s of Meeting held at Gloucester in February 1991 INFLAMMATORY ANEURYSMS OF THE ABDOMINAL AORTA: THE BRISTOL EXPERIENCE W. G. Tennant, S. G. W. Tennant, M. G. Wyatt, R. N. Baird, M. Horrocks Bristol Royal Infirmary Inflammatory aneurysms of the aorta can be difficult to detect and hazardous to repair. We present Bristol's experience over five years. Inflammatory aneurysms occurred in younger patients and were associated with significantly more pain. Plasma viscosity was raised in inflammatory disease, and was a good indicator. Radiological investigations were of doubtful value. Involvement of other organs in fibrosis led to major modification of operative technique in several cases. Repair of inflammatory aneurysms took longer, and patients were given more blood and blood substitutes peroperatively. Bifurcated grafts were more often required. Following repair of inflammatory aneurysms patients had a higher morbidity and mortality, although survivors had the same long term outlook as patients with simple aneurysms. This study illustrates the unique problems that are posed in the surgical care of inflammatory aneurysms. HAS VASCULAR SURGERY IMPROVED THE OUTLOOK FOR PATIENTS WITH ABDOMINAL AORTIC ANEURYSMS? C. A. C. Clyne Torbay Hospital A retrospective survey of all known abdominal aortic aneurysms presenting to Torbay Health District, between 1982 and 1990, has been carried out to determine the impact of elective repair on emergency presentation and mortality. Data was obtained from the operating theatre register, the vascular register, the OPCS (Petersfield, Hants) and from mortality and morbidity meetings. The overall number of known aneurysms in the District in 1982 was 24, compared to 60 in 1989, but the percentage presenting with rupture however fell in those years from 83 % to 29%. The total recorded deaths from aortic aneurysm has not significantly risen since the mid 1980's (1982/14 1986/28 1989/27) and this mortality in 1989 was made up of a fairly constant figure of 30 day deaths following elective aneurysm repair, deaths following aneurysm rupture and those diagnosed at post mortem. These figures encourage us to operate on most aneurysms presenting electively and suggest that such an aggressive policy may reduce community aneurysm rupture rates, and strengthens the argument for screening for aortic aneurysms. DUODENAL OBSTRUCTION AFTER ABDOMINAL AORTIC ANEURYSM REPAIR P. M. Lamont, J. Collin John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford Duodenal obstruction is a rare post-operative complication of abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. Out of only four previously reported cases, two were post-mortem findings and the other two were managed surgically by gastrojejunostomy and duodenojejunostomy respectively. We present here three further cases of duodenal obstruction after aneurysm repair, one due to intramural haematoma and two due to the superior mesenteric artery syndrome. All three cases were managed conservatively with parenteral nutrition and an expectant policy, with a successful outcome in each case after 7-12 days of restrained surgical temptation. CONTAINED RUPTURE OF AN ABDOMINAL AORTA ANEURYSM: CASE REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE M. Koppikar, M. G. Wyatt, A. R. Baker Frenchay Hospital, Bristol A 75 year old woman developed a sudden onset of severe abdominal pain. An abdominal ultrasound was performed two weeks after the onset of the pain and demonstrated a 7cm abdomial aortic aneurysm (AAA) and a seperate left upper quadrant mass. A CT scan performed at six weeks confirmed the diagnosis of a high infrarenal AAA and showed the left upper quadrant mass to be a large contained rupture which was eroding the vertebral body at the level of the upper pole of the left kidney. A surgical opinion was sought and urgent repair arranged. Via a thoraco-abdominal approach the aorta was clamped above the renal arteries to enable access to the sizable contained rupture. Her post-operative recovery was uneventful. Although AAA's are common, rupture is usually fatal if surgery is delayed. The combination of a 6 week old contained rupture with successful surgical repair is unusual. The literature is reviewed and the management discussed. TWO CASES OF ANASTOMOTIC AORTIC ANEURYSMS S. M. Plusa Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth We have recently treated 2 patients with anastomotic aortic aneurysms. A 67 year old man complained of claudication 6 years after an aortobifemoral graft. CT Scan confirmed an anastomotic aortic aneurysm which was treated with an interposition graft. A 74 year old man presented with back pain due to retroperitoneal bleeding from an aneurysm at the distal aortic anastomosis 11 years after emergency aneurysm repair. Anastomotic aneurysms may present with pain or ischaemic symptoms. The factors most often implicated are infection and aspects of surgical technique.


The location of Estonia on the border is a fact catching the viewer's eye on every map of Europe – this need not be even mentioned here; however, this triviality has determined and continues to determine our development to date, including legal development. Map No. 4 in S. Huntigton's book "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order", reflecting the border between Western-Christian and Orthodox-Slavonic area, indicates that Estonia is located on the borderland of the Western cultural sphere. In other words or from the viewpoint of legal history – Estonia is located on the border of two large, Russian and German legal cultures.


Background: The first reported lumbar hernia was in 1731. Since then, only about 300 cases have been reported in the literature. Approximately 20% of lumbar hernias are congenital and the remainder are acquired. They commonly occur in males, more frequently on the left side, and the majority are reported in the sixth-to-seventh decade of life. Based on the anatomical defect, lumbar hernias are classified into two types: superior (Grynfeltt-Lesshaft) and Inferior (Petit). Petit hernias are less common and their proximity to bone can make them more difficult to repair. Several methods for optimal repair have been proposed. Since 2004, only 7 reports advocated surgical management using the bone anchor fixation method. Case description: A 79-year-old obese female presented to the outpatient clinic with a 1-year history of moderate right lumbar pain. Examination revealed a tender bulge in the posterior lumbar region. CT of the abdomen & pelvis revealed a 6.6 cm × 7.4 cm defect in the right posterolateral abdomen incorporating parts of the right ascending colon. She was diagnosed with right-sided Petit lumbar hernia and underwent an open hernia repair with iliac crest anchor fixation and mesh implantation. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged in a stable condition. Conclusions: Lumbar hernias represent a rare clinical phenomenon, especially in females. A protruding mass in the lumbar region with localized abdominal pain and radiographic evidence of posterior abdominal wall defect should raise suspicion for a lumbar hernia. Predisposing factors such as old age, obesity and conditions that increase intra-abdominal pressure increase the risk of lumbar hernia. There is a current dilemma centered on the optimal type of surgical approach and repair technique. In our case, an open repair using the bone anchor fixation technique led to excellent results.


A numerical investigation was performed for three-dimensional laminar wall jet flows of non-Newtonian fluid with power-law index, n = 0.7 at two Reynolds numbers. A colocated finite volume based in-house CFD code was used to solve the complete nonlinear incompressible Navier-Stokes equation. The results showed that the spread of the jet in both the transverse and spanwise directions, decay of the local maximum streamwise velocity, and the skin friction coefficient depend strongly on Reynolds number. The jet half-width in the transverse direction is significantly higher than in the spanwise direction. Depending on the specific Reynolds number, the apparent viscosities were up to three orders of magnitude higher than the dynamic viscosity of water. Significant differences were observed among the profiles in the inner region when the results were compare with Newtonian fluid, n = 1.0. Nomenclature Cf = skin friction coefficient d = inlet pipe diameter n = power-law index p = pressure r = local radius which is a function of y and z


In this paper we set up a rigorous justification for the reinitialization algorithm. Using the theory of viscosity solutions, we propose a well-posed Hamilton-Jacobi equation with a parameter, which is derived from homogenization for a Hamiltonian discontinuous in time which appears in the reinitialization. We prove that, as the parameter tends to infinity, the solution of the initial value problem converges to a signed distance function to the evolving interfaces. A locally uniform convergence is shown when the distance function is continuous, whereas a weaker notion of convergence is introduced to establish a convergence result to a possibly discontinuous distance function. In terms of the geometry of the interfaces, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the continuity of the distance function. We also propose another simpler equation whose solution has a gradient bound away from zero.


The covid-19 pandemic affects the world. It has spread to more than 200 countries and threatens the lives of millions. Diabetes affects people all over the world, especially in developing countries. Nowadays, diabetes and COVID-19 are major global health concerns. Evidence regarding the impact of diabetes and COVID-19 is limited in the literature. It is unclear whether or not people with diabetes have an increased tendency toward COVID-19. However, risk factors lead to higher mortality rates among patients with diabetes and COVID-19. The physiological and immunological parameters involved in the current study included high sensitivity to CRP (Hs-CRP), fasting blood sugar (FBS), insulin, Homo IR, and interleukin-10 (IL-10). A spectrophotometer analyzed FBS, while ELISA performed other parameters. The results showed a significant increase in all immunological and physiological parameters of patients compared with the control group in both categories of total comparison and sex comparison. In the same way, the results recorded a significant increase in all parameters of patients whose condition is critically compared with severe conditions, except Hs-CRP did not record significant differences; on the other hand, the study did not show significant differences in patients according to age groups. The current study showed a positive relationship between insulin and homo IR; between insulin and interleukin-10, the concentration of FBS and IL-10 increases with disease severity.

Keywords: Covid-19, Diabetic, IL-10, Hs-CRP, Insulin, Homo-IR.


: In 2010, the Council of the European Union completed the external security strategy of the European Union with an internal security strategy aiming at analysing and preventing all important threats the European society has been facing, as well as other threats having direct effect on the security of life and welfare of its citizens. One of the directions of the internal security strategy of the European Union is the operational cooperation. This cooperation is achieved through a complementary Union body named the Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security. The purpose, the governing principles and directions of this internal security strategy of the European Union are presented in this study, as well as the role played in its execution by the Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security (officially abbreviated COSI).


Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the difference of computer use and the negative effects for different gender in the Medical University of Inner Mongolia. Methods: A crosssectional census was conducted on medical students on campus in 2013. Descriptive results were expressed as percentage, prevalence and means ± S.D. Gender differences of using computer time and using computer purpose for male and female students were analyzed by chi-square test. Results: Students using computer more than three hours per day had higher headache prevalence and poor academic performance prevalence than that less than three hours per day. The prevalence of male students using computer more than three hours per day was significantly higher than female students (χ 2 = 72.92, p < 0.001). The prevalence of male students using computer for playing games was more than 3 times higher than female students (50.2% vs 16.1%, χ2 = 783.70, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Using computer for long time brings more students headache and poor academic performance. These results suggest that using computer time reasonably and learning efficiently among university students are necessary, especially for male.


Organizations, institutions, and different sectors of manufacturing, services and agriculture are constantly making decisions. Each of the aforementioned sectors, have strategies, tactics, and various functions that play a basic role in reaching the objectives. On the other hand, energy demand in developing countries is increasing day by day. The exact calculation of the cost per unit of electricity generated by power plants is not easy. Therefore, this study according to four sources of natural gas, nuclear energy, renewable energy and other fossil fuels other than natural gas that are used in a variety of electricity production plants is trying to clarify the ranking of generation electricity approach using "fuzzy preference relations" analysis. Accordingly, three models were used and the results showed that natural gas, with regard to the four criteria of low investment cost, low power, lack of pollution and the safety and reliability of electrical energy has priority over other alternatives. Full preferred model results also suggested that the energy of natural gas, renewable energies, nuclear and other fossil fuels should be considered in a priority for power generation. Sensitivity analysis results moreover demonstrated that the above models are not affected by the threshold values and the full stability of the models is observed. key words: Electric energy, energy planning, decision making, fuzzy ranking; JEL Classification: Q42, Q43, O21, L90, L99, D81.


A 13-year-old boy was brought by his mother to the surgery recently with generalised rhonchi over both lung fields, both inspiratory and expiratory, and most severe in his left lower lobe. He was given ampicillin and the infection gradually settled. This attack had followed the pattern usual for him-namely, an increase in frequency and severity of his nocturnal cough, the onset of an audible wheeze, and production of small amounts of purulent sputum. Between episodes he is normally free of wheeze, although nocturnal cough is present more nights than it is absent. Since the family moved to this area four years ago the boy has been a frequent attender at the surgery, usually for respiratory tract infections but twice with vague and undiagnosed abdominal pain and once after an episode of "fainting and collapse" at school. The frequency of his respiratory infections, however, is not diminishing; these occur mainly during the winter and average four or five episodes annually, although already this year he has had more attacks than at any time, and this in turn is affecting his schooling. A brief account of the family history may be interesting. This boy is the second child in a family of four. He has an older brother aged 14, a younger brother aged 11, and a sister aged 5. His father, aged 37, is presently suffering from sciatica and often cannot work. His mother, aged 33, suffers from attacks of urethritis and has cervical spondylosis. There is a history of allergy on the maternal side, with the boy's maternal uncle and grandfather both affected by asthma. The three boys all have eczema and suffer from hay fever and various allergies (these include allergy to plants and animals but not to food or drugs), although this is most severe in the patient's case. His elder brother has been seen on numerous occasions both by ourselves and the hospital because of frequency of micturition and loin pain, which after many negative urine cultures and radiological and bladder studies has now settled with no specific treatment. His mother is naturally worried about the frequency of the boy's chest infections, the family history of asthma, and time off school. The principal problem is whether a course of disodium cromoglycate (Intal) or bronchodilators, or both, is now indicated. Should the patient be referred to the asthma clinic for lung function studies and skin testing to establish a baseline measurement before treatment ?


Theodore Lewis's review prompts three brief responses. First, we accept the argument that a crucial context for our empirical work is what Grubb (1995b) has termed "the new vocationalism." Second, we argue that an equally important context is the one that our article seeks to illuminate and that Lewis steadfastly ignores-the context of teachers' own work amid the competing purposes and long-standing traditions of high school teaching. Finally, we attempt to clarify the meanings we attach to the theme of "compromises of purpose and content."


This thesis describes a series of four experiments designed to evaluate the role of the supply of protein in livestock grazing high quality pasture during mating and during pregnancy. The first two studies investigated the effects of high crude protein content of spring or autumn re-growth pasture on the reproductive performance of dairy cows and of ewes at mating. The last two studies investigated how the dietary supply of protein, body condition and their interactions contribute to the breakdown of immunity during the peri-parturient period in ewes and investigated underlying endocrine mechanisms.

In the first study (Chapter 3) cows were blood sampled via the tail vein during the breeding period in spring. Plasma was then analysed for urea concentration. Cows with high plasma urea (HPU) or low plasma urea (LPU) were defined as those with plasma urea concentrations of ≥ or 0.05) between HPU and LPU cows. Gestation length, calving rate, milk yield and milk components were also similar (P > 0.05) between LPU and HPU cows. There was no difference (P > 0.05) in plasma urea concentrations between HMP and LMP milk producers. However, calving to conception interval, interval between calving and first service and calving interval were longer (P 0.05) between HMP and LMP cows. HMP had lower (P < 0.001) milk protein and fat concentrations than LMP cows. This information indicates that, despite the fact that plasma urea was consistently higher than levels in the literature which have been associated with reduced fertility in dairy cows; no impairment of reproductive performance was observed.

In the second experiment (Chapter 4) mature and dry Coopworth ewes were blocked by weight, body condition and previous prolificacy (high, HP vs low twinning frequency, LP) into two groups and thereafter randomly allocated to diet which were designed to provided either 1) high protein (163 g/kg DM, ryegrass/red…


In this paper we focus on the problem of human abnormal behavior recognition and collaborative tracking algorithm based on Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), and presents a novel solution that combined single intelligent monitor with the advantage of optimized WSN to improve the tracking accuracy and energy consumption. At first, divide the monitors in WSN into two types: Behavior Recognition Monitor (BRM) and Collaborative Tracking Monitor (CTM), and settle all the monitors utilizing ROCK clustering algorithm into many groups. Then get best answer set though PSO algorithm and BRM in it recognize the behaviors of moving targets as to locate the abnormal one. Finally, CTM track the target collaboratively until it leaves the guard area. Each monitor in the system consists of three parts: camera sensor, intelligent module and wireless communication module. In addition, an energy consumption model is proposed for measuring the quality of the algorithm. We compare our algorithm with three existing solutions. The experiment results show that our solution has a better collaborative tracking accuracy and less energy consumption.


Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) is 1 of the main exotic species in commercial plantations in northern Iran. These plantations are situated in the Caspian forests of Iran, which border the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and cover an area of 1.9×10^6 ha. For the present experiment, unthinned, and lightly and moderately thinned stands were selected as 3 populations. Data were collected from a total of 180 trees among the different stand densities. For basal area analysis, 93 plots were measured. Variables such as diameter at breast height (dbh), total height, tree volume, bark thickness, basal area per hectare, crown length, and crown diameter were measured. The growth rate ratios of dbh in the lightly and moderately thinned stands were 1.09 and 1.18, while the mean annual increments of basal area growth rates in the 2 thinned populations were 1.186 and 1.20, respectively. Moderate thinning increased the volume of stands by about 20.60% of the stand volume. This analysis indicated that moderate thinning drastically affected the basal area and the growth rate of volume. After thinning, dimensions of live crowns increased and more branches were evident. Percentages of live crown ratios in the 3 study populations were calculated to be 41.23, 43.87, and 44.52%. Growth rate interpretations were supported by statistical multivariate analysis of variance using Wilk's (Λ) and Hotelling's T(superscript 2 subscript 2) tests. Wilk's test was carried out on a mean vector of 6 variables in the 3 study populations. The null-hypothesis (F(subscript c)=14.435>F(subscript t)=4.37) was rejected at the 0.01 level of significance. Thus, the results indicated that moderate thinning significantly influenced increased growth rates of planted loblolly pine stands.


Acknowledgments Introduction I. Understanding the Problem 1. The Clinical Picture Features of the Borderline Diagnosis Making the Diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder The Borderline Conundrum 2. "Personality" and More Understanding "Personality" What Is a Personality Disorder? When Does "Personality" Become "Disorder"? Mood Disorders Self-Destructive Behaviors Traumatic Experiences The Bigger Picture II. Causes 3. The Four Faces of Borderline Personality Disorder The Perspectives of Psychiatry 4. What the Person Has: The Disease Perspective Mood Disorders Major Depressive Disorder Dysthymic Disorder Bipolar Disorders Borderline or Bipolar? Picturing Borderline Personality in the Brain Genetics 5. The Dimensions of Borderline Personality Disorder Measuring Personality Traits The Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits and "States" The "Personality" in Borderline Personality Where Do Personality Traits Come From? Conclusions about Personality and the BorderlineDiagnosis 6. Behaviors I: Addiction and Eating Disorders Alcohol and Drug Addiction Eating Disorders 7. Behaviors II: Self-Harming Behaviors and Dissociation Cutting and Other Forms of Self-Mutilation Why Do Individuals Self-Harm? Suicidal Behavior Dissociation Dissociative "Disorders" Dissociation Symptoms in Borderline Personality Disorder 8. The Life Story: Childhood Experiences, Development, Trauma Childhood Experiences and the Borderline Diagnosis Borderline Personality Disorder and PTSD Life Events in Adulthood III. Treatment 9. Treating the Disease What Do Medications Treat in Persons with Borderline Personality Disorder? Antidepressant Medications Mood-Stabilizing Medications Atypical Antipsychotic Medications Antianxiety Medications: Some Words of Caution 10. Treating the Behaviors Stages of Change The Talking Cure: Psychotherapy Cognitive Behavioral Therapy CBT: A Closer Look Dialectical Behavioral Therapy 11. Understanding the Dimensions and Addressing the Life Story Psychodynamic Therapies for Borderline Personality Disorder Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: Summing Up 12. Treatment Approaches: Putting It All Together 13. Themes and Variations Gender Differences Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescence International and Cross-Cultural Considerations IV. How to Cope, How to Help 14. If You've Been Diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder Diagnosis, Diagnosis, Diagnosis Assembling Your Treatment Team Acceptance and Committing to Getting Better The Role of Hospitalization The Costs of Addiction Looking for Happiness in All the Wrong Places 15. For Parents, Partners, Friends, and Co-workers Getting Someone into Treatment Safety Issues Recognizing and Addressing Abusive Behaviors Borderline Personality Disorder in the Workplace Getting Support Epilogue Appendix A: Resources and Further Reading Appendix B: Theory and Development of the BorderlineConcept: A Primer for Students and Therapists References Index


