this way and rewards the residents for their hard work. He was an incredible person and very passionate about helping others. My family and I appreciate this event every year. " _


Purpose: In this study, we investigated if effective teaching and better understanding of pharmaceutical science English (PSE) lectures would be established with microphone use (MU) involving the lecturing (lecturer/professor) and listening (students) parties. Methods: A total of 247 university students in two Japanese universities participated in the study. Lectures for the semester were interactive: students were encouraged to participate by reading passages in the book or written contents on the board, answering questions posed by the lecturer, and other means. On different occasions, the lecturer would use different MU patterns: i.e. no MU for the students and lecturer (NMU), MU for only the students (SMU), or MU for only the lecturer (LMU), or MU for both the lecturer and the students (LSMU). At the end of semester, students were given a lecture-feedback questionnaire to answer. They were encouraged to state the reasons for their own MU choice. Results and Discussion: The effective response rate was 57% (141 /247). Of the 141 MUrelevant responses, 7 (5%), 1 2 (9%) and 117 (83%) respectively opted for LMU, SMU and LSMU, although 4 (3%) preferred NMU. The major reasons for opting LSMU by students were in the following order of preference: Acoustically well perceived (50%); to receive immediate response from the lecturer (1 5%); to appreciate various/different PSE contents/passages (10%) among others. From observations during lectures executed by the lecturer and findings from the present study, the high preference for LSMU (83%) reflected the need for MU by both lecturer and students during lectures (vs NMU, SMU, LMU) to enhance comprehension of the lecture and enunciation by students.


History teaches that, in time of crisis, we have often sacrificed fundamental freedoms unnecessarily. The Executive and Legislative Branches, reflecting public opinion formed in the heat of the moment, frequently have overestimated the need to restrict civil liberties. This has been especially true in regards to internment without trial. Neither novel nor normal, internment is an emergency measure which has regularly been employed in times of national crisis. Through an examination of two historical models this project aims to identify some the difficulties associated with the application of a policy of internment. Given it's ongoing use around the world in the 'war on terror' this exercise is a useful one. Rather than considering the modern use of internment in detail, the aim of the project is to consider the historical models in an attempt to identify general lessons which can be applied to the present situation.


The ease of recognizing spoken words on the basis of optical input alone, or speechreading, is known to systematically vary as a function of the properties of the stimulus materials. The current study investigated the relationship between cortical responses and the intelligibility of the stimulus materials. Open‐set identification performance outside the magnet was used to directly measure the intelligibility of the stimulus materials presented in the magnet as well as participant speechreading ability. fMRI was used to measure cortical response to viewing spoken word stimuli that were predicted to vary in their ease of identification. Videos of spoken words were contrasted with still face images in a block‐design fMRI experiment. Blocks containing sets of words predicted to be easy speechread were contrasted with blocks predicted to be difficult to speechread. Preliminary analyses of cortical response to speechreading are consistent with previous studies [Hall et al., J. Cog. Neuro. 17(6), 939–953 (2005)...


As an application of the PV technology, building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technologies have attracted an increasing interest in the past decade. One of these BIPV elements is the luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs). The LSC consists of a transparent plate embedded with luminescent dyes or inorganic particles, and the solar cells are attached on one or more sides. The incoming sunlight absorbed by the luminescent dyes or inorganic particles re-emits at a longer wavelength, and part of the re-emitting light trapped in the transparent plate reaches the PV cell attached on the LSC and convert it to electricity. However, the efficiency of the LSCs is still low at this stage. The surface loss on the top surface of the transparent plate is one of the main losses in LSCs. The prism film in liquid-crystal display (LCD) module is used to collimate the light in the module and enhance the overall brightness, and would be used in the LSCs to enhance the incoming sunlight to the solar cells attached on the end of the transparent plate. Then the design of the prism film is important. In this study, the ray-tracing simulation is used to investigate the optical characteristics of the LSC with the prism film covered on the top surface of the transparent plate. Different structure of the prism film will be considered to enhance the light reaches the PV cell attached on the LSC.


Objective To study the significance of CyclinD1 protein and the relationship between CyclinD1 protein overexpression and CT feature in peripheral pulmonary carcinoma(PPC).Methods From 1997 to 2000,56 patients with PPC were detected,whose specimens were examined by immunohistochemical staining with monoclonal antibodies against CyclinD1.CT scan was performed before operation.Results CyclinD1 protein overexpression was found 64%(16/25) and 67.7%(21/31) in squamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma respectively.There was a signi ficant correlation between CyclinD1 overexpression and tumour poor differentiation (P0.01).Meanwhile significant correlation were observed between CT feature such as the diameter of tumor over 3 cm,deeply lobutaled,spinous process and CyclinD1 overexpression.Conclusion The results indicate that the overexpression of CyclinD1 in PPC is linked to the carcingenesis,progression,differentiation and CT signs.


When a composite body consisting of two isotropic and elastic phases is subjected to prescribed surface tractions, generally the stress field depends on three parameters involving the elastic con stants. If the composite is in a state of plane deformation, and there are no net forces on internal boundaries, however, the stress depends on only two combinations of elastic constants. Convenient constants for the composite material are proposed.


Modeling assessments of the atmospheric chemistry, air quality and climatic conditions of the past, present and future require as input inventories of emissions of the appropriate chemical species constructed on appropriate spatial and temporal scales. The task of the Global Emissions Inventories Activity (GEIA) of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Project (IGAC) is the production of global inventories suitable for a range of research applications. Current GEIA programs are generally based on addressing emissions by species; an international working group of interested participants cooperates in the work needed to compile each inventory. The work of the GEIA program addressing the compilation of a global inventory of anthropogenic emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) gridded with 1{degree} resolution is presented. Past studies were used to identify anthropogenic activities according to their contribution to global VOC emissions, based on results of these initial studies, activity and species groupings for emissions reporting have been selected. Current status of the work of the committee is discussed. Detailed information on available activity rates, emission factors, and speciation profiles for each defined sector is being compiled. Links to investigators working on the compilation of VOC emissions on a regional level have been established.


Wines may be classifield according to origin using few determinations carefully chosen among many. Forthis, matematicals tools from pattern recognition allowing description, selection and grouping combined in a computer program, have been used on a set of data where 62 determinations were performed on 16 wines from three differents french wine areas.


This thesis focuses on the democratization-judicial review interaction in Taiwan. On account of the surveying instrument for democratization process and rule of law in practice is human right protection, the main research subject in my thesis is the transition of " besonderes Gewaltverhaltnis", which signifies the special rule of the state over specific citizens, upon decisions of the judicial organs in Taiwan such as Grand Justices and Administrative Courts. In every single process of democratization, which is upon definitions in this thesis, the features of objective constitutional order that are marked by the transition of " besonderes Gewaltverhaltnis" are compared and taken as a tool for interpreting how the democratization-judicial review interaction in Taiwan is. Upon research methods in Jurisprudence such as legal literature review, comparative law and interpretation in legal reasoning, this thesis make the main argument from some perspectives as follows: theory of constitutional transition, citizens' control over the state by law, and Hegelian dialectics of legal philosophy. The main argument in this thesis is as follows: as time goes by, what the constitution says, which has been recognized by judicial review of the state, must be inconsistent with how it works, which is influenced and urged by the democratization of the state. In other words, as what the constitution says is regarded as a thesis of Hegelian dialectic stages, how it works as an antithesis to challenge the thesis, and both conflicted as a new specific constitutional controversy. When a new decision to resolve the controversy is made by judicial review, it could be regarded as the synthesis of former dialectic stages and the thesis of next ones at the same time. Such Hegelian dialectic formula, thesis-antithesis-synthesis, could be a powerful model of the democratization-judicial review interaction in Taiwan. This thesis has some findings as follows: 1. Upon the theory of constitutional transition and the one of citizens' control over the state by law, that the Hegelian dialectic formula being powerful model of the democratization-judicial review interaction in Taiwan is possible in theory. 2. It is applicable to take the moments of R.O.C Constitution amended in history as the milestone to mark democratization processes of Taiwan. 3. The Judicial Yuan interpretations referring to " besonderes Gewaltverhaltnis" embody features of the Hegelian dialectic formula, which are consistent with the main argument in this thesis. 4. In Taiwan, upon some cases of law-amending and the ones of judicial decision-making, the Hegelian dialectic formula is the model of democratization-judicial review interaction, and this model could deconstruct " besonderes Gewaltverhaltnis" .