An investigation of the energy spectra of the ions of a moving plasma enables one to determine a number of important plasma characteristics, such as the energy of directed motion of a plasma blob, the ion temperature, the plasma potential, the ion density and, very important, to estimate the percentage content of impurity ions in the plasma. The analysis of the measured energy spectra is considered for two cases: (1) An isotropic energy distribution of the ions in the centre of mass system of a plasma blob. (2) An anisotropic ion distribution with T/sub /// not=Tperpendicular to , which can occur for high velocity plasma blobs, when the formation time and the time of flight are less than tau ii.


Optimisation of cutting parameters enhances the precision and stability of processes in the machinery industry. In this study, hole-boring in bearing brackets for automobiles is examined as a case for optimisation, and five cutting parameters having great influence on the workpiece cutting accuracy are selected. To optimise the cutting parameters, a novel approach integrating Taguchi method, particle swarm optimisation (PSO) and back-propagation neural networks based on PSO is presented in this study. Experimental results show that the proposed approach can quickly determine the optimal cutting parameters, which not only meet the quality specification for the hole-boring, but also effectively enhance the overall process stability.


While fast variations of wireless channel characteristics cause intercarrier interference (ICI) in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing systems, they also introduce frequency diversity, which can be exploited to improve the demodulation performance. An ICl-reduction algorithm is proposed based on a sphere decoding (SD) algorithm. By considering channel information, a new search strategy is developed to reduce the computational complexity of the SD algorithm. Design examples are presented which demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms several existing algorithms in terms of BER performance.


Precisely tailoring distance between adjacent metal sites to match adsorption configurations of key species for the targeted reaction pathway is a great challenge in heterogeneous catalysis. Here, we report a proof-of-concept study on the atomically sites-tailored pathway in Pd catalyzed acetylene hydrogenation, i.e., increasing the distance of adjacent Pd atoms (i.e., dPd-a-Pd) for configuration matching in acetylene semi-hydrogenation against coupling. The dPd-a-Pd is identified as a structural descriptor for describing the competitiveness for reaction pathways, and the increased dPd-a-Pd prefers to semi-hydrogenation pathway due to simultaneously promoted C2H4 desorption and destabilized transition state of C2H3* coupling. Spectroscopic, kinetics and electronic structure studies reveal that increasing dPd-a-Pd to 3.31 Å delivers superior selectivity and stability, due to matched energetics scenarios and appropriate hybridization of Pd 4d with In 2s and, especially, 2p orbitals.


The efficient control of Phytopthora infestans results from the selection of genotypes with the capacity of transferring resistance. In order to characterize...


As schools in Maine, and across the nation, are increasingly held to greater standards of accountability in terms of insuring higher levels of student academic growth and achievement, some schools are improving and some are not. Even beyond the constraints of tightening financial impositions and increasing accountability mandates, some are "defying the odds" and producing positive results. This research study sought to explore and understand the characteristics of principal leadership in improving elementary schools in Maine. Through a qualitative study based in a phenomenological interview approach, a three-part interview process was employed with five principal participants strategically selected from sites meeting stringent screening criteria as improving schools. This afforded an opportunity to explore data across different domains in key aspects of principal leadership. Participant responses were examined individually and collectively,


In this study, the friction stir welding between AA5083 and AA7075 is modeled using numerical methods, and the role of parameters affecting the process, such as welding speed and rotation speed on material flow, temperature, and strain, is studied. The temperature, strain, and material mixing were analyzed while welding AA7075 to AA5083 alloys using a Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) approach. It was discovered that the CEL approach had accurately anticipated the mixing of materials in the stir zone (SZ) by comparing the SZ of the samples fabricated experimentally and modeled by simulation. Results show that the temperature and strain increase dramatically as the rotation speed increases from 500 to 900 rev min−1. The material flow obtained from the simulation shows that with increasing rotational speed or decreasing welding speed, AA7075 is more stretched towards AA5083 in the sheet's higher surfaces, indicating an increase in material flow intensity. Better material mixing and increased material flow allowed for the achievement of the maximum tensile strength at the welding and rotation speeds of 36 mm min−1 and 900 rev min−1.


This paper presents an ensemble approach based on two unsupervised anomalous sound detection (ASD) methods for machine condition monitoring under domain-shifted conditions in DCASE 2021 challenge Task 2. The first ASD method is based on a conformerbased sequence-level autoencoder with section ID regression and a self-attention architecture. We utilize the data augmentation techniques such as SpecAugment to boost the performance and combine a simple scorer module for each section and each domain to address the domain shift problem. The second ASD method is based on a binary classification model using metric learning that uses task-irrelevant outliers as pseudo-anomalous data while controlling centroids of normal and outlier data in a feature space. As a countermeasure against the domain shift problem, we perform data augmentation based on Mixup with data from the target domain, resulting in a stable performance for each section. An ensemble approach is applied to each method, and the resulting two ensembled methods are further ensembled to maximize the ASD performance. The results of DCASE 2021 challenge Task 2 have demonstrated that our proposed method achieves a harmonic mean of 63.745% of area under the curve (AUC) and partial AUC (p = 0.1) over all machines, sections, and domains.


FIELD: medicine, pharmaceutics. SUBSTANCE: invention refers to a method for producing drug preparations of penicillin. The above method is characterised by the fact that sodium alginate in butanol is added with the preparation E472c; the prepared suspension is added with a drug preparation of penicillin dissolved in ethanol; after a solid phase is formed, methanol and distilled water are added; the prepared suspension of microcapsules is filtered, washed in acetone and dried in a drying cabinet. EFFECT: invention provides simplifying and accelerating the process of microencapsulating the drug preparations of penicillin in sodium alginate, as well as increasing a weight yield. 2 dwg, 5 ex


OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE
Two cases of inflammatory aneurysms in patients with neurocysticercosis have been reported previously. Clinical and radiographic studies suggest a causal relationship.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION
A man with neurocysticercosis presented with an acute subarachnoid hemorrhage from a left middle cerebral artery aneurysm.

INTERVENTION
The patient underwent a craniotomy and clipping of his aneurysm. Diffuse inflammatory changes and multiple cysticercal cysts were found throughout the left sylvian fissure.

CONCLUSION
The patient had an uneventful recovery. Angiography suggested an inflammatory rather than a congenital aneurysm. Although rare, neurocysticercosis may induce aneurysm formation in the appropriate setting.


One of the main tasks associated with the safety of civil engineering structures is their deformation. Modern and often untypical shape of these objects generates requirements for the monitoring of structural deformations. A current approach in the automation of geodetic measurements allows the application of automated systems for structural monitoring. The paper presents a design of an automated measurement system developed for the permanent geodetic monitoring of the bridge structures over the river Danube in the capital city of the Slovak Republic, i.e., Bratislava. It describes the topology and preliminary experimental testing of the automated system on the actual bridge structure. The bases of the system are a geodetic total station, tilt sensors, accelerometers and complementary sensors such as a meteorological station and temperature sensors. The control of the measurement process is realized by the remote management and the data server via the mobile internet connection. The system is able to monitor long-term deformations and the dynamic behaviour of the bridge in realtime.


A method of reducing by shadowing by an X-ray detector (14) positioned translated anti-scatter grid (15) resulting artifacts in one with an X-ray device (10) recorded with an X-ray source (12) and the X-ray detector (14) radiation image (3, 3 '), in particular an angiographic image, wherein - the irradiation image (3) or a group derived therefrom image information to determine a, the recording geometry used described by at least one geometry parameter including the anti-scatter grid (15) is used describing the three-dimensional grid model, - for each pixel of the radiographic image (3) the absorption of the anti-scatter grid (15) for the pixel descriptive correction value by forward projection in the imaging geometry in accordance with the grid model taking into account the geometrical characteristics and the attenuation properties of the anti-scatter grid (15) is determined and - the irradiation image (3) is corrected using the correction values.


The idea of difference sequence spaces was intro- duced by Kizmaz [9] and generalized by Et and Colak [6]. In this paper we introduce the sequence spaces [V, λ, f, p]0 (Δr, E), [V, λ, f, p]1 (Δr, E), [V, λ, f, p]∞ (Δr, E) Sλ (Δr, E) and Sλ0 (Δr, E) where E is any Banach space, examine them and give various properties and inclusion relations on these spaces. We also show that the space Sλ (Δr, E) may be represented as a [V, λ, f, p]1 (Δr, E)space.