Abstract This article undertakes a systematic comparative review of research on policy integration and coordination. Specifically, it compares studies focusing on "policy integration" with those using "joined-up government" or "whole-of-government" as key analytical concepts. It discusses differences and similarities between the two groups of articles in terms of empirical and theoretical focus as well as research design, and concludes by suggesting that the existence of different strands of literature makes sense but more exchanges across them are both possible and welcome, so as to align organizational and policy-related factors for the analysis of the relations between policy sectors.


As a field, radiology is critically dependent on innovation. This discipline was born with Roentgen's discovery of x-rays, and it has been repeatedly renewed and even revolutionized by the introduction of new imaging technologies, such as ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography. Thanks to such innovations, radiologists have played a progressively greater role in patient care. The role of radiology in medicine has become so great that it is now difficult to imagine the practice of most clinical medical specialties without it. Because radiology relies so heavily on continuous innovation, it is vital that radiologists possess a thorough understanding of the subject. Practically speaking, innovation has two components: the development of new technologies and their adoption into clinical practice. Both components are necessary if innovation is to make a difference. One of the most important scholars of innovation theory in the latter half of the 20th century was Everett Rogers, who was born in 1931 and died in 2004. A faculty member for many years at the University of New Mexico, Rogers grew up on a farm in Iowa and eventually earned a PhD degree from the University of Iowa. Intrigued by the remarkably different rates at which farmers adopted new agricultural products and technologies, Rogers developed a theory that he called the diffusion of innovations, which divided people into the following groups: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. He plotted the rate of adoption of innovations on a graph, which produced an S-shaped or sigmoid curve. Although Rogers published many articles and books, his work is summarized in his book, Diffusion of Innovations, which is now in its fifth edition (2). To understand the adoption of innovations, it is first necessary to identify the relevant stakeholders. In radiologic innovation, key stakeholders include patients and their families; health care providers, such as physicians, nurses, and technologists; health care payers, such as government and private insurers; vendors who research, develop, and market the technology; and policy makers and regulators. Proponents of a new technology who consider only one group of stakeholders are less likely to succeed than those who take into account all parties. For example, it is possible to convince patients to adopt a new technology; however, if referring physicians or health care payers are not committed, the innovation is unlikely to be adopted quickly, and it may not be adopted at all. Rogers described five key elements that govern the rate at which an innovation is adopted. These elements are relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Relative advantage refers to the degree to which a new technology is seen as superior to the technology already in use. Compatibility concerns the degree to which the innovation is consistent with adopters' preexisting values and experiences. Complexity concerns how easy or difficult it is to understand and use the innovation. Trialability is the degree to which the innovation can be experimented with on a limited basis. Observability refers to the conspicuity of the innovation to other potential adopters. To maximize the rate of adoption, an innovation needs to offer a Published online 10.1148/radiol.2463061859


What a rare and unexpected pleasure to receive Kobus Moolman's collection of three radio plays, published by the ever industrious and innovative Botsoso Publishing.


This paper models a market in which one rm sells a good with a public base price and a hidden additional fee. Consumers are separated by high and low search costs and have the opportunity to incur their search cost to learn the true value of the add-on price. The rm has a discontinuous prot function that models its trade o between increasing the base price and losing consumers who drop out of the market. Results show that in a market with many low cost consumers, the rm has an incentive to charge a lower base price than it does in a market with many high cost consumers. This lower base price also leads to positive consumer welfare for both high and low cost consumers.


........................................................................................ 5 PREVIOUS WORK .............................................................................. 6 RECENT WORK AND DATA USED FOR CORRELATIONS ........................... 8 Hudson Bay Lowland – northeastern Manitoba ....................................... 8 Hudson Bay Lowland and Moose River Basin – northern Ontario ................. 10 Central offshore Hudson Bay ............................................................ 10 Northern Hudson Bay – Southampton Island .......................................... 10 Foxe Basin – Baffin Island, Rowley Island and Melville Peninsula ............... 11 Hudson Strait – Akpatok Island ......................................................... 11 STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK ............................................................ 11 The Ordovician black shales – the issue with the original Boas River Formation 11 Ordovician units of the Churchill coastal area ......................................... 13 Correlating Ordovician stratigraphy from Manitoba to Ontario ................... 13 The Ordovician-Silurian boundary ...................................................... 14 The Silurian Severn River Formation ................................................... 15 The Silurian Ekwan – Attawapiskat pair ............................................ 15 The Kenogami River Formation ........................................................ 16 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................... 17 REFERENCES ..................................................................................... 18 ANNEXES 1 to 6 .................................................................................. 24


This article provides a general introduction to the movement in China with a focus on the period of 1931 to 1945. It is one part, though a significant part, of the larger story of Chinese Trotskyism in preparation for possible publication. Simply stated, this is the story of growth, repression, and division. It is the story of fifteen years of attack from all sides, along with isolation and internal disputes of a theoretical-political and sometimes personal nature. No period better reflects the tragic experience of this movement than the Anti-Japanese War and World War Two.


Vascular tissue characterization is of great importance concerning the possibility of an Acute Cardiac Syndrome (ACS). Gray-scale intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is a powerful tomographic modality providing a thorough visualization of coronary arteries. Among the existing methods, virtual histology (VH) is the most popular and clinically available technique for plaque component analysis, it suffers however from a poor longitudinal resolution. In order to surmount this demerit, a new image-based methodology for plaque assessment is suggested here that differentiates tissue components into four classes: calcium, necrotic core, fibrous and fibro-lipid. A rich set of five textural feature families are extracted from IVUS images, computed at different scales. The main contribution of this paper is that tissue classification is accomplished using the principles of multiple classifiers combination approach. At the first stage, an ensemble of base SVM classifiers is constructed from each feature family, separately. The fuzzy outputs of the individual classifiers are then aggregated to provide the final fused results. We investigate four efficient decision fusion schemes of the literature and the SVM fuser. Extensive experimentation is carried out to highlight the merits of the suggested schemes against single SVM classifiers that use reduced feature subsets obtained after feature selection or the entire feature space. The analysis demonstrates that the decision fusion techniques offer improved classification accuracies, compared to single SVM classifiers and existing methods in IVUS imaging. In addition, the method provides accurate assessments of plaque composition in IVUS images.


This chapter discusses political history of the first decade of the American Communist Party (CP). It argues that in the early 1920s the Comintern helped the early Communists come to grips with American society. By the end of the decade, reflecting the political degeneration of the Russian Revolution under Stalin, the Comintern's interventions were negative. In the 1920s, the Bolsheviks focused on countries with mass Communist Parties and palpable struggles; American Communism was on the periphery of the Comintern, and one assumes that letters to American Communists occupied a small portion of the time of the Comintern leaders. In 1921, the American representative to the Comintern used the parlance of the underground party to bemoan 'the little esteem that the general office has for the American business in general', and to complain that 'the main office considers the American branch as a nuisance than as a bona fide business institution'.Keywords: American Communism; Bolsheviks; Comintern leaders; Russian Revolution; Stalin


Image segmentation that partitions a given image into meaningful regions is an important task of image analysis for representation, interpretation and recognition. If the image consists of man-made objects in well controlled situations such as industrial environments, segmentation can be easy. In applications such as target acquisition in natural scenes, there is no control of the environment, and segmentation becomes extremely difficult.


All people with abnormal colour vision, except for a few mildly affected deuteranomals, report that they experience problems with colour in everyday life and at work. Contemporary society presents them with increasing problems because colour is now so widely used in printed materials and in computer displays. Equal opportunity law gives them protection against unfair discrimination in employment, so a decision to exclude a person from employment on the grounds of abnormal colour vision must now be well supported by good evidence and sound argument. This paper reviews the investigations that have contributed to understanding the nature and consequences of the problems they have.


The modelling study of Nissen et al. provides an important and interesting examination of the biotic and abiotic population and biogeographical drivers of coccolithophores, in the context of other phytoplankton groups, in the Southern Ocean. The paper is well written and clear to follow in all aspects, with the results neatly summarised in the main figures and text. There is also an appropriate level of appreciation of the limits of the model output and field data (though a few omissions which should be addressed, see comments below). I have only minor comments to make:


The study explored factors influencing compliance with medical regimen among patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), IIe-Ife. It particularly examined the effects of religion, health belief, educational status, patients' perception of illness, financial status and family support, on compliance with medical regimen.


A key limitation in the ability of breeding programs to leverage benefits of major-gene marker-assisted selection is the availability of those genes in appropriate elite germplasm. In this context, our study compared three strategies to develop new recipients for QTL introgression (Background recovery (BG), Selective sweep (SS), and Breeding values (BV)) in a short-term breeding program (over five breeding cycles). Furthermore, we evaluated two different numbers of recipients (10 and 20) in the introgression process and how they influence the population performance and the QTL fixation over cycles. Finally, we used rice as a model of a self-pollinated crop and implemented stochastic simulations. Each strategy was simulated and replicated 40 times. Regardless of the selection strategy used, the QTL introgression resulted in substantial penalties in yield performance. However, introducing fewer new parents to the augmentation process minimized this effect. Conversely, the time required to achieve fixation of target QTLs showed substantial differences, with selection for BV during augmentation out-performing other methods. Overall, the BV_10 strategy (10 parents selected based on genomic estimated breeding values) displayed the best trade-off between reduced penalty from introducing new QTLs with a reasonable speed at which those QTLs can achieve fixation over subsequent breeding cycles.


Objective Survivin is an inhibitor of apoptosis protein, which is up-regulated in endometrial cancer (EC). A promoter region polymorphism (−31G/C) in the survivin gene has been reported as a modulator of gene expression. The aim of this study was to explore the frequency of survivin −31G/C polymorphism in tumor tissues from patients with EC in an Iranian population compared to that of healthy controls. Materials and Methods Paraffin-embedded tissue sections from patients diagnosed with EC (n = 31) and healthy controls (n = 30) were examined. Genotyping for survivin −31G/C polymorphism was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Results The presence of allele C was found to be significantly increased in EC tissues compared to the healthy tissues (GG vs GC + CC, P = 0. 01; OR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.1–11.9). Conclusion Our data are in keeping with a previous finding regarding the role of survivin gene polymorphism in malignancies. This finding highlights the role of survivin in pathogenesis of various carcinomas, which might have therapeutic implications.


AbstractAccurate determination of critical structure responses plays a vital role in the ability of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) to achieve a reliable pavement design. In the MEPDG, the responses generated by a single axle are evaluated at a series of predefined locations, and responses under multiple axle gears are determined using the responses from a single axle following the principle of superposition. This research indicates that the approach currently employed in the MEPDG is able to identify the critical location and obtain the critical response for a tandem axle, while it is inadequate for a tridem or quad axle. The primary reason for the inadequacy is that the response along the outside axle of a tridem or quad gear is not computed and compared to responses at other locations. The erroneous critical location identified by the MEPDG for a tridem or quad axle will lead to an underestimated critical response and consequently an overpredicted pavement life. The results show...


In food restriction, hypoglycemic episodes ca n be more severe and persistent. This study assessed the influence of acute exercise and caffeine on the ins...


Distributions of mechanical and thermal stresses in a plunger of the high pressure die casting machine with a horizontal shot sleeve have been considered for a flat thermal stationary problem. An axial pressure of the plunger pressing in the technological process has been accounted for as well. Principal and equivalent stresses have been determined within two different hypotheses on the strength of materials, including one theory covering various allowable stresses in tension and compression. Four plunger material variants have been analysed.


Monte-Carlo estimations of the integrals of Bose-Einstein distribution function for magnons are performed, by avoiding number of approximations involved in the usual derivation of the Bloch T 3/2 law, describing the dependence of magnetization with temperature in the low temperature regime, where the main mechanism of magnetization decrease is due to spin waves. More precisely: (i) the magnon dispersion law is considered the exact one (depending on the crystal structure) and not the quadratic approximation (k)  k 2 ; (ii) the integrals are performed over the first Brillouin zone and the limit of the integral is not extended to infinity; (iii) the dimensionality of the system is taken into account: 1D, 2D and 3D systems are considered; (iv) finite size magnetic systems are treated by rigorous summation of the Bose-Einstein distribution function, without using the continuous limit. The results can be summarized as follows: (a) Infinite threedimensional (3D) systems exhibit deviations from the Bloch T 3/2 law, namely the deviation from zero Kelvin magnetization |M|/M(0) behaves as T, where  is sensibly (by some 10 %) larger than 3/2 and, also, depends on the crystal structure considered. (b) Finite 3D systems exhibit more drastic deviation from the Bloch law, in that the  exponent deviates seriously from 3/2, going up to 2.5 for small systems of about 1,000 atoms. (d) Finite 2D systems also show serious deviations from the Bloch-like T law. As described a few years ago [C.M. Teodorescu, Surf. Sci. 601, 4292 (2007)], finite temperature magnetization may be considered only in finite size 2D systems. Several recent examples from literature are analyzed in the framework of the actual theoretical results. It is shown that M(T) analysis in the low temperature regime allows one to extract the average nanoparticle size of the magnetic moieties, and as well the exchange interaction and average spin quantum number.


Graft copolymerizations of methyl acrylate (MA) onto bamboo fiber using Ce~(4+) as initiator were researched.The structure of grafted products was represented by means of ATR,X-ray diffraction and the physical properties were tested.The change of the crystalline and the relationship between crystalline and physical properties of the fiber were analyzed.Results show that,crystalline,crystallite size, breaking strength and initial modulus of the fiber are all decreased after graft copolymerizations of MA.


Please cite this article as: S.E.E.C. Bauduin, I.L.B. den Rooijen, M. Meijer, S.J.A. van der Werff, A. Keo, O. Dzyubachyk, A.M. Pereira, E.J. Giltay, N.J.A. van der Wee, O.C. Meijer and A. Mahfouz, Potential associations between immune signaling genes, deactivated microglia, and oligodendrocytes and cortical grey matter loss in patients with long-term remitted Cushing's Disease, P s y c h o n e u r o e n d o c r i n o l o g y , (2020) doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105334


Thirteen male readers chose at least three profit headline stories and no more than one conservancy headline story. Thirteen other male readers read at least three conservancy headline stories but no more than one profit headline story. But when the two groups were compared, they proved to be not statistically different from one another in any of the factors considered-age, education, gross farm income and acres in crop land.


Background Despite the availability of guidelines for the performance of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), current treatment pathways vary between countries and institutions, which impact on the mean duration of postprocedure hospitalization. Methods and Results This was a prospective, multicenter registry of 502 patients to validate the appropriateness of discharge timing after transfemoral TAVI, using prespecified risk criteria from FAST‐TAVI (Feasibility and Safety of Early Discharge After Transfemoral [TF] Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation), based on hospital events within 1‐year after discharge. The end point—a composite of all‐cause mortality, vascular access–related complications, permanent pacemaker implantation, stroke, cardiac rehospitalization, kidney failure, and major bleeding—was reached in 27.0% of patients (95% CI, 23.3–31.2) within 1 year after intervention; 7.5% (95% CI, 5.5–10.2) had in‐hospital complications before discharge and 19.6% (95% CI, 16.3–23.4) within 1 year after discharge. Overall mortality within 1 year after discharge was 7.3% and rates of cardiac rehospitalization 13.5%, permanent pacemaker implantation 4.2%, any stroke 1.8%, vascular‐access–related complications 0.7%, life‐threatening bleeding 0.7%, and kidney failure 0.4%. Composite events within 1 year after discharge were observed in 18.8% and 24.3% of patients with low risk of complications/early (≤3 days) discharge and high risk and discharged late (>3 days) (concordant discharge), respectively. Event rate in patients with discordant discharge was 14.3% with low risk but discharged late and increased to 50.0% in patients with high risk but discharged in ≤3 days. Conclusions The FAST‐TAVI risk assessment provides a tool for appropriate, risk‐based discharge that was validated with the 1‐year event rate after transfemoral TAVI. Registration URL: https://www.ClinicalTrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02404467.


It was discussed in this paper the necessity and urgency to train medical postgraduates in searching,obtaining,organizing,evaluating,and utilizing information during their course of study and research.Literature retrieval courses,research support librarian system and library marketing were surgested as means in the information literacy instruction of medical postgraduates.From general information literacy to medical information literacy some main aspects related to the training were also described.