This article examines the contribution of Scottish Catholics to the development of Catholicism in Otago, New Zealand in the later nineteenth century. In particular it looks at the curious position they occupied in a colony defined by the religious and national identity of its founding group: Scottish Presbyterians from the Free Church. For over two decades a nascent Catholic Church in Otago was led by Scots and ministered to by French missionaries. As the colony progressed, however, and its population became more heterogeneous, this pioneer Scots Catholic leadership was sidelined. From 1871 an overwhelmingly Irish Catholic community was led by Bishop Patrick Moran who played on national and religious loyalties to fuse an Irish and Catholic identity among his flock. Scots nonetheless continued to make a distinctive contribution to Catholicism in southern New Zealand, adapting to the Irish flavour of the colonial Church but bringing to it useful elements from their Scottish background.


A non-dismantling reinforced concrete formwork relates to civil cast-in-place reinforced concrete formwork and is the improvement of the existing formwork. The formwork chooses light-weight material, with the use of one-time non-dismantling and stirring casting after adding water to the mixture of plant fiber and magnesia cement, the thickness of the formwork is 5 to 20 mm, the board area is 1200 multiplied by 2400 mm, 1200 multiplied by 3000 mm, the inner surface is honeycomb-shaped, the formwork is inlaid with a lacing wire for banding, and slope treatment is used for the edge of the formwork. The non-dismantling formwork also contains various stereotype slats, a cylinder-shaped plate, a square-cylinder shaped plate, a pi-shaped plate and an angle plate. In addition, an insulating material with a certain thickness can be laid on the plain formwork as necessary. The formwork has the same use method as that of the existing formwork and is fit for any concrete formwork project with different structural types, in particular to the concrete formwork project with deep foundation and high-level concrete formwork project, greatly enhancing the operational safety of the workers, shortening the main construction period by more than 50 percent, saving water and saving energy, with long life components and without the need for clearance, dressing and painting of isolation agent.


In this study, the effect of test conditions on the formation of selective dissolution during sour testing was investigated on a cold-rolled duplex stainless steel UNS S32750. All experiments were conducted in NaCl 150 g/L and pH2S=0.3 bar. Different pH between 3.3 and 4.5 were studied at 80°C Based on tests performed under varying conditions, it is demonstrated that selective dissolution (SD) competes with cracking and that under conditions leading to the formation of large area with SD, the presence of this type of corrosion can hide the susceptibility of the material to cracking. The presence of only SD after testing must therefore be considered with caution. SD initiated also without applied stress underlining that the phenomenon is correlated to a loss of passivity. From Electron BackScattered Diffraction (EBSD) analyzes and electrochemical monitoring the formation of SD under the test conditions considered in this work is correlated to the instability of the passive film and not to any superficial singularities of the material or specific crystallographic orientations


In order to provide scientific basis for design and application of cast steel joint, this paper researches on mechanical properties of tubular-plate combined cast steel joint and tubular cast steel joint, which work in International Expo Center in the most unfavorable load condition. Finite Element Method (FEM) is employed to analysis the mechanical properties of the complex cast steel joint and an optimize solution is given. FEM based on large deformation theory and material nonlinearity obtained ultimate load and failure mode of the joints. The results show that, force transmission path of combined cast steel joint is complex for its cross-section shape of branch changes much; stress concentration is very obvious on the branch. In contrast, the force transmission path of tubular cast steel joint is clear and concise; the phenomenon of stress concentration alleviated effectively, the efficiency of material improved greatly; in the same amount of material, the ultimate bearing capacity of tubular cast steel joint increased by 9.5%. The joint design should follow the principle of simple and practical in premise of mechanical requirements.


Different mono (Pt), bi (Pt–Sn, Pt–Pb, Pt–Ga) and trimetallic (Pt–Sn–Ga) catalysts based on Pt and supported on different materials (Al2O3, Al2O3–K and ZnAl2O4) were tested under severe process conditions in the propane dehydrogenation reaction (both in continuous and in pulse reactors). Results show that the Pt–Sn–Ga/ZnAl2O4 catalyst has a better and more stable performance in propane dehydrogenation (high yield to propene and low coke deposition), than the other bi- and trimetallic systems and a commercial catalyst. Thus, the use of an adequate support (ZnAl2O4) in combination with the addition of Ga to the Pt–Sn bimetallic system enhances the catalytic performance.

© 2000 Society of Chemical Industry


In a zero power nuclear reactor operating in steady state fluctuations in the neutron population about the average neutron population are observable. These fluctuations are related to the dynamic parameters of the reactor and may be of interest in measurements of dynamic parameters or in the analysis of sensitive experiments in which the characteristics of this population fluctuation are important. In this paper equations are developed for the autocorrelation function and the power spectral density function for zero power, point reactor fluctuations. An equation is also derived for the ratio of the variance to the mean of the integrated value of the noise as a function of time interval. The derivation of these equations uses the concepts of noise analysis common to optimum design theory. The effects of delayed neutrons and of source neutrons are included. A typical experimental curve for the variance to mean ratio taken on the Ford Nuclear Reactor at the University of Michigan is shown which displays the form of this function.


Objective: To study mental calculations under visual stimulation of normal adult with functional MRI(fMRI) and investigate the roles of local areas for digital calculations. Materials and Methods: Twelve right-handed healthy subjects received exam include simple calculation and complex calculation experiment. Following block design, T1WI and GRE-EPI fMRI were performed with a 1.5T whole body MRI scanner. AFNI was used to process data and localize functional areas. The reaction time and correct ratio were analyzed with the statistical software Exce1. Results: Ten of 12 adults' data were achieved. The reaction time were longer and correct ratio were decreased along with the task's difficulty. The correct ratio of complex subtraction was different apparently between male and female. The male were superior to the female(P0.05). Prefrontal cortex was the main area in the complex calculation. Compared with simple calculation, extent and magnitude of functional areas were increased obviously in complex calculation. Conclusion: fMRI can easily and readily detect brain functional areas related to mental calculations. Multiple functional areas are related to digital calculations and these areas may work together as a whole in processing arithmetic problems.


The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of selective perception on middle school students' English reading competence and attitude toward English reading in Korea. For this study, 80 middle school students were selected as subjects. They were divided into two groups(40 students for each group). The reading materials from the reading comprehension books published by EBS were adapted to the experimental group while the reading materials from 5 different textbooks for middle school 3rd grade were adopted to the controlled one. The reading materials from EBS books are shorter than the ones from textbook and they cover wider range of topics. To verify the effectiveness of the present study, 2 reading ability tests and 1 questionnaire were designed and they were administered before and after the experiment. The result of the study revealed the followings: 1) Using reading materials from EBS is more effective for the improvement of reading ability. 2) Using the reading materials from EBS is also effective for the improving positive attitude toward English reading.


The utility model belongs to the technical field of dual-steel-wheel road roller hydraulic steering, and particularly relates to a hydraulic crab-motion steering system of a dual-steel-wheel road roller and with a locking function. The steering system comprises an oil tank, a hydraulic pump, a steering gear, a crab-motion valve, a first crab-motion oil cylinder, a second crab-motion oil cylinder, a first steering oil cylinder and a second steering oil cylinder. Oil liquid in the oil tank flows through the hydraulic pump, the steering gear and the crab-motion valve, is divided into a steering loop and a crab-motion loop and then flows back to the oil tank through the steering gear. The steering loop and the crab-motion loop are connected in parallel. The crab-motion valve comprises a two-position six-way electromagnetic directional valve, a first balance valve and a second balance valve. The steering loop is connected with the two-position six-way electromagnetic directional valve. The crab-motion loop is connected with the two-position six-way electromagnetic directional valve respectively through the first balance valve and the second balance valve. The steering system is compact in arrangement, the steering operation and the crab-motion steering operation can be achieved, it is guaranteed that the dual-steel-wheel road roller can run linearly, and operation efficiency and compaction quality are improved.


This paper is a report of PES Institute of Technology's participation in the Cross Language Detection of Source Code Reuse (CL-SOCO) task at FIRE 2015 [1]. We approach this task as text document plagiarism task, without considering formal programming language grammatical structure. We use normalization of commonly used identifiers to detect pair of programs which have the same objective. We also find that entirely removing these normalized operations improves the system. CCS Concepts •Information systems → Similarity measures; Clustering and classification;


Patient number 1 The first patient was a 73-year-old female with a manic-depressive psychosis for the past 24 years, who has been prophylactically treated with lithium during the last 7 years. For 2 years she has been treated with levodopa, benserazide and biperidene for paralysis agitans. She was admitted to the Department of Psychiatry with productive psychotic symptoms. At the time of admission she was ambulatory and needed no help with activities of daily living. Shortly after admission she was given a single dose of penfluridol 20 mg and 2 weeks later treatment with sulpiride 200 mg twice daily was initiated. Within a few days she became immobile and confined to bed with severe rigidity and temperature up to 39.8" C. A complete blood count showed moderate leucocytosis with no left shift. Cultures of blood and cerebro-spinal fluid were negative. On cell count and chemical analysis the CSF was within normal limits. No infectious foci were found. Blood pressure fluctuated between 120/70 and 90/50 mm Hg. While treatment with benserazide and biperiden were continued, lithium, sulpiride and penfluridol were withdrawn without improvement. Later benserazide and biperidine were withdrawn and treatment with diazepam and dantrolene were tried successively without effect. The patient is now more than half a year after admission still confined to bed with pronounced rigidity and contractures of all extremities. Treatment with benserazide has been reinstituted with no improvement.


Over the past decade, remarkable progress has advanced the field of perovskite solar cells to the forefront of thin film solar technologies. The stoichiometry of the perovskite material is of param...