Key words:
Information literacy instruction; Medical postgraduate; Library service


The invention discloses an antibacterial dishwashing detergent. The antibacterial dishwashing detergent comprises, by weight, 1-30 parts of anionic surfactant, 1-30 parts of nonionic surfactant, 1-10 parts of additives, 0.01-10 parts of hyperoxide, 0.01-10 parts of plant extract, 0.01-1 part of essence and 9-96 parts of water. A preparation method includes adding the water in a formula ratio into a reaction vat and then adding the anionic surfactant, the nonionic surfactant, the additives, the hyperoxide, the plant extract and the essence with stirring uniformly so as to obtain the antibacterial dishwashing detergent. The antibacterial dishwashing detergent has the advantages of simple production technology, low cost, good detergency and higher sterilizing efficiency.


My undergraduate and graduate education in resource and environmental economics, my time in academia, and my time workin g in government have led to a particular understanding of the outwardly mysterious ways that society makes water and land resource decisions. For me decisions on water allocation, water project spending, and water pollution control reg ulation ha ve been and will continue to be, based on negotiation and bargaining – "dealm aking." The deal describes choices made in a market-like process (ex. water rights exchanges) in an administrative process, or in the political arena. Deals are conditioned by the bargaining conventions and power relationship s amon g nego tiating parties.


Soluble and ionically bound peroxidases were extracted from green asparagus with 0.05M sodium phosphate (pH 7.0) and the same buffer containing 1.0M NaCl, respectively. The two forms of peroxidase have been purified 237 and 53 fold, respectively, through ammonium sulphate fractionation, and successive chromatography on Sephacryl S-200 and ConA Sepharose 4B columns. Eleven isoenzymes with different pI values were detected from the soluble form using isoelectric focusing and eight from the ionically bound form. The two forms of perooxidase showed a similar optimum pH range of 4.2–5.0 using three kinds of hydrogen donor with different buffers. The optimum temperature of the two peroxidase forms at pH 4.5 was around 50°C. Heat inactivation of both forms at 70° and 90°C was observed to be biphasic.


Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is successfully used to obtain the optimum conversion of oleic acid on the synthesis of fatty amide surfactants from oleic acid and diethanolamine by immobilized lipase. The central composite design is adopted to determine the optimum level of three study variables, i.e. enzyme amount, substrate molar ratio, and temperature. The model resulted in this study is suitable to represent the interaction among three variables and also their interaction to the conversion of oleic acid. The influence of substrate molar ratio is more significant among others. The prediction of the statistical model shows that the maximum conversion of oleic acid would be 78.01% at the optimal condition of 5-9% (wt/wt OA) enzyme amount, 1/1 to 3/1 molar ratio of diethanolamine to oleic acid and 60-65oC temperature. The coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.9897) shows a high correlation between predicted and experimental values.


Objective: To develop a valid and reliable questionnaire to measure beliefs about autism in care staff working with people with learning disabilities. Procedure: Items for the Autism Beliefs Questionnaire (ABQ) were generated by: carrying out a thorough literature review, running a consultative meeting of clinical psychologists, getting experts in autism and an expert in psychometrics to make quantitative judgements about ABQ items, and conducting a pilot study with care staff. Then the ABQ was administered to care staff and experts, with test-retest data obtained 2-4 weeks later. Participants: Ninety-four care staff and 12 experts were administered the ABQ and a demographic questionnaire, and 60 care staff and 8 experts completed the second administration. Statistical analysis: Factor analysis was performed on the ABQ data. The relationship between individual ABQ items and demographic factors (type of service, experience of autism, and training in autism) were assessed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann Whitney tests. The test-retest reliability of ABQ items was examined using Kendall's tau correlations. Results: Factor analysis of the ABQ revealed no clear underlying factorial structure, even following removal of items. Twenty-seven ABQ items were found to have poor to acceptable test-retest reliability. On 14 items there were significant differences between experts and care staff (with differing levels of training in, and experience of, autism), demonstrating that the ABQ seemed to have reasonable concurrent validity. Finally, a revised version of the ABQ was produced for use as an evaluative tool for staff training and for research purposes.


Objective To understand the quality of life of elderly chronic disease patients living at home and their demand for community nursing,and to analyze the relationship between life quality and community nursing demand and their influencing factors for improving the community nursing content and method. Methods A total of 1 856 elderly chronic disease patients living at home and 1 110 healthy elderly subjects from two communities were selected using random cluster sampling and were investigated by SF-36 questionnaires and self-made questionnaires. Results Compared with healthy elderly subjects,SF-36 eight dimension scores,comprehensive body scores and comprehensive mental scores significantly decreased in elderly chronic disease patients( P 0. 05). After controlling for demography factors,each dimension scores in elderly chronic disease patients were also lower than those in healthy elderly subjects( P 0. 01). The age,marital status,education degree and monthly income were correlated with the quality of life among elderly chronic disease patients living at home. Community health care center visit rate was 41. 8% and community nursing demand rate was less than 50% among elderly chronic disease patients living at home. The major factors influencing community nursing demand were marital status,occupation, medical payment form,monthly income,number of chronic diseases and self-care ability. There was a negative correlation between each dimension of life quality and the demand for community nursing( except GH dimension and periodic physical examination,P 0. 05). Conclusion Elderly chronic disease patients living at home have a lower quality of life than healthy elderly,and have a low demand for community nursing. Furthermore,the quality of life of elderly chronic disease patients is negatively correlated with the demand for community nursing. Targeted community nursing projects should be provided for improving the quality of life of elderly chronic disease patients living at home.


Attachments of African Americans should be studied with a focus on cultural practices of multiple caregiving and with an emic approach, in order to detect attachment phenomena inherent in the culture.


The effectivness of UV/H2O2 process, Fenton and photo-Fenton process at
 decolorization of commercially important textile dyes Reactive Orange 4 (RO4)
 and Reactive Blue 19 (RB19) was evaluated. The effect of operational
 condition such as initial pH, initial H2O2 concentration, initial Fe2+
 concentration and initial dye concentration on decolorization of RO4 and RB19
 was studied. The photo-Fenton process is found to be more efficient than
 UV/H2O2 and Fenton process for decolorization of simulated dye bath effluent
 and solutions of the dyes in water alone under optimum conditions. In
 simulated dye bath the removal efficiency was slightly lower than for the
 solutions of the dyes in water alone for both dyes types. The results
 revealed that the tested advanced oxidation processes were very effective for
 decolorization of RO4 and RB19 in aqueous solution. [Projekat Ministarstva
 nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR34008]


The low-energy level structure of {sup 25}Ne has been investigated following the {beta}{sup -} decay of {sup 25}F. Beta-delayed {gamma} spectroscopy revealed new {gamma} transitions in {sup 25}Ne at 1234, 1622, and 2090 keV. The new transitions were placed in the level scheme of {sup 25}Ne in accordance with the observed {gamma}-{gamma} coincidences. The total {beta}{sup -} decay strength has been accounted for. The spins and parities of the first two excited states could be ascertained by comparison with a shell model calculation and the literature. The half-life for {sup 25}F decay was also remeasured using fragment-beta-gamma correlations, revealing a value of 90 {+-} 9 ms. Comparison with shell model calculations are indicative of a wider N=16 gap as compared to the stable nuclei.


The structural and dynamic properties of anionic surfactant at the water/n-alkane (nonane,decane,and undecane) interface were investigated by the molecular dynamics simulation. The model anionic surfactant contained a benzene sulfonate group attached to the 4th carbon in the hexadecane backbone and was denoted as 4-C16. We analyzed the interfacial properties (density profile,interfacial tension,and radial distribution function) of the n-alkane-surfactant-water systems in different oil phases and under special inorganic salinity conditions. The simulation results indicate that a well-defined interface exists between the n-alkane and water phases in the equilibrated model systems. The interfacial tensions of the n-alkane-surfactant-water systems show little change when sodium chloride is added to the solutions. We find that a change in the trans-form fraction of the dihedral in 4-C16 is related to a subtle change in the interfacial tension at the water/n-alkane interface. Clearly,the structure of the surfactant at the interface plays an important role in reducing the interfacial tension. In addition,we also find that the polar head group of the surfactant molecules with sodium ions and water molecules undergo stronger interactions.


There exists evident macroscopic statistical unsymmetry texture in every layer of 70-30 brass rolled by single directional cross shear rolling. There has been a consistent interest in how to measure and calculate this kind of unsymmetric global texture. Utilizing the previous composite sample methods, people can only describe a part


Although Navajo culture reflects fusion with pre-existing Native cultures in the U.S. Southwest, the Navajo retained the language of the Athabaskanspeaking component that migrated southward from western Canada well over half a millennium ago. Like other Athabaskan languages, Navajo resists linguistic borrowing and contains a minimum of placenames originating by either direct loan or loan-translation. New Mexican Traditional Spanish, on the other hand, incorporated a fair number of toponyms from Navajo, occasionally by direct borrowing (of which seven probable examples are provided here) but much more often in the form of calques and quasicalques (of which nearly three dozen likely instances are given). This asymmetry reflects not only the intrinsic borrowing propensities of the two languages but also 1) the priority of Navajo in the region; 2) Hispanos' making more, larger, and better-organized trading, slaving, and punitive intrusions into Navajo Country than did Navajos into Hispano territory; 3) post-1846 Anglo-Americans' undertaking official exploratory and military expeditions into Navajo Country; and 4) Euroamericans' use not only of Puebloan and Hispano guides and support personnel but also of guides and warriors from the functionally bilingual Cebolleta Navajo band, which cooperated against Navajos elsewhere. Slaveswho escaped orwere released brought topographic and toponymic information back home as well, and were subsequently sometimes employed as guides. In addition, to an extent Navajo served as a regional lingua franca.


This paper presents a new approach to obtain a high resolution image from a single image low resolution by a technique of sparse representation. Sparse representation is a way of representing a signal sparsely i.e. with fewer non zero elements. In this method we find the sparse representation of the input low resolution image patches and then use the coefficient of this representation to generate the high resolution image output.


Advances in cancer biology, tested in clinical trials, and improvements in supportive care have contributed to an increasing number of individuals living many years following a cancer diagnosis. While this success has been realized across the age spectrum, it has been particularly evident in pediatric oncology, where overall survival rates approach, and in some cases exceed, 80% (1,2). As pediatric cancer survivors age, the health implications of prior cancer therapies become evident, elucidating a need for specialized long-term surveillance. The majority of childhood cancer survivors have at least one chronic health condition, many have multiple conditions, and these can be severe or disabling, affecting quality of life and contributing to pre-mature death (3,4). In fact, a recent report among a large cohort of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors uniquely outlined the multiplicity of cardiovascular conditions and the overall health burden experienced by these survivors (5). Many of the health issues identified among childhood cancer survivors might be expected in an older population, leading some investigators to suggest a potential mechanism for accelerated aging in this population (6).


Mobile Edge computing (MEC), a new computing model to deal with the growing data, can better meet the needs of users. However, the simple edge computation offloading strategy is no longer suitable for the current MEC architecture. To solve the computation offloading problem of computation-intensive and time-sensitive tasks in Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), a joint partial offloading and task priority computation offloading algorithm was proposed. Firstly, the algorithm comprehensively considers the computing capability of the mobile device, the time delay and energy consumption of computing the task to determine whether the task needs to be offloaded. Then, the priority is determined for the tasks that need to be offloaded and the MEC servers. Finally, according to the determined priority, the tasks with high priority are offloaded to the MEC servers with strong computing capability to complete resource allocation. The experimental results show that compared with the traditional computation offloading algorithms, the proposed algorithm can effectively reduce the time delay and energy consumption cost of the MEC system.


pH Conditions have been found which achieve selective reaction of diazotized p-amino benzoate with cysteine residues of rabbit muscle aldolase. The difference in reactivity of the two sulphydryl groups involved, (Cys--237 and Cys--287) permits one to form either four or eight diazothioethers on the tetrameric enzyme and obtain a homogeneous protein. In both cases the enzyme became slightly more active in the fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate cleavage, the KM value being retained. The results have been discussed with regard to chemically modifying an enzyme to change its physical, chemical and immunological properties, whilst leaving the catalytical activity unmodified.


As much in the sport scope as in the educative one, an instrument that measured the physical self-concept specifically was being missed. In this research a Q...


ABSTRACT A combinatorial screening method has been used to identify hairpin ribozymes that inhibit hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication in transfected human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. A hairpin ribozyme library (5 × 105 variants) containing a randomized substrate-binding domain was used to identify accessible target sites within 3.3 kb of full-length in vitro-transcribed HBV pregenomic RNA. Forty potential target sites were found within the HBV pregenomic RNA, and 17 sites conserved in all four subtypes of HBV were chosen for intracellular inhibition experiments. Polymerase II and III promoter expression constructs for corresponding hairpin ribozymes were generated and cotransfected into HCC cells together with a replication-competent dimer of HBV DNA. Four ribozymes inhibited HBV replication by 80, 69, 66, and 49%, respectively, while catalytically inactive mutant forms of these ribozymes affected HBV replication by 36, 28, 0, and 0%. These findings indicate that the inhibitory effects on HBV replication were largely mediated by the catalytic activity of the ribozymes. In conclusion, we have identified catalytically active RNAs by combinatorial screening that mediate intracellular antiviral effects on HBV.


In this paper a specific problem of optimal control by population size is considered when the dynamics of one-species population is described by one-dimensional logistic model with delay. For a control problem with infinite horizon the optimal control algorithm in the form of synthesis is obtained.


When an ultrasonic wave is propagated in a medium, propagation parameters, such as speed of sound, attenuation, and backscattering, of different materials corresponding to their own elastic properties would not necessary to be the same. This further allows the application of these parameters to characterize biological tissues, known as ultrasonic tissue characterization. In this study, we tend to use these parameters to assess changes of elastic properties in the bone tissues of different bone masses and the blood during the formation of clot. A 1 MHz ultrasound was applied to assess the tibia bone in the leg. Results showed that backscattered strengths were unable to differentiate properties of the bone from osteoportic and healthy volunteers. However, this dilemma was resolved using the pattern of the probability density function calculated from the envelope of backscattering signals quantified by the signal-to-noise ratio and m parameter from the Nakagami distribution. A 4.5 MHz ultrasound furthermore was applied to detect the clot formation in the porcine blood. Results demonstrated that all three ultrasonic parameters were able to detect change of properties in the blood during its coagulation process. Among results obtained from these parameters, the attenuation coefficient does the least variation and has a 0.94 correlation coefficient with those results of blood viscosity measured using the viscometer. These results demonstrated that ultrasonic techniques are sensitive and feasible to be applied to assess properties of biological tissues in diagnoses. Introduction When an incident ultrasonic wave is propagating into a biological tissue, those quantitative parameters, including sound velocity, attenuation, and scattering, at different locations in a tissue could be different from each others resulting from variations of elastic properties in a local tissue. Due to that the majority of soft tissues is composed of water, only the longitudinal sound velocity was usually measured for assessing tissues [1]. For the hard tissue, such as bone, shear sound velocity is also taken into account to evaluate the mineral density for osteoporosis diagnoses [2]. Ultrasonic attenuation is the summation of acoustic energy loss after the ultrasonic wave traveling through a tissue. Typically there are two losses, absorption and scattering, accounting for the ultrasonic attenuation [1]. Absorption loss is the energy converted into thermal energy that is further absorbed by the tissue, while the ultrasonic scattering is due to that the incident acoustic wave is re-directed into all direction. Both ultrasonic sound velocity and attenuation have been used to characterize soft tissues [3] and were applied extensively to characterize bone tissues [2]. Even though sound velocity and attenuation could reflect states of a tissue, they are difficult to be measured accurately and noninvasively in clinical diagnoses. To date, a successful application of sound velocity and attenuation is in the assessment of the bone mass density [2]. These clinical available ultrasonic modalities provide a fast detection and almost have no risk for the radiation exposure. However, in addition to its accuracy consideration, both sound velocity and attenuation measurements in the bone typically employ two transducers that further limit measurements only in the tibia and calcaneous of the ankle. Moreover, the soft tissues surrounding the bone provide another intrinsic dilemma for the accuracy of a measurement. Ultrasonic scattering is resulted from scatterers in a biological tissue with their size smaller than Key Engineering Materials Online: 2004-08-15 ISSN: 1662-9795, Vols. 270-273, pp 2055-2060 doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.270-273.2055 © 2004 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Trans Tech Publications Ltd, www.scientific.net. (Semanticscholar.org-13/03/20,17:38:18) Title of Publication (to be inserted by the publisher) the wavelength of the incident wave. The strength of ultrasonic backscattered signals depends not only on the size of a scatterer, but also on other parameters such as the applied ultrasound frequency, density and compressibility of a scatterer and its surrounding medium [1]. The ultrasonic backscattering dependence on density (or concentration), frequency and size was verified by various extensive measurements on blood [4-5]. For the above reasons, ultrasonic scattering seems to be a parameter for early detecting the pathological tissues. However, the ultrasonic scattering signals typically are much smaller than those reflected signals in a tissue, for example the blood cell is approximately 60dB less than the vessel wall. In addition to smaller signals consideration, the biological tissue has an anisotropic nature that tends to complicate the strength of scattering signals due to lots of constructive and destructive interference. Therefore, the scattering signals obtained from biological tissues are frequently treated as random variables [6]. Consequence, in addition to the strength of scattering signals, the distribution of the envelop of RF scattered signals acquired from biological tissues were considered and fitted into different statistical distributions for further tissue characterization [6]. Those scatterers in the sample volume are described to be fully developed [6] when they are completely random distributed and have a highly concentration. Thus, the envelop of the fully developed backscattered signals will be Rayleigh distributed [6] having the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), defined as mean over standard deviation of the envelop signal, to be equal to 1.91. However, most of scatterers in biological tissues might not be fully developed. As a result, several statistical models were applied to better describe a distribution of the envelop of RF backscattering signals including K distribution [7] and Nakagami distribution [8]. The K distribution is a more universal model than other models and however it tends to be complicate in terms of computation cost. In contrast, Nakagami distribution is simpler and that can cover other distributions characterized by the m parameter, defined as