This paper describes a novel voxel-based technique to accurately model 3D printed continuous yarns of fibre composites at printed filament scale. To cater for the constraints of continuous filament printing, the design strategy here makes use of a set of variables that fully define the printing path as input in the model. A voxel-based algorithm is developed to obtain the local orientations of the filaments and local quantities of yarns and matrix from a pixelated flat layout of the printed composite. This voxel-based representation is then translated into a Finite Element model to obtain the required structural properties. This approach simplifies and potentially shortens the design of the part, compared to other analytical techniques. The design space of the part is defined by the variables of the gcode used to print the composite. The voxel model is coupled with an evolutionary algorithm to explore the part of the design space related to the use of continuous yarns. The hygro expansion of the material was measured to determine the coefficients of moisture expansion serving as input in the model. Promising results are obtained from a test case related to a continuous flax fibres-reinforced polylactic acid (PLA) printed structure, mimicking the shape of a leaf. The proposed modelling strategy has the potential to characterise geometric, material, mechanical and actuation properties of general 3D printed structures with negligible out-of-plane (i.e., through thickness) printing.


Background: The most common cancer in women worldwide is the breast cancer which needs surgical intervention in large number of cases. The current randomized controlled study aimed to evaluate the postoperative analgesic effect of ultrasound-guided Erector Spinae plane block and ultrasound-guided modified PECs block for female patients subjected to modified radical mastectomy surgeries (MRM).
Methods: This prospective randomized controlled study was carried out in the Anasthesia Department at the Faculty of Medicine Tanta University Female patients aged between 21 and 64 years with American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) physical status II-III who were scheduled for unilateral Modified radical mastectomy were included. Patients had randomly classified us into three equal groups: 20 patients in each group.  Group I: Control group (n=20): Patients of this group did not receive any nerve block, Group II: Erector Spinae plane Block (ESB) (n=20): Patients of this group received ultrasound guided erector spinae plane block with injection of (20 ml) of plain bupivacaine 0.25% injected beneath the erector spinae muscle sheath at the level of the fourth thoracic segment (T4) after induction of general anathesia, Group III: US-modified PEC block (n=20): Patients of this group received ultrasound guided modified PEC block with injection of (10 ml) of plain bupivacaine 0.25% injected between the serratus anterior and pectoralis minor muscle (PECs2)and (20ml)of the same solution between pectoralis major muscle and pectoralis minor muscle after induction of general anathesia.
Results: NRS showed a statistically significant decrease at T2 in group III compared to group II. (P value < 0.05). Comparison between the three groups in intra-operative and post-operative MAP showed statistically significant difference between groups throughout intraoperative and postoperative durations. MAP showed statistically significant decrease in groups II and III compared to group I (P value = 0.001). there was also a statistically significant difference between group II and group III in T0, T15, T45, T60, T00, T2 and T12 in favor of group III. Comparison between the three groups in intra-operative and post-operative HR showed statistically significant difference between groups throughout intraoperative and postoperative duration. HR showed statistically significant decrease in groups II and III compared to group I (P value = 0.001).  There was also a statistically different decrease in HR between group II and group III in favor of group III (modified PECS group).
Conclusions: Both ESB and PECSII blocks provided adequate analgesia as indicated by lowering doses of intraoperative fentanyl consumption, longer duration of postoperative analgesia, lower doses of post-operative morphine consumption compared to general anesthesia alone.


Effects of the growth of Mimosa pudica,Tradescantia sillamontana and Porulaca afra on soil enzyme activities of cadmium contaminated soils were studied by pot experiment.The results showed that soil urease,catalase and polyphenol oxidase activities decreased gradually with the increase of Cd concentration.There was a significant negative correlation between Cd concentration and soil enzyme activities.With the seedlings growth of these three kinds of ornamental,the activities of urease,catalase and polyphenol oxidase increased,and followed the order of ureasepolyphenol oxidasecatalaseinvertase.Besides,Tradescantia sillamontana could also improve soil invertase activity.The effect of Tradescantia sillamontana on soil enzyme activities was higher than the other two ornamental.As a common ornamental plant,Tradescantia sillamontana may have great value in remediating cadmium contaminated soil.


The following teacher research case-study involved an exploration of educational pedagogy by working with a freshman composition student at a college university. All data collected for the study was gathered during the 2013 spring semester. The study was driven by an inquiry based approach where the researcher determined the center of focus that arose from an exploration of the student as a writer through a survey, a classroom observation, multiple one-on-one meetings, and email conversations. The focus area that arose was the student's limited recognition that writing was done solely for school purposes. Related puzzlements stemming from this focus area included the student's lack of attachment and lack of voice in her writing. The conclusive data provided insights for how to educate students in future classrooms regarding how vital it is for students to be able to attach themselves to their work.


Knowledge of the large and small momentum transfer behavior of the electron momentum distribution is an important ingredient in the analysis of experimental isotropic Compton profiles. This behavior ultimately rests upon the asymptotic behavior of atomic momentals (momentum space orbitals). The small momentum Maclaurin expansion and the large momentum asymptotic expansion of atomic momentals with arbitrary angular momentum quantum number are derived in this paper. Their implications for momentum densities and Compton profiles are derived and discussed.


Sue Smith has been a childminder for 10 years and cares for a grand total of 31 children (although not all at the same time!). Amy Griggs interviewed her and discovered the importance of small bags and how a garden can be something found on a plate!


i) Rationale, aims and objectives Blogging is one of the most popular online practices of user-generated content and it can be defined as "personal, frequently updated pages with a series of archived posts in reverse chronological order" (Nardi, Schiano & Gumbrecht, 2004). It is usually text-based, although other multimedia can be used (Herring, Scheidt, Bonus & Wright, 2004). Although blogs seemed to lose popularity over time (Pew Research, 2010), there is an emerging, new type of blogging, mostly in the form of personal visual diaries, videoblogging (Gao, Tian, Huang & Yang, 2010). Videoblogging, shortened and known as "vlogging", is a form of blogging which uses video as its medium and usually takes place on the platform of YouTube.com (Gao et al., 2010). It is a widespread and fast increasing practice, especially among the youth. Similarly to text-based blogs, online vlogs also feature a space for audience to leave their comments. Although research exists around blogging, self-presentation, motives, sex differences and more, daily vlogging is a young concept and not much research has been done on it. The aim of this study was to perform an exploratory content analysis to identify different ways in which "vloggers" present themselves online and what parts of their daily lives they choose to showcase, as well as how each gender chooses to do so. The audience types and interactions with these daily documentations were also looked at in the form of the accompanying comments. The contribution of the present study was to increase knowledge on an online practice that lacks relevant research volume and to provide a new scope into the different ways in which individuals express themselves in the online world.


We discuss a framework for constructing large subsets of $\mathbb{R}^n$ and $K^n$ for non-archimedean local fields $K$. This framework is applied to obtain new estimates for the Hausdorff dimension of angle-avoiding sets and to provide a counterexample to a limiting version of the Capset problem.


The Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment of the Netherlands executes, in general with intervals of four years, a national transport market and capacity analyses to inform the newly elected government about the future accessibility challenges (IenM, 2017). The insights from this analysis are used to select and prioritize in which regions a further exploration of the accessibility challenges will be started potentially resulting in an investment program. The future accessibility challenges are explored under two long term demographic and socio-economic scenarios to address uncertainties in economic and demographic developments. Additionally in this study the robustness of the future accessibility challenges is explored for alternative land use developments for urban regions within the Netherlands.


The inflow of foreign direst investment(FDI) will definitely affects the wages in the host countries.The international academic research tends to explore the wage differences between the A M and Greenfield investment as well as the wage changes before and after the A M.The paper summaries the related research fruit and tendency in the international acodemy,aiming at providing referrence for domestic academy.


This chapter proceeds by examining three case studies, pointing out along the way the symptoms of multilevel regulation that have begun to manifest themselves in judicial decision-making. The three case studies emanate from different European Courts. The first case involves, Bosphorus Airways v. Ireland . The Irish Government had denied the aircraft flight clearance for three years pursuant to obligations owed under European Community (EC) Regulation 990/93. The second case study considers the United Kingdom House of Lords judgment in the recent case of Jones v. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . The final case study examines the controversial decision of the Court of First Instance (CFI) in the case of Kadi v. Council and Commission , pertaining to measures taken by European governmental institutions to implement UN resolutions that mandated the freezing of the funds of suspected terrorists. Keywords:Court of First Instance (CFI); European Community (EC) Regulation; multilevel regulation; terrorist threats


The thermoresistivity and piezoresistivity of gold films with thicknesses of 10, 20, and 40 nm were analyzed. The films were thermally evaporated and deposited onto polyimide (Kapton®) substrates. Because of their nanometric thickness, the films required a post-deposition annealing to yield reproducible piezoresistive responses. Separation of each contributing factor and proper analytical models capturing the thermoresistivity and piezoresistivity responses were used for determining the gage factor (GF) and the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the films. The obtained GF values varied between 2.52 and 2.88, and the TCR values from (6.25 to 9.81) × 10−4 °C−1. The TCR is about one fourth of the value typically reported for a bulk material. It was also observed that the electrical current used to measure the electrical resistance causes important heating of the films. These phenomena are relevant and must be taken into account in the case of electrical currents flowing through metallic nanofilms, either when designing experiments or as part of a device.


A novel calibration and lens distortion correction of 3D reconstruction systems is introduced in this paper.Assuming zero distortion at the center of image,the parameter calibration and lens distortion correction of the CCD camera and the DLP projector is separated with the center points and all the rest points in the field.Furthermore,identification and correspondence of the interested points are automatically done because of the design target with standard circles and multicolor code of pseudo-random array during calibration.Experiments show that the proposed method is fast and convenient in the calibration of lens distortion.