Mesquite tree was use to prepare activated carbon through chemical activation method with 1 M KOH and under temperature of 600 0C for 1 hr , the product of the activated was examined for its proximate composition ; ash content (3.9%) , moisture content (3%), carbon content (40.65%) , volatile matter (25.65%) , porosity (54.95%) , iodine number of 13.22 and methylene blue value of 166.6 mg/g. XRF study on activated carbon prepared from Mesquite tree (ACM)shows different concentration of inorganic elements the major elements in the sample are Potassium (0.301%) ,Calcium (0.357%),Zinc(0.01366%) and Ferrous (0.687%).XRD analysis showed the presence of highly organized crystalline structure of raw activated carbon for ACM sample , Carbon with crystalline structure of Rhombohedral and Carbon Supplied with crystalline structure Orthorhombic and Cubic were detected. The result showed a strong and broad adsorption peak at 1577.66 cm-1, which corresponds to the lactone in ACM sample. While other strong and broad adsorption peak appeared at 1340 cm-1, which corresponds to the Phenol Aliphatic CH2 and CH3 was observed at 2920 cm-1. The kinetics of adsorption of metals Fe2+, Cr3+ and Co2+ from aqueous solution has also been investigated. The adsorption process was carried out in isothermal container at 30OC. the effect of dose of activated carbon prepared from the sample on percentage removal metals indicate that the maximum dose of adsorbent was at concentration of 0.8 g/l for sample , The contact time was in 80 min for the samples . The adsorption decreased as the pH increase the optimum pH for the adsorption was attended at 6 for ,the experimental isotherm data were analyzed using Freundlich equations. The adsorption process follows the Freundlich order kinetic, having a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.99(Fe2+), 0.43(Cr3+) and 0.90 (Co2+).Adsorption capacity was high for Fe2+ metals compared to capacity of 3.45 and 2.616 for Cr3+ and Co+2 respectively , adsorption intensity was higher for Co2+ (9.51) than that obtained for Fe2+(2.91).


The remoteness and isolation of South American tabletop mountain (tepui) summits may protect against infections that underpin global amphibian declines. Increases in recreational pressure in such unspoiled destinations, and in isolated ecosystems globally, pose a poorly understood risk of wildlife disease introduction, especially in supposedly immunologically naïve communities. We here report the first observed chytrid infections in the Pantepui biogeographical region. Infections significantly correlate with proximity to the nearest basic tourist infrastructure in four endemic amphibians occurring on tepui summits and their slopes. Phylogenetic relationships and environmental context suggest a high risk of severe and irreversible population declines in unique, early branching amphibians. These findings advocate for an urgent control of recreational pressure in isolated, highly vulnerable ecosystems.


PURPOSE: To carry out the curing of an epoxy resin having a short curing time within a medium-temperature region, excellent in preservation stability and compatibility and useful as coatings, etc., by using an alkyldihydroxymethylimidazole compound as a curing agent, etc. CONSTITUTION: The curing of an epoxy resin is carried out by using a 2- alkyl-4,5-dihydroxymethylimidazole compound such as 2-methyl-4,5- dihydroxymethylimidazole of the formula (R is H or 1-17C alkyl) as a curing agent or a curing accelerator. Furthermore, this compound is used in an amount of preferably 0.05-5 pts.wt. based on 100 pts.wt. epoxy resin. The compound is preferably used with an organic acid anhydride such as hexahydrophthalic anhydride or dicyandiamide in combination. COPYRIGHT: (C)1993,JPO&Japio


This work is a summary of the problematics of water safety in public swimming pools. Popularity of swimming grows nowdays among people of all ages. Children start to swim as an infants, swimming is suitable kind of motion even for seniors. For monitoring the quality of water there are chosen parameters of chemical, physical and microbiological factors which reflects potential health threats for bathers. The lists of individual parts of water-recyrculating processes and possible safe-ensuring technologies are included in this paper. I collected and statisticaly processed quality control results of some local swimming pools with different technologies used.


This study evaluated the effect on micro-tensile bond strength (µ-TBS) of laser irradiation of etched/unetched dentin through an uncured self-etching adhesive. Dentinal surfaces were treated with Clearfil SE Bond Adhesive (CSE) either according to the manufacturer's instructions (CSE) or without applying the primer (CSE/NP). The dentin was irradiated through the uncured adhesive, using an Nd:YAG laser at 0.75 or 1 W power settings. The adhesive was cured, composite crowns were built up, and the teeth were sectioned into beams (0.49 mm2) to be stressed under tension. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey statistics (α = 5%). Dentin of the fractured specimens and the interfaces of untested beams were observed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that non-etched irradiated surfaces presented higher µ-TBS than etched and irradiated surfaces (p < 0.05). Laser irradiation alone did not lead to differences in µ-TBS (p > 0.05). SEM showed solidification globules on the surfaces of the specimens. The interfaces were similar on irradiated and non-irradiated surfaces. Laser irradiation of dentin through the uncured adhesive did not lead to higher µ-TBS when compared to the suggested manufacturer's technique. However, this treatment brought benefits when performed on unetched dentin, since bond strengths were higher when compared to etched dentin.


It is indicated that it is possible to give an evaluation of performances for nonoptimal controls derived from a restricted class of optimal problems.


Phononic crystals (PnCs) can stop surface acoustic waves (SAW) at the band gap frequency range efficiently. Traditional two-dimensional PnCs for SAW have inclusions extending infinitely into the half-space. In fact, experimental specimens with finite-depth inclusions still showed the gaps. In this paper, the PnCs with finite-depth holes on the surface of silicon substrate were analyzed systematically. Dispersion curves were calculated and various SAW modes were identified. The boundary condition based on Bloch's theorem with real wave vectors can identify band structures and the one with complex wave vectors can analyze attenuation of SAWs in PnC. The evolution of acoustic bands, gap range, and attenuation was reported. Then PnC reflective gratings for SAW could be designed properly for high efficiency.


The structure of the IgE-Fc3-4 has been solved in three new crystal forms, providing 13 snapshots of the Fc conformation and revealing a diverse range of open-closed motions among subunit chains and dimers. A more detailed analysis of the open-to-closed motion of the IgE-Fc3-4 was possible with so many structures, and the new structures allow a more thorough examination of the flexibility of the IgE-Fc and its implications for receptor binding. The existence of hydrophobic pocket at the elbow region of the Fc appears to be conformation-dependent and suggests a means of regulating the IgE Fc conformation (and potentially receptor binding) with small molecules.


Sambung Nyawa leaves (Gynura procumbens (Lour.) Merr.) has been used traditionally as a cancer medicine especially for ovary cyst and uteri cancer. Previous studies found that ethanolic extract of Sambung Nyawa leaves had asparaginase inhibitor and antiangiogenic activity. This research was done to determine estrogenic effect of ethanolic extract of Sambung Nyawa leaves in rats due to activity in ovary and uteri related to estrogen. Sixty female rats (30 immature rats for uterine weight assay) were grouped into a negative control (group I) namely carboxy methyl cellulose sodium (CMC sodium) 0.1 %, group II as a positive control namely ethynile  estradiole in CMC sodium 0.1 %. Group III,IV and V were ethanolic extract of Sambung Nyawa at doses 595, 1445 and 3512.5 mg/kg body weight (bw). Group I to V were administered orally for 3 consecutive days at single dose. Group VI was given ethanolic extract of Sambung Nyawa at dose 595 mg/kg bw for 5 consecutive days at single dose. We determined uterine weight and vaginal cornification as the indicator of estrogenic effect in rats. The results had shown that group II, IV, V and VI increased uterine weight significantly when compared with group I (negative group) such as 85.2 to 306.4 % (p<0.05). Group V and VI had shown an increase of the uterine weight higher than ethynil estradiole (p<0.05). Key words : Sambung Nyawa, the ethanolic extract, uterine weight,


tobacco use among youth and young adults: A systematic review of the effectiveness of mass They have not been peer-reviewed. 2 INTRODUCTION Globally, more than 80,000 young people begin using tobacco every day.[1] Almost all tobacco use initiation occurs before age 26, and it is estimated that one of every three young smokers will die from a tobacco-related illness.[2] As such, preventing the initiation and continued use of tobacco among youth and young adults is essential for reducing tobacco-related illness and death. Mass media interventions have been widely used in past efforts to reduce tobacco use,[2, 3] and are poised to continue playing a central role in comprehensive tobacco control programs worldwide.[4, 5] Several recent reviews have concluded that mass media interventions can effectively reduce tobacco use among youth and young adults.[2, 3, 6, 7] In particular, the 2012 Surgeon General's report on Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults[2] provided a comprehensive assessment of the effects of campaigns on young people's smoking behaviors. Considering the findings from more than 60 cross-sectional, longitudinal, and controlled field trials published between 1981 and June 2008, the reviewers found sufficient evidence to conclude that increasing youth exposure to antitobacco campaigns could change attitudes, beliefs, intentions, and behaviors in the desired direction.[2] Importantly, this body of studies also provided some insight into the determinants of campaign success by demonstrating: a) dose-response relationships between exposure and reduced smoking behavior; b) the particular effectiveness of messages that evoke negative emotions by focusing on the health effects of smoking and secondhand smoke or the deceptive practices of the tobacco industry; c) positive effects of messages designed for adults on youth smoking prevalence; and d) little evidence of systematic differences in effectiveness by audience subgroups .[2] Consistent conclusions were reached in a 3 recent Cochrane Review, although this review's more stringent inclusion criteria (controlled trials or time series studies) meant that the findings from only seven studies were considered.[6] Objective We built on these previous reviews by assessing the extent to which recent research has continued to show that mass media interventions can effectively reduce smoking among youth (12-17) and young adults (18-25 year olds). Picking up where the Surgeon General's report (the most comprehensive of the recent reviews) left off,[2] we used empirical studies published between July 2008 and August 2013 to address one primary and four secondary research questions. RQ1: Can antitobacco mass media interventions …


Pressure grouting technology is applied in highway mined area control in 1990's 20th century.This technology has played a very significant role in highway construction,and obtained very good social and economic benefits.


A new strength function continuous in energy and a smoothing parameter is constructed which arbitrarily closely approximates the discontinuous strength function for line broadening defined by Lane. The functional form of the Lane strength function is then derived for a fragmented isobaric analog resonance. Its non-Lorentzian form is explicitly and quantitatively different from that assumed in a recent analysis of isobaric analog resonances.


This paper reviews the geotechnical aspects of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Site at Homebush Bay: a geological environment of shale, residual clays, alluvial sediments, and filling. Of these materials, the soft alluvial sediments provided some of the most challenging geotechnical conditions. The paper focuses on one particular geotechnical case study, which was the investigation for proposed irrigation ponds in the former landfill areas. The work involved the investigation of the soft alluvial materials for the assessment of slope stability of the ponds.


recordings of John Coltrane, Miles Davis and others. Of course, commentary on the use of professional recordings as a learning tool by amateur musicians can be found elsewhere (e.g. Green, 2002) and there is interesting work being carried out on self-recording as an educational practice (e.g. Neilsen, 2001; Zimmerman, 2005; Char, 2009; Klickstein, 2009, pp. 16–18;), but absent from the pages of this book (arguably beyond its scope). It is possible of course that one of the most widely used educational resources available for learning musicians today – Youtube – makes more complex the situation (at least for the purposes of Bayley's collection) by virtue of its audio-visual nature. Perhaps as digital self-recording opportunities and behaviours develop and are internalised further within the fabric of everyday musical activity, no doubt we will see more in this field. The above concerns notwithstanding, the collection remains an impressive collation of multiple methodologies and perspectives in the study of recorded music, and it is to be recommended to any scholar working in this or any related field. The polyphony of perspectives presented here is likely to generate a good deal of interesting discussion among graduate students, whilst the accessibility and concise nature of the chapters as individual accounts makes this a very useful tool for teachers of undergraduate courses.


Uptake, relative to Uptake,. This is because 3-methoxyisoprenaline is 169 times, while normetanephrine is only 15 times, more potent in inhibiting Uptake, than Uptake,. The results of Burgen & Iversen (1965) show that in the rat heart normetanephrine was 48 times, while metanephrine was 15 times, more potent in inhibiting Uptake, than Uptake,. The IC 50 for normetanephrine on Uptake, was 1.75 x lo-* M in this study which is similar to the value of 2 x M obtained by Burgen & Iversen (1 965) in the rat heart. Jarrot (1970) has shown that the affinity of noradrenaline for the neuronal uptake site in the perfused mouse heart is similar to that in the rat, so it seems reasonable to combine the results of Burgen & Iversen with those of this study in order to obtain an idea of the selectivity of metanephrine relative to normetanephrine and 3-methoxyisoprenaline. This suggests that the order of increasing selectivity for Uptake, in preference to Uptake, is metanephrine < normetanephrine < 3-methoxyisoprenaline. The greater selectivity of 3-methoxyisoprenahe for Uptake, than Uptake, may allow its use as a pharmacological tool in experiments in which inhibition of Uptake, is required but Uptake, must be relatively uneffected. 3-Methoxyisoprenaline was kind!y donated by Dr. K. Bolla, The United Works of Pharmaceutical and Dietetic Products, Budapest, Hungary.


We propose an adaptive optimisation approach for tuning stochastic model predictive control (MPC) hyper-parameters while jointly estimating probability distributions of the transition model parameters based on performance rewards. In particular, we develop a Bayesian optimisation (BO) algorithm with a heteroscedastic noise model to deal with varying noise across the MPC hyper-parameter and dynamics model parameter spaces. Typical homoscedastic noise models are unrealistic for tuning MPC since stochastic controllers are inherently noisy, and the level of noise is affected by their hyper-parameter settings. We evaluate the proposed optimisation algorithm in simulated control and robotics tasks where we jointly infer control and dynamics parameters. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach leads to higher cumulative rewards and more stable controllers.


In this study we investigate young men's seeking and avoidance of physical activity and exercise information. Stage of exercise behavior change as identified in the Transtheoretical Model and everyday health information literacy are studied in relation to these actions. The data were collected with a questionnaire survey (n=1,040) administered at the Finnish Defence Forces' call‐ups in September‐December 2013 in Oulu, Finland. Statistical analyses include analysis of variance and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The results indicate that stage of exercise behavior change is associated with information seeking on physical activity and exercise, but only vaguely with avoidance of information. By contrast, everyday health information literacy was associated with avoidance of information and not with information seeking. Future studies should look more carefully into the relationship between health information behavior and literacy. Moreover, information behavior in stages of behavior change should be studied in the context of other health behaviors and among other populations.


Purpose – This paper aims to find out whether lagging problems exist within Hong Kong's office values.Design/methodology/approach – A State Space Model with the Kalman filter is deployed in detecting the extent of lagging errors in Hong Kong's office price indices, proffered by the ratings and valuation department (RVD).Findings – The findings suggest that about one year of lagging errors exists in RVD's office price indices compared with the stock market property indices. Also, the finding suggests that the Kalman filter provides a more efficient form of estimates for real estate values and returns.Originality/value – While most studies investigating lagging problems of appraisal‐based returns concentrate on the US real estate market, studies in this regard for Asian countries (or cities) are few and far between. Hong Kong, in particular, is worth studying, considering its established role as a financial centre in South East Asia. This paper also provides some insights for further studies on the predicti...


Background: Acne is a chronic inflammatory disease of the pilosebaceous unit caused by the bacterium Propionibacterium acnes. Anti-acne preparations were chosen in gel preparations because they have the advantage of being non-sticky and containing no oil and volatile properties. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether doxycycline and tetracycline can be formulated as anti-acne gel and to find out a comparison of the dosage of doxycycline, tetracycline and Mediklin® gel against Propionibacterium acne bacteria. Method: This study of research was an experimental parametric method including preparation of gel preparations (concentrations of tetracycline and doxycycline 1 mg, 2 mg, and 4 mg), evaluation of formulas which include: evaluating the stability of preparations, and testing the antibacterial activity of anti-acne gel preparations with comparative gel (Mediklin®) against Propionibacterium acne bacteria (ATCC 6919) by Agar Diffusion method. The study was conducted at the Microbiology Laboratory, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of North Sumatra. Based on Organoleptic variable, the results showed in cold temperatures that the shape, odour and colour did not change experienced, otherwise in room temperature it was experienced, but for the Mediklin® gel did not change. Result: The test results of antibacterial activity of tetracycline concentration of 1 mg, against propionibacterium acnes bacteria obtained 24.03 mm, doxycycline concentration of 1 mg, against propionibacterium acne bacteria obtained 24.37 mm, the concentration of Mediklin® gel obtained 1% was 17.94%. Conclusion: Tetracycline and doxycycline have very strong inhibition.


The effect of corrosion damage on the high cycle fatigue (HCF) performance of AA7075-T6 alloy was evaluated. Corrosion fatigue specimens were processed using either a conventional 6-8A, 200% shot peening (SP) treatment or low plasticity burnishing (LPB), a CNC controlled process capable of being performed robotically 'on wing' as well as with conventional CNC machine tools. Stress vs. life corrosion fatigue curves were established for each process; pitting depth and anodic polarization studies were also performed. Residual stress measurements were performed to quantify the magnitude and depth of residual compression from each process. LPB imparted a depth of compression 3X greater than SP without the severe cold working produced by SP. The corrosion fatigue life for LPB specimens was increased by greater than an order of magnitude over SP. Pit depths were measured as a function of time and were found to approach a maximum depth dependent upon the surface treatment used. Anodic polarization testing revealed a shift in the open circuit potential (OCP) of nominally 0.12 V between SP and LPB treated specimens. The LPB specimens were found to be nobler, having a lower OCP than the SP specimens. Corrosion damage exceeding the depth of compression on a component served as the nucleation point(s) for corrosion induced fatigue cracking. A deep, stable layer of engineered residual compression can successfully mitigate corrosion damage and greatly increase corrosion fatigue life.


Team Deathmatch (TDM) is a popular multiplayer game mode known for its fast-paced action and intense team-based combat. The Unreal Engine, renowned for its robust capabilities in game development, provides an ideal platform for creating immersive and visually stunning gaming experiences. This abstract explores the integration of the Team Deathmatch game mode into Unreal Engine, enhancing the gameplay, mechanics, and overall engagement for players.


Smallmouth Bass Seasonal Dynamics in Northeastern South Dakota Glacial Lakes Thomas D. Bacula April 2009 Smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu are top predators and among the most popular sportfish in the United States. Smallmouth bass were introduced into many South Dakota lakes in the late 1980's and the introductions have resulted in many selfsustaining populations. As smallmouth bass become more popular in South Dakota there is a need to better manage these smallmouth bass populations. The objectives of this study were to 1) determine monthly sampling dynamics and size structure of smallmouth bass in four northeastern South Dakota glacial lakes, 2) determine the seasonal diets of smallmouth bass in four northeastern South Dakota glacial lakes, and 3) quantify and compare prey consumption among age-1, age-2, and age-3 smallmouth bass in Lake Oahe and Pickerel Lake, South Dakota. For the first objective, smallmouth bass were collected monthly from May to September in Lakes Enemy Swim and Roy in 2007 and Lakes Clear and Pickerel in 2008. Smallmouth bass were collected using modified-fyke nets and night electrofishing in rocky habitats. Monthly mean catch per unit effort (CPUE) values of smallmouth bass collected with modified-fyke nets were variable, but generally low among months and lakes. Monthly mean CPUE values for smallmouth bass collected with night


Background: Anxiety is a physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components. There is some evidence in traditional medicine for the effectiveness of lettuce ( Lactuca sativa) in the treatment of anxiety in humans. Objectives: The present study investigated the effects of a hydro-alcoholic extract of lettuce on rat behavior in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) and the results compared with the effects of diazepam. Materials and Methods: Adult male Wistar rats weighing 200 - 240 g were used in the present study. Seven different groups of rats received an intraperitoneal (IP) injection of lettuce extract (50, 100, 200 mg/kg), diazepam (0.3, 0.6, or 1.2 mg/kg), or vehicle (control group), 30 minutes before entering the EPM test. The total distance covered by the animals, the percentage of entries into the open arms of the EPM, the time spent in the open arms, and the number of entries into the closed arms were recorded for a 5 minutes duration. Results: An IP injection of both diazepam and lettuce extract before an EPM trial significantly increased the percentage of open arm entries and the time spent in the open arms. Diazepam decreased the total distance covered by the animals and the number of closed arm entries, whereas lettuce extract had no effect on these parameters. Locomotor activity was not significantly changed by the lettuce extract. Conclusions: Acute administration of lettuce extract has an anxiolytic profile in rats similar to that of anxiolytic diazepam at low dose. Future investigations are essential for better understanding of the anxiolytic properties and neurobiological mechanisms of lettuce extract.


Amrit Pani (Nectar water) contains consortia of beneficial microorganisms, out of which two pigmented bacteria, B1 (yellow) and B2 (orange) were isolated. Colonies of these microbes were smooth, 1-3 mm in diameter and identified as Micrococcus luteus (B1) and Micrococcus varians (B2). Both the bacteria were aerobic in nature, could be grown successfully on medium containing pH 78 at 30 C temperature. Isolated bacteria exhibited UV resistance and high pectinase activity 2.23 and 2.66 IU/mL, respectively. These bacteria have shown antimicrobial activity against Colletotricum gloeosporioides and Fusarium solani and extracted pigments shown DPPH activity (free radical scavenging activity) 86.11 and 59.02 %, respectively. Based on above study, Amrit Pani can successfully be used for the management of soil born diseases and fermentation of organic wastes.


The classical continuum mechanical theories on the plastic deformation of single crystals do not explain size effect phenomena observed in the mechanical responses of polycrystals in micro-scale experiments. Strain gradient theories, developed to describe such size dependencies, incorporate idealized concepts of grain boundary conditions. Attempts have been made to extend the application of these theories to the plastic deformation of polycrystals. However, the hardening behavior of polycrystals observed in experiments is assumed to proceed in the range between these idealized limiting cases.


In architecture, the SD method refers to the psychological reactions of the subjects in the research space to the various environmental atmosphere characteristics of the target space, draws up the scales on the "architectural semantics" for these psychological reactions, and then evaluates and analyzes the description parameters of all scales. This paper takes Jiangxinzhou Park in Jing County, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province as the research object. According to the "eight landscape attributes" put forward by Swedish landscape scholar Geller, eight evaluation factors for park landscape are extracted, and the evaluation factors are quantified based on SD method to calculate the final value of landscape perception of Jiangxinzhou Park. Combined with the public evaluation method and the expert evaluation method, this paper analyzes the landscape perception and evaluation of the park by tourists, citizens and architectural practitioners. Finally, the data is analyzed and the statistical chart is drawn by using spss software. According to the data analysis, people with different identities and backgrounds will have different perceptions of the same landscape. It also puts forward some concrete suggestions for the transformation of Jiangxinzhou Park based on data analysis.