In this issue of NORA we introduce what we hope will be the Ž rst of several annual special features. The focus this year is on research in the Ž eld of gender and education. We are therefore happy to introduce our guest editor, Jeanette Rhedding-Jones, the Editor of this Ž rst special theme issue. Jeanette Rhedding-Jones, Dr. Philos, is Associate Professor in Pedagogy, in the Faculty of Teacher Education, Oslo University College, Norway. She was the leader of the Nordic Symposium at the Gender and Education International Conference 1999, at the University of Warwick, UK. Jeanette Rhedding-Jones has published widely and is currently working on a book about women's teaching in higher education. We also would like to take this opportunity to thank Lilja Mósesdottṍ r for her almost two years' work with NORA and to wish her good luck in her new job in Island. It has been a pleasure to work together with you. Thank you Lilja!


A talk given by Sister Catherine Hannan, Leader of the Congregation of the Sisters of Compassion, at the launch of Jessie Munro's The Story of Suzanne Aubert (Auckland University Press/Bridge! Williams Books), 6 November 1996.


The main objective of the study is to look at gender involvement in cassava processing and its contribution to household food security in Odogbolu Local Government in Ogun State.
Both men and women have their distinct roles within the farming household and vary widely across culture though certain features are common. Women are increasingly reported to be key persons responsible for providing household food supplies but they have minimal access to production facilities. They play a critical role in food, production, post harvest activities, livestock care and increasingly cash crops.
This study examined the involvement of gender in cassava processing and its contribution to household food security in Odogbolu local government of Ogun State. The activities operation performed by both male and female respondent the processing of cassava, their level of involvement, other contribution to household food security, and the constraint faced. Sample size was seven, three (73) drawn from the L.G.A. the data collect were analyses using both descriptive inferential statistics.
It was found that majority of the respondents are female (76.7%) while the male contribute (23.3%) of cassava processes. About 68.5 of the respondents were married, 47.9 had primary education. 26.0% with secondary education and 17.8 with formal education. The household size of both male and female respondent was between 6.9 peruses (49.3%), majority of them are Christian, farm size of the respondent are 1-2 acre (87.7%).
Garri was the major food produced by both male and female respondent from processed cassava, with 82.2, which the female daily to the processing.
The level of involvement was determined as both men and women respondents were involved in the land preparation, planting, processing, harvesting, storage and marketing, with the women being more involved.
 Also, both male and female respondents always contributes to buying of food items, payment of children school fee, transportation expenses payment of household rent, procurement of drug and that cassava processing contributes hugely to their household food security, even when dealing with household food insecurity.
The most serious constraints faced by both male and female in order lack of capital, Non availability input, lack of transport and high costs of labour.
The hypothesis indicated that there is no significant relationship between the contributions made by ach member of cassava processing and contribution of respondents to household food security.
The study recommends that there should be proper eradication of poverty to improve access to food, processing of cassava should be encouraged among men and women to increase the level of consumption and gender should be put in mind when designing farm tools and when formulating agricultural policy.
analysis of farm management skills in poultry production in abeokuta metropolis of ogun state, nigeria


Globally, the demand for organic food rapidly rises and exceeds domestic supplies. Many are aware of the benefits of organic food, and it may guarantee a good lifestyle among the world's populations. However, in most developing countries, including Malaysia, the supply growth of organic food cannot keep up with demand growth due to the slow transition from conventional to organic farming. To date, consumers are more preferred to choose food products that are naturally grown, good for health and may not harm the environment. This study examines the level of buying behaviour towards organic food among Malay consumers. Two hundred respondents were selected in this study by using the purposive sampling technique. The data were then analysed using descriptive analysis and measured using the mean score. The results showed high mean scores for all dependent and independent variables: consumer buying behaviour, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control. Hence, this study can be concluded that Malay consumers would also like to consume organic food, but their socio-economic background may not permit them to have it frequently. The price of organic food is also known as pricey compared to non-organic. Hence, this study is significant for all stakeholders, including the farmer, policymaker, retailer and supplier, to ensure a good and sound organic food chain in Malaysia.


In a widely cited study, Healy, Malhotra, and Mo (henceforth HMM) report that college football games influence elections. We reassess this surprising finding and conclude that, despite arising from a sound research design, it is a false-positive result that arose by chance. HMM responded to our study and raised further objections in an online document. We responded to the primary objections of HMM in our own reply, which was limited to 500 words. In this document, we elaborate upon our previous points and respond to the specific criticisms from HMM's online reply.


A dramatic change has taken place in the manner in which the IMF conducts its annual surveillance of member state economies. These annual consultations (known as Article IV consultations) were originally viewed as private matters. Starting in 1997, the IMF released summary information about a country's consultation on a voluntary basis. Recently, countries could choose to release the consultation team's report itself, which is prepared for discussion by the Fund's Executive Board. This raises the question of how and to what extent international markets respond to this transparency. This paper builds on the work of Fratzscher and Reynaud (2011) and Glennerster and Shin (2008) to estimate the effects of Article IV data release on spreads on emerging market debt. This project is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (SES-0960422) We find strong evidence that Article IV transparency reduces spreads on emerging market debt, and these findings are robust across the release of different types of information as well as numerous alternative specifications.


Introduction: A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified that three loci, SCN10A (rs10428132), SCN5A (rs11708996), and one downstream from HEY2 gene (rs9388451) were associated with Brugada syndrome. Methods: We investigated these 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 94 Japanese patients diagnosed with Brugada syndrome and 1,978 healthy controls. Results: Both rs10428132 at SCN10A and rs9388451near HEY2 were associated with Brugada syndrome [ P = 6.13 х 10 –14 ;odds ratio (OR), 8.0 and P = 8.0 х 10 –4 ; OR, 2.5, respectively). However, the C HEY2 allele was more frequent in Brugada syndrome patients without ventricular fibrillation (VF) than those with VF (53.7% vs. 40%, P = 0.04). This suggests a protective effect of this allele against VF occurrence, which may conflict with previous GWAS findings. The QTc interval was significantly longer in patients with the HEY2 risk allele than those without it (CC: 422 ± 3.8 vs. CT: 409 ± 4.8 vs. TT: 381 ± 9.5 ms, P = 0.0004). The other electrocardiogram parameters were unrelated to the HEY2 allele. PQ interval was longer in patients with the SCN10A risk allele than those without it (CC: 157 ± 2.5 vs. CT: 172 ± 5.3 vs. TT: 172 ± 3.5 ms, P = 0.0019), but the SCN10A SNP was not associated with clinical severity of Brugada syndrome. Conclusions: These results suggest that the HEY2 SNP may be a prognostic marker for Brugada syndrome, protecting VF occurrence presumably by regulating repolarization current.


Progress for the seventh quarter of the ANPP Code Dovelopment Program is reported. The logical fiow diagram for the burnup program, SYBURN, was completed. Seven of the required 21 subroutines were completed and checked out; an additional six subroutines were written. SYNFAR was used to analyze 12 clean, critical cores. Use of the diffusion theory option resulted in K-eff; approximately 1.5% low; use of the SN option resulted in a maximum error of 0.8%. Neutron lifetimes for several cores were calculated; values were th the range of 4 to 5 mu sec. The clean core experiments were completed. Several cores, including Core 454, were rebuilt to utilize the latest experimental techniques or to obtain more consistent data. An investigation of basic pulsed neutron techniques was thitiated in an attempt to improve agreement between period and pulsed neutron reactivity measurements. (auth)


Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter on the molecular and atomic levels. It has the potential to bring enormous changes in various fields. Keeping in mind the increasing number of beneficiary fields, we can establish the fact that even the field of dentistry is not spared. A day may soon come when nano dentistry will succeed in maintaining near-perfect oral health through the aid of nanorobotics, nanomaterials and biotechnology. This article is an attempt to give an overview about the nanotechnology, nanomaterials and its applications in the field of Prosthodontics.


Considering that handball is a sport that requires physical contact, jumps, and fast movements, it is relevant to create prevention strategies to avoid injuries. It is known that better proprioceptive conditions and muscular balance are associated with reductions in sport injuries. The aim of this study was to analyse the cumulative effect of a twelve-week FIFA11+ training program in addition to conventional handball training on postural balance and isokinetic strength of the knee joint in female handball athletes. Twenty-one athletes (aged 11-14 years) were assessed and divided into two groups: intervention group (IG), composed of girls who practiced FIFA11+ associated with regular handball training, and control group (CG) composed of girls who participated only in team training. Both groups were assessed at pre- and post-intervention including knee muscular power using isokinetic dynamometer. Postural balance was assessed through computerized dynamic posturography, with sensory organization test (SOT), analysis of sensorial systems, and unilateral test. IG performed the FIFA11+ program exercises, twice a week, with sessions lasting 40 minutes on average, during 12 weeks. The results demonstrate an improvement in postural balance in IG group at condition 5 of SOT, and in the use of vestibular system at post-intervention, which did not occur in CG. As far as knee isokinetic muscular power is concerned, both groups showed improvements. In conclusion, the practice of FIFA11+ in addition to conventional handball training demonstrated important contributions on the postural balance of young players.


As the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan continues to host the third largest Syrian refugee population in the world, the state's infrastructure and its people are taking a toll. Before the war in Syria began, Jordan was already suffering from a weak economy, resource scarcity, and an enormous population boom. Since accepting nearly 2.5 million refugees, these issues have compounded year after year—nearly reaching a breaking point.

I propose an unconventional solution to some aspects of the refugee crisis: renewable energy. Renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels, consume less water in electricity generation, emit fewer greenhouse gases, and promote job creation and diversification. Better yet, Jordan has enormous potential for renewable energy, especially in solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind.

In this study, I evaluate Jordan's readiness to implement renewable energy, analyze a case study of the Za'atari refugee camp (which recently transitioned to running entirely on solar energy), and make basic projections on potential job creation and water conservation by switching from coal and natural gas to PV and wind. I find that Jordan has successfully paved the way for jumpstarting its renewable sector, Za'atari has benefitted from solar energy, and the outlook for job creation is good, and water conservation even better. There are also some smaller, indirect positive impacts that renewable energy can have on combating the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan.


Contrary to popular belief, the overwhelming majority of disabilities are acquired during a person's lifetime rather than at birth. Research shows that people who acquire physical disability during adulthood are faced with the necessity to redefine their role and place in society and often develop an entirely new identity – the identity of a disabled person. The process of losing the old self, which must precede the development of a new identity, is often described by patients as extremely traumatic. At that moment, the individual is forced to change his or her social affiliation and irreversibly switch teams from "abled" to "dis-abled". In addition to adapting to physical changes, newly disabled people also face serious psychological challenges. Although some research shows that disabled people do not differ psychologically from the general population, having similar levels of self-esteem and well-being as nondisabled people, other research clearly proves that this is not applicable to newly disable people. It appears that adults with relatively stable identity and strong expectations related to the future, are the ones who suffer the most after acquiring a disability. This article investigates the major issues related with the development of a new identity presented in the autobiographical book of Simi Linton, who became a paraplegic at age 24.


This article analyses the case study method and its application in accounting module. Labour market requirements in Lithuania and abroad are becoming higher and higher. Completing the theoretical studies is not enough for students. The case study method helps to connect the existing theoretical knowledge and practice. The case study method was used for the first time in 1870 at Harvard University. The method allows a student to be active throughout the process, to make decisions, to give grounded opinions, to work in a team and to make conclusions. This paper addresses the benefits of using case studies in accounting module between the students without a relevant work experience. In the context of this study, the findings provide evidence that the case study methods should be used in the accounting studies.


By analyzing concretely historical material relevant to Lu Xun,Guo Mo-ruo,Gao Chang-hong,the result shows that it is very insufficient to Chinese modern literature historical material's work.We must go in advance and arrange it with brand-new sight for writing out Chinese modern literature history which reflecting truly its developing status.Periodical ought to produce a marked effect such as boosting academic activities,craning its neck to look forward and driving learning to be innovative.It has great importance that Journal of Hunan Institute of Humanities,Science and Technology establishes the Special Column for Literature Historical Material.It indicates that Chinese modern literature historical material's spring is to come and people are heading for a road that we can write out Chinese modern literature history that it can reflect really its development condition.


An exemplary method for producing a fuel cell sheet material comprises a flat pressing of a lattice to form a flat material having a plurality of apertures which act to transmit a fluid within a fuel cell.


A concise and accessible introduction to throwing, with step-by-step instructions and tips.
 Throwing is an important skill for any potter to master, using only a few tools, the guidance of their hands, and the momentum of a wheel. This book is an essential companion for anyone attempting to master the art of forming pots on the wheel.
 Having spent his life making pots and teaching others to make them, Richard Phethean describes essential techniques for working on the wheel with an eye for the practical. Learn about a range of forms, from simple domestic pots such as mugs, jugs, bowls and teapots to more complex vessels with oval shapes or cut edges, with the aim of building your confidence in throwing techniques.
 The book features clearly illustrated step-by-step instructions and diagrams for creating each type of vessel. Finally, get some inspiration from the work of contemporary potters discussing their techniques and featuring some of their stunning pieces.


ABSTRACT Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) cv. Cara were cultivated over two years in an experimental plot at the University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Treatments consisted of fertilizing with single supply or binary combinations of commercial sheep manure compost, farmyard manure, ammonium nitrate and multicote (17-17-10 NPK coated fertilizer). A control without fertilizers was included to give ten treatments with four replications each, following a randomized blocks statistical design. Fertilizer rates were determined to supply 168 kg of N ha−1, in accordance with normal rates of N used by farmers. Each fertilizer of binary combinations supplied 50% of N. A rotation with lupin (Lupin us albus) preceded potato plantation. At flowering, lupin was cut and left on the soil as green manure. Potatoes were sown one month after cutting lupin. In both years of the assay, soil samples were taken twice from each treatment, the first sampling after cutting lupin, and the second 3 months after potato planting. All the measured soil parameters (pH, organic matter, total N, and available P, K, Ca and Mg) were within the ranges suited for potato development. Treatments did not affect these ranges. Potato yields were similar in all the treatments during the first year of cultivation, although in the second year potatoes that received ammonium nitrate, multicote, compost plus multicote or farmyard manure plus multicote gave significantly higher yields than those subjected to the other treatments. Control potatoes were the least productive in 1997. No clear behaviour of nutrient concentrations in tubers (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) was detected in relation to treatments. On the other hand, no correlations were observed among the studied parameters of the soils and/or the tubers.


With the recent development of a number of new ciphers, especially block ciphers, there is a need for a set of tools to help analyse them, in order to obtain some comparative measure of their relative security, and to assist in identifying any shortcomings in their design. This project uses a number of tests to provide a better determination of a cipher's capabilities than previous attempts, and incorporates them into a framework to aid extension of the testbed, through both the addition of new ciphers, and new tests. The testbed will be used for a comparative analysis of some of the new families of block ciphers, including LOKI, FEAL, Khufu, Khafre, and KSX against the older generation which includes Lucifer and DES. Some preliminary results from this analysis on DES, FEAL, and LOKI are presented here.


This article discusses a work in progress; the design of a course taken by students early in an undergraduate degree focusing on security and assurance. The course follows a general introductory course in basic computer system concepts and an object-oriented programming course. The course discussed here covers basic command line scripting and script programming in Perl. This course will also introduce concepts of secure programming.


Online communities have become a prevailing cyberspace for people to communicate, collaborate, share information and experiences. Their high reliance on user-generated content makes their success tied to the continuous flow of newcomers and their subsequent effort. Our previous study suggested that newcomers' introductions positively affect their subsequent effort. In the current work, we identified two different introduction strategies in terms of the presence of initial participation before introduction to the community. Our analysis of these two strategies shows that providing introduction after some initial participation in the community has significant positive associations with newcomers' commitment to the community.


Quenched and tempered steels are needed for highly-stressed structures in military and non-military equipment. This paper was written for studying the structure and properties (hardness and impact energy absorbed) of medium-carbon and carbon-manganese steels before and after Quench+Temper and Double Quenched+Tempered. Because water is cheap and easy to control, it was used as a quenching medium. This study compares the hardness and impact energy absorbed of quenched plus tempered and double quenched plus tempered steels. The results showed that double quenched plus tempered steel hardness was higher than in quenched plus tempered steels. Besides, the grain structure is refiner than that of quenched plus tempered steel. The taking of the austenite temperature and holding time is essential because of the hardness at the end of the quenching process. The study aims to obtain hardness and impact energy from quenching+tempering and double quenching+tempering of medium-carbon and carbon-manganese steel for armor steel. In the first step, five specimens were heated at 900 ℃ (held for 30 minutes), cooled in freshwater and produced Q 900 Steel. Then, these specimens were heated at 750 ℃, 800 ℃, 850 ℃, and 900 ℃, held for 30 minutes and provided Q 900+750 Steel, Q 900+800 , Q 900+850 Steel, and Q 900+900 Steel. These specimens were tempered at 150 ℃ (held for 30 minutes) and produced Q 900+750 &T Steel, Q 900+800 &T Steel, Q 900+850 &T Steel, Q 900+900 &T Steel. Martensite reached the cooling period 357 ℃ to 182 ℃, tempered at 150 ℃ (held for 30 minutes). Hardness for double-quenching and tempering is higher than for conventional. The maximum impact energy of double-quenching and tempering heat treatment of Q 900+850 &T steel is suitable for armor steel used


These books share a common interest – overseas Chinese political, social, and economic fates and identities, and are broadly focused on three key questions: what was the position of Chinese people in Southeast Asia during the twentieth century?What images circulated about Chinese Diaspora communities in the region, and how was "Chineseness" defined by themselves, the states and societies in which they lived, and their ancestral homelands? Finally, how did domestic political agendas, bilateral diplomacy, and global geopolitics mediate notions of Chineseness, whether viewed as culture and/or citizenship?


Imperialism, International Law and Race in the Haitian Revolution Robert Knox The Haitian Revolution has become an increasingly important touchstone in a number of modern debates: particularly those about the intersection of liberalism, 'human rights' and racism; capitalism and racism and – perhaps most importantly – the prospect of anti-racist revolutionary movements. This paper attempts to engagement with the specifically legal elements of the Haitian revolutionary process through the prism of the Marxist tradition. In particular – drawing on Pashukanis' commodity-form theory – it examines how law mediated the close relationship between racialisation, slavery and the extension of French colonialism to the Island. It then tracks the way in which the Haitian revolutionary process was able to invoke racialised legal categories in order to challenge French domination: particularly in the form of the revolutionary constitution. In so doing, it examines how Haitian revolutionaries attempted to use legal forms in order to refashion 'blackness' as a political category that might challenge the status quo. The paper then attempts to draw out wider lessons for the possibility of radical anti-imperialist attempts to utilise (international) law. The origins of enmity in international law Tor Krever The proposed paper explores the ideological origins of piracy in international legal thought. The figure of the pirate is today the epitome of enmity in international law: hostis humani generis. Where and when did this figure first emerge? Against transhistorical accounts which project the pirate backwards in an unbroken arc from the present to antiquity, the paper locates its origins in the emerging capitalist world economy of the long 16th century. The pirate as a figure of universal enmity, the paper argues, emerged first as a figure of religious enmity rooted in the inter-imperial Habsburg-Ottoman rivalry of the 16th-century Mediterranean and the threat posed by Islamic depredations to a universalising Christianity. That figure of religious enmity, the paper suggests, was exported to the Atlantic by an Iberian empire which saw in Protestant depredations the same threat to Habsburg efforts to extend a universal Christian commonwealth to the New World. With the development of an early capitalist economy and the growing coincidence of imperial interests and trade, the nature of the enmity attaching to the pirate began to change. One of the first theorisations of this new enmity, the paper suggests, is found in the work of Grotius, who renders the pirate not as a religious enemy, but an enemy of commerce and free trade. It is this new secular figure of enmity, the paper concludes, that is produced and reproduced in modern legal thought, the pirate now not an enemy of a universal Christendom but a universal enemy of capitalism. The Gift of Scottish Backwardness: 'Revolutions from Above' and the Geopolitics of Post-Napoleonic British International Legal Argument Eric Loefflad In considering the spread of capitalist political economy through nationalist projects of elite-directed 'Revolutions from Above,' I account for the historical contingencies that made variations on these projects universalized models for emulation. In doing so, I locate this phenomenon in the context of the post-Napoleonic rivalry between liberal, capitalist Britain and the reactionary dynastic 'Holy Alliance' of Russia, Prussia, and Austria. While both blocs sought to 'restore order' in the wake of the French revolutionary/Napoleonic wars, they maintained radically different conceptions of what constituted 'order.' For Britain, this meant a noninterventionist position that facilitated a system premised on a plurality of formally equal nation-states adhering to a modernist ideological distinction between public and private. In direct contrast to this, the Holy Alliance sought to entrench a hierarchal arrangement whereby great powers reserved the interventionist right to uphold dynastic claims by suppressing popular sovereignty-based uprisings. This discrepancy resulted from rival modes of social reproduction with Britain furthering a system of capital accumulation while the Holy Alliance sought to continue feudal/absolutist practices of geopolitical accumulation. In showing how international legal argument disseminated 'Revolution from Above' in a manner that furthered capital accumulation while allowing the dynastic elites to maintain to their power, a rather counterintuitive place to look is the role of Scotland within the broader context of British modernity. As a developmental latecomer in direct proximity to the emergence of liberal capitalism in England, Scotland was one of the earliest locations to host a top-down implementation of socio-economic transformation driven by a sense of backwardness. In this context, the theoretical justification for this process via the Scottish Enlightenment produced an approach to jurisprudence that effectively synthesized liberal theories of natural rights, especially as they concerned juridical statehood, with anti-liberal conceptions of organic community that served to limit radical assertions of natural rights (which were held responsible for the rupture of the French Revolution). Embracing this line of justification provided Britain with international legal arguments that coherently opposed the dynastic interventions of the Holy Alliance while simultaneously defending their expanding commercial endeavors from claims that the disruptive effects of these activities undermined the foundations of lawful order in Europe. In doing so, this argument created the mythologized account of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia that remains the default presumption of mainstream international theory to this day. In response to these geopolitical pressures, Britain's continental rivals engaged in top-down reforms of their own whereby similar lines of international legal argument where adapted as a means of providing the space for these pursuits in the name of national autonomy. However, being able to claim this autonomy meant abandoning arguments based on dynastic legitimacy and embracing international modernity. In the process they reproduced 'Revolutions from Above' that were conspicuously similar to Scotland's path to capitalist development in terms of both material structure and ideological justification.


Specially protected natural areas have an enduring value; timely and effective resolution of various problems facing protected areas determines the success of their main functions. The conferences "Actual problems of specially protected natural areas" have been held since 2009 with a three-year period in order to combine the creative potential of academics, students and professional environmental researchers, to solve the most urgent problems of preserving the natural and cultural-historical heritage of specially protected natural territories. Environmental researchers from scientific, educational and protected areas institutions from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and some other countries have participated at these events. A fruitful exchange of information on the problems of various protected areas and possible solutions, ways to optimize the use of natural resources in protected areas and the preservation of their unique natural complexes takes place during the conferences. The 4-th All Russian Conference on Actual Problems of Specially Protected Natural Areas (APSPNA2020) was held on 17-18 September 2020 in Togliatti, Russia. It was successfully organized by the Institute of Ecology of Volga River Basin RAS and National Park "Samarskaya Luka", and gratefully supported by UNESCO Chair "Study and Conservation of Biodiversity of the Volga Basin Ecosystems" at IEVB RAS, Russian Geographical Society, Russian Botanical Society, Russian Hydrobiological Society and "Parkway" Public Society. Though the conference was held in the form of face-to-face participation, only ∼30 oral presentations of more then 60 submissions were presented due to the impact of COVID-19 and travel restrictions. During the opening ceremony, Vice Chair of Organizing Committee, Director of the Samara Luka National Park Eugeny Berezkin, and the members of the organizing Committee, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gennady Rosenberg, and Professor Sergey Saxonov addressed the conference participants with welcoming words. A wide range of issues related to specially protected natural areas were discussed at the Scientific Session of the conference, i.e. anthropogenic impact and methods of it detection and measurement; preservation of unique natural complexes; maintaining of biological diversity and assessing the state of plant and animal populations in the absence of direct anthropogenic impact; short and long-term changes in the species composition and abundance of pro- and eukaryotic organisms; prospects for the development of natural ecosystems under modern conditions. The issues of organizing scientific research and monitoring in specially protected natural areas, preserving the cultural heritage of protected areas and their staffing were considered in the format of a Round Table. During the discussion, the participants agreed that specially protected natural areas really need personnel qualified under special programs, not only in the field of management, but also in other fields. This volume of IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (EES) is a compilation of the selected papers in the 4-th Conference "APSPNA2020", reflected the main topics of the conference. On behalf of the organization committee we would like to thank all of the speakers as well as all the authors for sharing their research results. We would also express our gratitude to the IOP Publishing for publishing the proceedings. We hope that all interested readers would benefit scientifically from the proceedings. Editors of the proceedings of 4-th Conference on Actual Problems of Specially Protected Natural Areas (APSPNA2020) Evgeny V. Bykov, Marina V. Umanskaya, Samara Federal Research Scientific Center RAS, Institute of Ecology of Volga river basin RAS, Togljatti, Samara Region, Russia


Abstract The offender profiling process is an investigative technique used to identify the major personality and behavioural characteristics of the offender based upon an analysis of the crime(s) he or she has committed (Douglas & Burgess, 1986). Attempts have been made in both England and America to classify rapists into various subgroups. Instead of definitive groups of offenders a suggestion is made as to the formation of a dimensional typology of rapists. This would allow for the difficulties in defining boundaries for subgroups and accounting for individual differences and heterogeneity of both the rapist and the assault. The various criteria that attempt to distinguish the different types of offender are discussed including behavioural and motivational characteristics of the offender, lay theories of rape and the victim-offender relationship. The implications of the dimensional typology are outlined. There are indications that some factors may contribute to a longer and more complicated recovery pro...


Abstract : The effects of ambiguity of an emergency, attribution of arousal, race of the victim, and subject's prejudice were investigated in a 2x2x2x2 factorial design employing 160 subjects. The data indicated that bystander helping could be reduced through misattribution of the perceived source of arousal. As predicted for the white victim, in a situation allowing for multiple interpretation, subjects given the opportunity to attribute their arousal to a placebo exhibited significantly less helping behavior than did subjects not given this attributional opportunity. When the situation was unambiguously critical, however, no differences occurred. Results were discussed in relation to Piliavin, Rodin, and Piliavin's (1969) model. The findings of the present study also supported Gaertner's (1975) notion that racial attitudes operate indirectly. Subjects given the opportunity to reinterpret the situation helped the black victim less often than the white victim. When the intensity of feedback cues was diminished or when subjects had the opportunity to misattribute the source of arousal, discrimination in helping behavior was obtained. When no alternative interpretation was available, though, no difference in helping due to the race of the victim was revealed. (Author)


The rotation measures of 555 extragalactic radio sources are calculated as a result of a large number of new linear polarization measurements carried out by us at several wavelenghts.


We have developed graphics to visualize static and dynamic information in layered neural network learning systems. Emphasis was placed on creating new visuals that make use of spatial arrangements, size information, animation and color. We applied these tools to the study of back-propagation learning of simple Boolean predicates, and have obtained new insights into the dynamics of the learning process.


Pollution of the biosphere with toxic metals has accelerated dramatically since the beginning of the industries revolution. Toxic metals contamination of soil, aqueous wastes, streams and ground water poses a major environmental and human health problem, which is still in need of an effective and affordable technological solution. Phytoremediation is a new technology in which plants are used to remove pollutants from water and soil. The use of metal accumulating plants to clean environment contaminated with heavy metals is the most rapidly developing component of this environmental friendly and cost – effective technology. Remediation of Cr – contaminated soil is a challenging task that may not only help in sustaining agriculture, but may also minimize adverse environmental impacts. Here, we examined the potential of phytoremediation techniques for treating heavy metals (Cr, Pb, Cd, & Zn) and contaminated soil using vermicompost for pot experiment. The concentrations of Chromium and other heavy metals are studied using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy.