This chapter analyzes Colson Whitehead's Apex Hides the Hurt (2006) and Paul Beatty's Slumberland (2008) as attempts to craft the "new and better stories" of the African American experience that Charles Johnson's 2008 essay "The End of the Black American Narrative" calls for. Johnson's "The End of the Black American Narrative" posits Obama's election as a turning point in African American literature, reflecting a new era of representation for African American authors. Through an analysis of Johnson's essay in concert with Whitehead's and Beatty's novels, this chapter argues that these works illuminate a brief moment of optimism for the transcendence not of race itself but of the structural role that race has played and continues to play in American governance. With their shared representation of racial identity as a form of branding, Whitehead and Beatty point towards new conceptualizations of Blackness that embrace contingency and fluidity.


The paper introduces a VI system, which tests the moisture of paper using process soft measurement method. The system has the advantages of function perfection, suit for on line test and friendly interface.


With the popularity of different wireless access technologies for Internet access, the integration of heterogeneous wireless networks is foreseen in the near future. Solutions for secured Internet access in such scenario become an urgent requirement. In this paper, we present SHAWK, a platform for secure integration of heterogeneous advanced wireless networks, including cellular networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs) and wireless mesh networks (WMNs) for ubiquitous Internet access. We have developed effective mechanisms to strike the balance between security and performance requirements in such heterogeneous networks from media access layer to application layer, including a customized context-aware media independent handoff (MIH) framework, a unified access testbed for 3G and Wi-Fi integration, a secure fast handoff scheme between different wireless networks, a practical secure routing solution to defend wormhole attack and an novel application for secure application mobility. Through comprehensive experiments, we show that our mechanisms can ensure the network security, with satisfactory system performance.


Resumen en: Brassinosteroid analogs (BRs), BB-6 and MH-5, were evaluated during sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) somatic embryogenesis, and their effect correlated to p...


In this work, the results of a quick microtremor survey performed in the municipalities situated in the epicentre area of the Ml 5.2 2004 Salò earthquake (North Italy) are presented. The aim of this study is to understand if the large amount of damage caused by the event (about 215 million euros only in the areas near to the epicenter) is correlated more to the local surface geology conditions or to the vulnerability of ancient Italian historical centers. A preliminary seismic zonation was carried out in 5 villages including about 30 measurements of microtremors analyzed by the Nakamura technique (hereinafter HVNR). The points of measurement were carefully selected considering sites located both near damaged buildings and over different local geology conditions (alluvium deposits, fluvial-glacial deposits, debris fans and rock). In order to strengthen the HVNR results and to evaluate the reliability of the Nakamura analysis, a comparison with spectral ratios calculated on earthquakes (hereinafter HVSR) recorded at the strong motion station of Vobarno was made. In general, the outcomes of the survey highlight a possible correlation between local geology conditions and ground motion amplification for different frequency bands. In order to check if this evidence is linked with the damage, a series of macroseismic intensity values were collected for different zones of the investigated area, and a nonparametric correlation approach was used to establish a possible correlation between damage and ground motion amplification for selected frequency bands. The results show, from a statistical point of view, that in the area surrounding the epicenter of the November 24, 2004 mainshock, the damage pattern is not strongly dependent upon the local surface geology but more correlated to the low quality of the civil structures present in the area, including old buildings of the last century.


Native mobile application development is commonly utilized to create robust and high-performance applications. Even the abundance of resources to introduce different native application development approaches and user interface (UI) design frameworks, there is a deficit of quantitative analysis on them. Therefore, in this study, we present a quantitative performance benchmark model for an enhanced iOS experience. For this purpose, two major UI design frameworks i.e. UIKit and SwiftUI are examined along with various navigation patterns utilized for screen transitions such as tab bar transition, push transition and modal presentation. A combination of each navigation pattern - UI design framework pair is implemented by considering a variety of UI elements to be shown. Eventually, a performance evaluation is provided with respect the load time of screens and the memory consumption of the view controllers (VCs). The evaluation findings have demonstrated that SwiftUI results in high performance applications with lower load time and less memory consumption when collaboratively used with modal presentation as the navigation pattern.


Current generation distributed shared memory (DSM) systems use point-to-point (unicast) messages for cache invalidations. This incurs a large number of control messages, heavy network traffic, and high occupancy at home nodes. This paper introduces a new approach to reduce these overheads by using multidestination-based reservation and gather worms for distributing invalidation requests and collecting acknowledgments. Different grouping schemes to generate multidestination worms on networks supporting deterministic (e-cube) or adaptive (turn-model) routing are investigated to implement the fully-mapped cache-coherence protocol. For different applications on a 2D mesh system, our simulation results indicate that up to 15% reduction in overall execution time can be achieved by using multidestination messages.


Ardenne Abbey (on the outskirts of Caen, Basse-Normandie, France) is nowadays the headquarters of the Institut Memoires de l'Edition Contemporaine, which houses archives dedicated to the intellectual life of the twentieth century. The mission of the IMEC is well suited to such a place: the images associated with the word "abbey" revolve around the idea of Peace through study, prayer or choral singing. This idyllic vision of an abbey, however, is in no way a protection against the vicissitudes of history. Perhaps even the contrary. An abbey, through what it represents, often becomes a symbolic target that makes it the victim of all sorts of violence. Before focusing on the Second World War, which almost led to its final disappearance, this article discusses the history of Ardenne Abbey from the Middle Ages to the modern era, in the light of the dark topic of violence.


A research program within the scope of theories on "Emergent Quantum Mechanics" is presented, which has gained some momentum in recent years. Via the modeling of a quantum system as a non-equilibrium steady-state maintained by a permanent throughput of energy from the zero-point vacuum, the quantum is considered as an emergent system. We implement a specific "bouncer-walker" model in the context of an assumed sub-quantum statistical physics, in analogy to the results of experiments by Couder and Fort on a classical wave-particle duality. We can thus give an explanation of various quantum mechanical features and results on the basis of a "21st century classical physics", such as the appearance of Planck's constant, the Schrodinger equation, etc. An essential result is given by the proof that averaged particle trajectories' behaviors correspond to a specific type of anomalous diffusion termed "ballistic" diffusion on a sub-quantum level. It is further demonstrated both analytically and with the aid of compu...


Review(s) of: A Slice of Organic Life, by Sheherazade Goldsmith (ed), Foreword by Stephanie Alexander, Dorling Kindersley, London, Melbourne, 2007, 352 pp, hb, full colour illustrations, rrp $49.95.


Border Economic Recovery Act for Health and the Environment - Amends the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Act to authorize appropriations.Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 with respect to funding for State-furnished emergency health services for undocumented aliens in the United States-Mexico border area (border area).Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, with respect to the special supplemental nutrition program, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to utilize partnerships for increased coordination of food and nutrition assistance for residents of colonias in the border area.Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to increase funding for grants and loans for water and waste facilities in communities whose residents face significant health risks.Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make grants to selected colleges in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to provide community resource centers to serve colonias.Amends the Public Health Service Act with respect to funding of: (1) tuberculosis prevention activities in the border area; and (2) interdisciplinary, community-based linkages and centers addressing unmet health care needs in such area and in the State of Florida.Authorizes funding for the Border Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (concerning youth substance abuse prevention in the border area).Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make awards of grants or cooperative agreements to: (1) conduct cancer screenings in the border area and report diagnosis information to the appropriate State cancer registry; (2) expand a diabetes study; and (3) support community-based sexually transmitted disease control programs.Provides funding for the Department of HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative, reserving specified amounts for border area activities.Provides funding for: (1) the Materials Corridor Partnership Initiative; (2) the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy;


CAD technology for the fashion industry is used, from determining the type and pattern of materials, sizes, and making patterns to the percentage of products, so that computers are one of the important components in the fashion industry. Therefore, to support the growth of the fashion industry in the country, reliable and skilled human resources (HR) are needed to keep up with the dynamic development of the fashion industry, including in the use of information technology and digital devices. Based on this, it is necessary to strive to increase the competence of students in mastery of making clothing patterns digitally. This study aims to determine the contribution of using video tutorials for making fashion patterns to increasing student competence in the CAD Course of Clothing Design in D3 PKK FT UNM Study Program. The research subjects included students who were in the fourth semester of D3 Fashion Design study program. The results showed that: (1) the average competency score of the experimental class students who used video tutorials was higher than the average competency scores of control class students who used conventional media in making blouse patterns using CAD RP-DGS, (2) The use of videos tutorial for making fashion patterns has a positive and significant effect on improving student competence as shown by the results of hypothesis testing using the t-test. This proves that the use of video tutorials as a learning medium in blouse pattern making using CAD RP-DGS is very useful in helping lecturers and students as an effort to achieve learning competencies in the CAD course for D3 Department of PKK FT UNM Department.


A short-term, real-time system was developed to support traffic management in Beijing. The requirements of a large amount of data and unstable traffic flow are the biggest challenges to such a system. The models and software framework thus should be effective enough to face these problems. The core of such a system is the short-term traffic flow forecast model. Rapid urbanization and transportation development in Beijing have led to traffic flow patterns with some unstable characteristics. The short-term forecast model for an online system thus was designed with the fast-paced trend in mind. The model considers historical data, real-time data, and space data, and it can be updated online. Thus a combined model was developed with three submodels: discrete Fourier transform model, autoregressive model, and neighborhood regression model. Weights of each submodel were based on forecast error. Both the historical forecast error and real-time forecast error were considered. The system was built on a browser–server structure to support combined forecast models. The framework, modules, and interface of this system are introduced in this paper.


I T is now established that sporadic non-toxic goitre is of multiple etiology. A proportion of these patients have auto-immunizing thyroiditis and can be readily distinguished by modern immunological methods (Doniach et al., 1960). Furthermore, the development of chromatographic techniques has made it possible to demonstrate that in some cases there are defects of thyroid hormone synthesis (dyshormonogenesis) (McGirr, 1960),although the exact incidence of goitres due to this abnormality is unknown. Previous studies from this department have shown that many cases of simple non-toxic goitre are associated with iodine-deficiency (Koutras et al., 1960). We now report studies of stable iodine metabolism in known cases of dyshormonogenesis and we shall show that the pattern of iodine metabolism is quite different from that found in other cases of simple non-toxic goitre. This dissimilarity provides a screening procedure, simpler than any at present available, for assessing the true incidence of dyshormonogenesis.


Abstract The use of geothermal energy has been increased for economic and environmental friendly utilization. Ground thermal conductivity and borehole thermal resistance are very important parameters in the design of geothermal heat pump system. This paper presents an experimental study of heat exchange rate of U and W type ground heat exchangers (GHEs) measured by thermal performance tests (TPTs). U and W type GHEs were installed in a partially saturated dredged soil deposit, and TPTs were conducted to evaluate heat exchange rates under 100-hr continuous operation condition. The heat exchange rates were also calculated by analytical models to estimate borehole thermal resistances and were compared with experimental results. It comes out that multi-pole and equivalent diameter (EQD) models resulted in more accurate agreement than shape factor (SF) model which is currently more often used. 요 지 최근 들어 경제적이고 친환경적인 에너지 활용을 위하여 지열에너지 필요성이 증대되고 있다 . 지반의 열전도도(ground thermal conductivity)와 보어홀 열저항(borehole thermal resistance)은 지열 히트펌프 시스템(geothermal heat pump system)의 설계 과정에서 매우 중요한 변수이다. 본 논문에서는 일반 수직밀폐형에서의 U, W 타입의 지중 열교환기(ground heat exchanger)를 매립지 지반에 설치한 후 100시간 연속 운전 조건으로 현장 열성능 실험(thermal performance test)을 수행하였다. 또한 보어홀 열저항 산정 모델들을 이용하여 열효율을 산정한 후 이를 실험값과 비교하였다. 실험 결과 기존에 주로 적용되고 있는 shape factor(SF) 모델보다 multi-pole과 equivalent diameter(EQD) 모델이 계측값과 잘 일치하였다.


During the last decades, the context and supply-side of voting has undergone tremendous changes. One of the observed changes is "personalization of politics." Individual candidates, their (perceived) individual characteristics, and their campaigns are assumed to have a growing impact on party choice whereas the relevance of parties is diminishing. Research has focused on the identification of these effects especially in the context of presidential elections and elections under majority rule. Obviously, it is much more difficult to identify causal mechanisms in proportional electoral systems because the 'constituent-candidate' linkage is less clear. An effective translation of this link has to take local campaigning into account. Candidates running in PR systems are also campaigning locally and the expected benefit is gaining votes for the party list by that personal campaigning. Hence, the local effects of such efforts have to be taken into account if the 'personalization of politics' hypothesis is to be tested efficiently. Front-runners might have an impact on individual vote choice but, at the same time, the effect of direct and local interactions with 'rank and file' candidates should not be underestimated. In this paper, we present some first insights on local campaigning effects by taking advantage of the mixed-electoral system of Germany, using candidate and cross-section data of the German Longitudinal Election Study 2009 (GLES). German voters cast two ballots, a personal vote for a candidate and a second vote for a party list. Thus, we ask for spill-over effects from local campaigning by district candidates on list votes. In other words: To which extent does direct contact with a candidate inform vote choice for the party? We take two routes elaborating the impact of local campaigning and individualization of campaigns on party voting. The first approach determines the impact of candidates' characteristics, campaign activity, means, and style on parties' success regarding state-wide list votes compared to vote shares in constituencies. A systematic co-variation between local candidates' characteristics, campaign activities, and party list success controlled for success in constituencies would be an indication of spill-over effects. The second approach focuses on the impact of candidate characteristics and campaign efforts on list vote in a micro level model. The integration of both perspectives, i.e. aggregate outcomes and individual-level determinants, will allow for a solid test of the impact of local campaigning on the vote while avoiding the risk of ecological fallacy.


This paper presents reliability of surface mount technology (SMT) packaging assemblies compared to decades old pin grid array (PGA) assembled with hand soldering that were subjected to extreme cold thermal cycles representative of high-reliability applications for deep-space missions. The advanced SMT packages included commercial–off-the-shelf (COTS) column grid array (CGA), leaded thin small outline (TSOP), leadless quad flat no-lead (QFN), and passive technologies. Tin-lead eutectic solders were used for soldering; they were either in paste form for assembling SMT packages or solid wire for hand soldering plated-through hole (PTH) for PGA ceramic packages. It is a general perception that the PTH technologies are an order of magnitude more robust in thermal cycle reliability than SMTs. However, this may not be true under extreme cold environmental conditions. Design for reliability (DfR) may requires compromising the stand-off height of PGA assembly and the thickness of printed circuit board (PCB) to achieve the desired long-term reliability. This paper presents the key parameters affecting the reliability of SMT package assemblies including TSOP, QFN, CGA, and PGA assemblies as well as associated test results under standard and extreme cold harsh thermal shock/cycle conditions. The standard thermal cycle conditions for high-reliability applications included were in the range of (−55°C to 100°C) and (−55°C to 125°C) whereas extreme cold cycles were harsh (−135°C to 70°C) and (−120°C to 85°C), or milder (−110°C to 20°C). Test results presented include non-destructive optical/SEM and X-ray images and daisy-chain resistances as well as destructive failure analyses performed by X-sectioning. Finally, key findings for various packaging technologies under extreme cold thermal cycles are presented.


Objective To evaluate the quality of Moutan cortex slices from different areas.Methods Contents of moisture,ash,extracts,paeonol,total glycosides,and polysaccharides of Moutan cortex slices from different areas were determined by chemistry and instrumental analysis method.Results The contents of active constituents in Moutan cortex slices from three different areas were significantly different.Conclusion The quality of Moutan cortex slices from Anhui Tongling is the best among the three samples of different areas.


The process of Chinese Conversion of Marxism is the broadcasting and exercising process of Marxism,It is also a combining process between Marxism and Chinese culture and Chinese actuality,and a developing and creating process of Marxism in China.In the process of Chinese Conversion of Marxism,the progressive theoretic journals in early twenty centuries had played a very important role.Specifically,it introduced a lot of Marxism materialistic conception of history,combed Marxism philosophy theory systematically,and promoted the Chinese Conversion of Marxism.


A numerical model is developed to simulate the formation of braided stream, in which bank erosion and bed deformation are calculated simultaneously. Flow field, bed deformation, bank erosion and channel geometry are calculated numerically with a general coordinate system, which can be applied to any shape of channel geometry during the deformation of channel geometry due to the bank erosion. Calculation is started with a narrow straight channel with fiat bed, and in tern the development of alternate bar, channel meandering, appearance of mid channel bar, and finally, a braided channel geometry is simulated. Computational results are favorably compared with experimental. The mutual effect of bank and bed defoemation to the channel plane geometry is disscused.


In recent years, smaller catheters have been used in angiognaphy leading to higher injection pressures. High pressures and the conversion from metal to plastic connectons have led to an increased incidence of separation at the catheter-to-pressure tubing connection during contrast injection. This is a particular problem with aortic injections which may have rates of 25-30 mI/sec and pressures up to 70 kg/cm2. Connector separation can be costly if one considers the film and contrast used, in addition to the effect of unnecessary contrast material and radiation to the patient. We have devised a simple, but effective clamp using a pain of ring forceps which was modified by shortening and introducing night angle bends into the jaws. Slotted stainless steel cups were then silver-soldered to the reformed jaws of the clamp. Figure 1 shows the overall construction of the cups and the clamp. The exact dimensions of the cups and their separation will vary according to the specific connectons. We have elected not to use stopcock valves in order to increase the stability of the overall assembly. We have found this clamp to be quite adequate in all situations we have encountered, including flow rates up to 40 mI/sec, with no leakage at the connection.


• Participation in the Energy Community (as with Ukraine) can achieve a good degree of legal harmonisation with the EU acquis with regard to energy; however, this harmonisation of rules can be challenging to enforce in practice. The Energy Community makes a positive contribution to stability and security of supply, and to environmental sustainability, but is less effective when it comes to ensuring fair market access for EU firms.


1. Coburn [1] has studied the problem of Hermitian spaces in geodesic correspondence. He found a necessary and sufficient condition for two Kahler spaces to be in geodesic correspondence and showed that such correspondence was impossible between a Kahler space and a Hermitian space. The problem of geodesic correspondence between two Hermitian spaces he left unsolved. It will be shown that Coburn's first result is incorrect, as was pointed out by Bochner [2 ]; and we shall solve the general problem, giving necessary and sufficient conditions for two Hermitian spaces to be in geodesic correspondence.


Lawyers have always been central to the functioning of local government. The era in which the very top administrative jobs in local government were filled by qualified solicitors is long past. Yet lawyers remain important within senior management and legal advice on policy is crucial for local authorities seeking to developing strategies for delivering public services in an increasingly regulated world. In service delivery lawyers have direct roles in areas such as securing contracts, planning decisions and prosecuting nuisances and anti-social behaviour and they advise non-lawyer officials in departments such as education and housing how they might discharge their functions within the law. What attracts lawyers to local government service? It is unlikely to be the pay. It is little surprise to point out that lawyers can earn far more in private law firms. The average pay of solicitors with three years' experience at the top 50 city law firms was, in early 2005, £65,313 (although it was possible to find one firm offering £116,000). By contrast the maximum pay for a solicitor in one London Borough advertising in 2005 for a post requiring three years' experience was £35,964. The solicitor earns approximately 45 per cent less in local government compared to her/his counterpart with the same experience in a City law firm. As the local government sector is competing with the private sector on such financially uneven terms we might wonder how local government manages to recruit solicitors at all. When asked, lawyers and human resources (HR) professionals can offer their hunches. For example, a Director of Legal Services in a London


Growing concern over marking reliability and standards within UK higher education has led in recent years to increasing interest in criterion-referenced assessment. As part of an ongoing research project this paper examines student experience of criterion-referenced assessment and, in particular, a criteria assessment grid developed for the Business School at Oxford Brookes University. The main findings of this paper report the evident thirst students voiced for more reliable marking processes and clearer guidelines on assessment requirements and criteria. However, whilst students applauded the criterionreference grid as a 'good idea' and one that did help clarify assessment requirements they also highlighted several shortcomings. Such shortcomings included issues of subjectivity and multiple interpretations of criteria and standards. The paper concludes that the criterion-reference grid, from the student perspective, appeared to be of limited practical benefit unless presented as part of multifaceted approach including explanation, exemplars and opportunities for discussion.


Ground‐based solar spectral irradiance measurements obtained by a spectroradiometer have been used to retrieve the aerosol optical depth, τα, and the Ångström wavelength exponent, α. These measurements were obtained in the Athens centre in May 1995. Exponent α is frequently computed from spectral measurements both from ground‐based photometers and satellite remote sensing retrievals. Although the retrieval of α has been the subject of many studies worldwide, its spectral variation is typically not considered. In this study we analyse the spectral measurements of ln τα versus ln λ, where λ is the wavelength, at six selected wavelengths which cover the spectrum from 340 to 870 nm. It is obvious that there is significant curvature in the ln ta versus ln λ relationship, and the reasons for this are examined. It was found that this curvature depends on both atmospheric turbidity and aerosol optical properties, and a second order polynomial fit provides excellent agreement. The curvature of the polynomial equation becomes greater as the aerosol loading alters from high to low. The curvature is characterized by the second derivative of α, which can be utilized in conjunction with α to characterize the spectral dependence of aerosol optical depth, and can also be used as an indicator of the relative influence of fine‐versus coarse‐mode particles. Copyright © 2006 Royal Meteorological Society


One of the main problems in the analysis of measured spectra is how to reduce the influence of noise in data processing. We show a deconvolution, a differentiation, and a Fourier transform algorithm that can be run on a small computer (64K random access memory) which suffers less from noise than commonly used routines. This objective is achieved by implementing spline based functions in mathematical operations to obtain global approximation properties in our routines. The convenient behavior and the pleasant mathematical character of splines makes it possible to perform these mathematical operations on large data input in a reasonable computing time on a small computer system. Some examples of the performance of a differentiation, deconvolution, and Fourier transform routine are shown.


Logistics laboratory construction aim of building is the bridge logistics theory teaching and practice teaching,provide practical training platform for the students to deepen students ' understanding of modern logistics theory,improve the operating ability of students.Along with recent years,the fourth generation logistics laboratory is widespread concerned,the construction of the fourth generation logistics laboratory become effective to improve the quality of higher vocational logistics management professional talent training methods.This paper based on an introduction to the development of the logistics laboratory,analyzed from five aspects in the fourth generation of logistics laboratory construction goal,and then discussed in detail the fourth generation of logistics laboratory construction content,finally expounded the advantage of the fourth generation logistics laboratory.


For Monday, July 20, 8am MDT (14:00 UTC).
We will be using Slack for our online discussion forum. As you'll find out, it's really easy to


Tambitnotia peruviana n. sp. (Tortricidae: Olethreutinae), is described from Junín Department, Peru, along with the first reported female for the genus. Illustrations of adults and genitalia are provided.


In view of the adverse events occurred in the use of ventilator.This paper,according to some investigation,gives some effective suggestions on the safety management of ventilators,then proposes some methods to cut down the adverse events.


Industrial relations as a field of study the origins, growth and development of trade unions trade unions - an uncertain outlook trade unions - aims, objectives and government the industrial enterprise, management and employers' associations collective bargaining - an introduction major developments in collective bargaining industrial democracy and participation industrial conflict strikes the role of the state in industrial relations.


Simple Summary The deployment of working dogs to environments containing potentially pathogenic biological agents necessitates a straightforward and fieldable decontamination protocol. This work describes the effectiveness of a wipe-based method using common veterinary cleaners on various surfaces contaminated with infectious virus. Surface characteristics, especially porosity, have a marked effect on the success of any decontamination protocol; however, in general, wiping with 70% isopropyl alcohol or 0.5% chlorhexidine proved to be most efficient at decontaminating surfaces common to the working dog community. Abstract Given the increased deployment of working dogs to settings with pathogenic biological agents, a safe, effective, and logistically feasible surface decontamination protocol is essential to protect both the animals and their human handlers. Our group previously found that superficial contamination on surfaces relevant to the working dog community, including leashes and toys, could be significantly reduced using a standardized wiping protocol with various cleansing products. To expand upon this work, we analyzed the ability of this protocol to decontaminate surface-deposited bovine coronavirus, which was used as a BSL2 surrogate for SARS-CoV-2. Unsurprisingly, the physical characteristics of a given surface, including porosity and texture, had a significant effect on the ability to recover viable virus remaining on the surface post treatment. After correcting for these differences, however, wiping with 70% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and 0.5% chlorhexidine performed best, reducing viral titers by >3 log on plastic bumper toys and nylon collars, and by >2 log on rubber toys and tennis balls. Leather leashes and Velcro proved more difficult to decontaminate, but both still showed significant loss of viral contamination following wiping with IPA or chlorhexidine. This work (i) validates the utility of a simple protocol for the neutralization of viruses on several surfaces, (ii) identifies materials that are more difficult to decontaminate, which should, thus, be considered for removal from field use, and (iii) highlights the need for further development of protocols testing porous or textured surfaces.


The world Englishes approach to discourse analysis has extended our understanding of the ways in which socio-pragmatic norms may be expressed in various varieties of English. In this vein, this paper addresses relational practices in New Zealand English and their impact on language use. While relational strategies have been linked to politeness devices and mitigation strategies, this paper identifies a range of relational practices that appear to be distinctive in the New Zealand context. The frequency of relational strategies and the amount of communicative effort interactants invest is evidence for an underlying wish for harmony and conflict avoidance that often typifies spoken New Zealand English interactions. An understanding of the social motivations underpinning such interactions may thus broaden our understanding of New Zealand English patterns of discourse, with particular reference to spoken interactions in the public arena.


To guard the communication quality of cell edge users (CEUs) and simultaneously improve the energy‐spectrum efficiency, a novel 3‐tier heterogeneous network (HetNet) model is proposed, which consists of macro cells, femtocells, and device‐to‐device (D2D) networks. Specially, with a predefined cell split factor R, the macro cell users are split into as cell center users (CCUs) and CEUs, respectively. Correspondingly, the total available spectrum band consisting of N channels is divided into CCU band and CEU band with a given coefficient pm. The CCU band containing pmN subchannels is shared by CCUs and femtocell users (FUs), and the CEU band containing (1 − pm) N subchannels is shared by D2D users and CEUs. The perfect network synchronization is assumed, and a communication round consists of downlink transmission and uplink transmission phases. The battery‐free D2D terminals harvest energy from the ambient radio frequency interference in the downlink transmission phase based on inverse power control scheme and communicate in the uplink transmission phase only when they harvest enough energy to perform channel inversion toward the receiver. For such 3‐tier HetNets, by modeling the network elements as independent Poisson point processes (PPPs) and using stochastic geometry method, we first investigate the sufficiency probability that a D2D transmitter harvests enough energy to establish a communication link. Then, by combining sufficiency probability and channel access probability, the thinned independent PPPs for the locations of CCUs, CEUs, FUs, and D2D users are modeled. Based on these thinned PPP models, we perform a comprehensive investigation on the coverage probabilities of CCU, CEU, and FU uplinks as well as the D2D transmission. The simulated and numerical results show that using the presented cell split strategy enhances the performance of CCUs and CEUs because of the decrease of interference. The presented comparison analysis displays that the effect of D2D networks on the macro cell or the whole HetNets is limited and can be omitted. Therefore, the energy and spectrum efficiencies of networks are enhanced, simultaneously. At the same time, our results indicate that by using our derivations, we can perform the optimal design of the HetNets.


The 5xxx series aluminum alloys are recently used in not only marine system but also automotive area because of a low density material, good mechanical properties and better resistance to corrosion. However, Aluminum alloys are less resistant than the purest aluminum such as 1xxx aluminum alloy. Ele...


Obesity leads to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality acting via multiple mechanisms including increased prevalence and severity of hypertension. Obesity leads to high levels of leptin which is produced in adipocytes. Increased leptin levels have also been implicated in increased sympathetic activity and the pathogenesis of hypertension in obesity. However, mechanisms for the effects of leptin on blood pressure are unclear. The carotid bodies (CB) express leptin receptor (LepR), but the mechanisms and consequences of leptin action in CB are unknown. We have previously demonstrated that leptin enhances carotid sinus nerve activity in response to hypoxia and this effect is abolished by non‐selective blockers of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels (Shirahata et al., 2015). We have performed a retrospective analysis of the CB transcriptome in mice and found that trpm7 is the most abundant TRP channel. We hypothesized that high levels of circulating leptin signal via LepR in CB leading to hypertension and this effect will be abolished by trpm7 shRNA.


The vertical distributions of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were investigated in two sediments cores collected from the Taihu Lake. Sedimentary records of OCPs in this region were reconstructed using 210Pb activity profiles. The OCPs deposited in the sediment were mainly of DDTs, Meiling (ML) Bay sediment pollution was earlier and heavier than Xukou (XK) Bay. In the core profiles (0~28cm), sedimentary DDTs concentrations in the ML bay and XK bay were 1.2~12.0ng/g, 0.4~6.0ng/g and HCHs were 0.4~9.0ng/g, 0.4~2.7ng/g, respectively. An initial increase in OCPs deposition was observed since the 1960s, followed by the first peak around 1970. Sedimentary OCPs amounts remained relatively constant in XK bay before 1990. In ML bay however, OCPs amounts displayed increase trend since the early 1980s, and decreased a little after the production ban of technical HCHs and DDTs imposed in China in 1983. Since the 1990s, sedimentary OCPs concentrations increased sharp in two bays, which related closely with the loss of arable-land around Taihu region. The remobilization of"weathered"DDTs had contributed to the rebounds of OCPs in recent years, reflecting the effect of human activity to the aquatic environment.


In order to improve upon certain properties of gelatin graft copolymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) and methacrylonitrile (MAN) onto gelatin has been studied in aqueous medium using γ rays as a source of initiation. Optimum conditions for affording maximum percentage of grafting have been evaluated as a function of various reaction parameters. The grafted polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was isolated from the graft copolymer by acid hydrolysis, and the average molecular weight (Mv) of the isolated polymer has been determined viscometrically. The graft copolymers were characterized by IR spectroscopic methods and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Acrylonitrile was found to be more reactive than methacrylonitrile toward graft copolymerization. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


CD5+ B1 cells are thought to play a key role in innate immune responses by secreting natural immunoglobulins. Here we demonstrate that human B1 cells (B1C) are able to express the pro‐apoptotic serine protease granzyme B (GzmB) in response to viruses including tick‐borne encephalitis, rabies and hepatitis B virus. We reveal that this response depends on B1C receptor stimulation, TLR9 engagement and interleukin 21 (IL‐21), a cytokine primarily found in the acute phase of viral infections. Up to 35% of freshly isolated B1C directly respond with GzmB expression to stimulation with inactivated viruses in the presence of IL‐21. Of note, GzmB is secreted by B1C in an enzymatically active state, reaching levels comparable to those secreted by cytotoxic cells and its induction requires activation of similar signaling pathways as in CTL and NK cells. Our findings suggest GzmB secretion by B1C represents a novel innate immune response mechanism. GzmB‐secreting B1C may play a role in the early anti‐viral immune defense, and may contribute to elevated serum GzmB levels found in viral diseases. Further studies will elucidate whether B1C cells exhibit cytotoxicity towards virus‐infected or tumor cells.


In the finance market, it is well known that the price change of the underlying fractal transmission system can be modeled with the Black-Scholes equation. This article deals with finding the approximate analytic solutions for the time-fractional Black-Scholes equation with the fractional integral boundary condition for a European option pricing problem in the Katugampola fractional derivative sense. It is well known that the Katugampola fractional derivative generalizes both the Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative and the Hadamard fractional derivative. The technique used to find the approximate analytic solutions of the time-fractional Black-Scholes equation is the generalized Laplace homotopy perturbation method, the combination of the generalized Laplace transform and homotopy perturbation method. The approximate analytic solution for the problem is in the form of the generalized Mittag-Leffler function. This shows that the generalized Laplace homotopy perturbation method is one of the most effective methods to construct approximate analytic solutions of the fractional differential equations. Finally, the approximate analytic solutions of the Riemann–Liouville and Hadamard fractional Black-Scholes equation with the European option are also shown.


Objective: To describe the satisfaction of nursing learners with training activities of Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 199 subjects who were trainned at Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital. They are at diploma, bachelor and master nursing level and worked as healthcare provided at health facilities. The questionnaire with 5 points Likert scale was used to collect data from February 2022 to May 2022.
Results: The mean of overall satisfaction with training activities was 3.9 comparing with 5 – maximum value, in which learners show the highest satisfaction with the course about ethics, manners, personality (3.97) and at least the course about meeting personal expectations (3.84). The mean of the components of satisfaction were as follow: training program (3.92), lecturer (3.870, assessment of learning process (3.99), learning environment (3.87).
Conclusion: The satisfaction of nursing learners with the training activities of Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital is quite high (3.95), the mean of each component is not asymptotic at level 5 (completely satisfied). In this respect, improving the quality of training are important to promote satisfaction of nursing learners in particular and learners in general.


We consider the problem of the propagation of an electric field generated by periodic pumping in a stable medium of two-level atoms as the mixed problem for the Maxwell–Bloch equations without spectrum broadening. An approach to the study of such a problem is proposed. We use the inverse scattering transform method in the form of the matrix Riemann–Hilbert (RH) problem, using simultaneous spectral analysis of both the Lax equations. The proposed matrix RH problem solves the problem of the propagation of a sinusoidal signal in an unperturbed stable medium (attenuator). It is proved that this RH problem provides the causality principle for the region t < x, and for the region of the light cone, 0 < x < t allows us to find the asymptotics of the transmitted signal. First, we study the asymptotics of the RH problem for large times, and then, we obtain asymptotic formulas for the mixed problem solution of the Maxwell–Bloch equations when the attenuator is long enough. Three sectors are obtained in the light cone where the asymptotics have essentially different behaviors.


The development of multi-functional designs is one of the prime reasons to adopt bio-inspired design in engineering design. However, the development of multi-functional bio-inspired designs is mostly solution-driven, in the sense that an available multi-functional solution drives the search for a problem that can be solved by implementing the available solution. The solution-driven nature of the approach restricts the engineering designers to the use of the function combinations found in nature. On the other hand, a problem-driven approach to multi-functional designs allows the designers to form some combination of functions best suited for the problem at hand. However, few works exist in the literature that focus on the development of multi-functional bio-inspired solutions from a problem-driven perspective.
 In this work, we analyze the existing works that aid the designers in combining multiple biological strategies to develop multi-functional bio-inspired designs. The analysis is carried out by comparing and contrasting the existing frameworks that support multi-functional bio-inspired design generation. The criteria of comparison are derived from the steps involved in the unified problem-driven biomimetic approach. In addition, we qualitatively compare the multi-functional bio-inspired designs developed using existing frameworks to the multi-functional designs existing in biology. Our aim is to explore the capabilities and limitations of current methods to support the generation multi-functional bio-inspired designs.


It is well-known that income inequality has risen sharply in the US and in other developed countries of late. One obvious economic solution to high and rising inequality, government redistribution, raises philosophical questions regarding ethics or fairness. In Anarchy, State and Utopia, Robert Nozick raises just such questions. He argues that people have the right to acquire things that result from their sweat and their effort, as long as enough remains for others. Once property is acquired, people have the right to transfer it to others. His famous Wilt Chamberlain example gives this argument concreteness. Nozick has us imagine people attending a basketball game and freely giving Wilt $1. In this case, Wilt is legitimately entitled to this money. And what is true of Wilt is true of everyone else. Redistribution by the government is therefore neither fair nor just. This paper provides a four-pronged rebuttal to the Wilt Chamberlain example from an economic perspective. First, the Wilt Chamberlain example begins with an assumption that is not likely to be true in the real world-that initial distributions, stretching back in history, are by-and-large just. Second, there is a sort of fallacy of composition in Nozick's argument that is similar to the adding-up problem in economics. Third, good evidence exists that allowing people to freely contribute to Wilt would not yield fair results and there is further evidence that it would hurt others and likely also hurt Wilt. Finally, for John Locke and for the Wilt Chamberlain example, sufficient things must be left over for others at the time property is acquired. This ignores future generations and whether there will be sufficient property available for them.


We report the glass-like thermal conductivity behavior of two charge-glass (CG) formers in θ-type organic semiconductors composed by bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene (abbreviated as BEDT-TTF) ...


Mobile devices, such as mobile phones, are becoming more ubiquitous and gaining more capabilities, leading to their increasing use as portable media players. However, the great majority of produced visual media is targeted towards devices with larger displays and greater hardware capabilities, making it difficult for these media to be presented on mobile devices. These difficulties will only increase as multimedia becomes more and more interactive, such as with increasingly popular mobile games. In this paper, we survey past methods for retargeting visual media to mobile devices, considering how such methods have been applied to text, still images and video content. We identify a shift from interactive retargeting techniques towards more automated methods as media richness increases. We discuss implications of this trend for the retargeting of 3D games and virtual worlds to mobile devices, particularly the need to focus on the retargeting of experience rather than solely visual content.


Incorporation of the protein cytochrome c (cyt c) into hydrated cubic mesophases of monoolein (MO) was investigated within a wide range of concentrations, temperatures and pressures by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The SAXS data allow the determination of the topology of the mesophase and phase behavior of the lipid system. Further information on the lipid conformational states and hydrational properties were obtained using FT-IR spectroscopy. The effect of the lipid matrix on the structure and stability of the embedded cyt c was also studied by FT-IR spectroscopy by monitoring changes in secondary structural properties of the protein by analysis of the FT-IR amide I′ band. Incorporation of cyt c into the cubic phase of MO has significant effects on the structure and pressure stability of the system and the lipid bilayer and protein molecules undergo interrelated changes in their structural properties, even though the lipids are uncharged. Entrapping of low concentrations of cyt c (< 0.2 wt%) leads to changes only in the phase transition temperatures and pressures. In contrast, higher protein concentrations have a drastic effect on the molecular properties of the lipid system. Lipid–protein interactions lead to an increase in interfacial curvature which promotes the formation of a new, possibly partially micellar, cubic phase of crystallographic space group P4332 (Q212). It is very likely that the protein molecules are accommodated in the aqueous interior of inverted micellar aggregates in this structure. The IR data reveal that the new lipid aggregate structure is accompanied by an increase of carbonyl headgroup hydration and a decrease of lipid chain order. As a consequence of attractive protein–headgroup interactions, the pressure stability of this phase increases with increasing the protein content. Above ca. 4 kbar, ordered lamellar phases are induced which have the smallest partial molar volume. The unfolding temperature of cyt c is reduced by ca. 4 °C by incorporation of the protein into the lipid mesophases, as compared to the protein dissolved in water. Contrary to what would be expected for a pure confinement effect, which would lead to a significant increase of the unfolding temperature of the protein, our data clearly show that confinement effects can easily be overcompensated by attractive protein–lipid interactions. The latter lead to a slight destabilization of the protein. No pressure-induced unfolding of the protein occurs up to 16 kbar.


In 3D urban visualization, large data volumes related to buildings are a major factor that limits the delivery and browsing speed in a web-based computer system. This paper proposes a new approach based on the level of detail (LOD) technique advanced in 3D visualization in computer graphics. The key idea of LOD technique is to generalize details of object surfaces without losing details for delivery and displaying objects. This technique has been successfully used in visualizing one or a few multiple objects in films and other industries. However, applying the technique to 3D urban visualization requires an effective generalization method for urban buildings. Conventional two-dimensional (2D) generalization method at different scales provides a good generalization reference for 3D urban visualization. Yet, it is difficult to determine when and where to retrieve data for displaying buildings. To solve this problem, this paper defines an imaging scale point and image scale region for judging when and where to get the right data for visualization. The results show that the average response time of view transformations is much decreased.


Drawing on his book Warped Mourning,  and psychoanlytic studies of post-traumatic syndromes, the author analyses the processes by which a national culture comes to terms with its own violent past, as in the case of the French revolution, Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany. After the French revolution, relatives of the guillotined victims came together in Victimes Balls, providing a prototypical case of what the author calls mimetic mourning. There are differences, however. While the Nazi Holocaust exterminated the Other, Soviet terror was suicidal: it was a rule rather than an exception that the perpetrators of one wave of terror became victims of the next. This made it all the more difficult to produce a collective memory elaborating mourning for its victims. As Freud mantains, repressed, unburied memory returns as the uncanny


ABSTRACT. In some recent papers [11, 12] it is proved that, under natural assumptions on the first marginal, the Monge problem in the metric space R equipped with a general norm admits a solution. Although the basic idea of the solution is simple the proof involves some very complex technical results. Here we will report a proof of the result in the simpler case of uniformly convex norms. Uniform convexity allow us to reduce the technical burdens while still giving the main ideas of the general proof. The proof of the density of the transport set given in this paper is original.


This article provides the author's typology of a specific and underresearched genre of sacred art – Andachtsbilder, which in some cases was influenced by the iconography of votive images. From the fourteenth century onwards, pocket or home sacred images were used in Germany for piety. They were called Andachtsbilder, literally – "prayer images". Commonly, they were images of saints and could be engravings, miniatures, or even appliqués. Andachtsbilder's motifs were usually associated with the images of the Holy Family or mystical allegories, but there was another type of Andachtsbilder, in particular, images representing a scene of some miracle. Their prototypes were often originally votive objects (wax, silver, etc.) or votive images (Votiftafel), i.e. images created as a vow to God or saints. Some of the votive objects appeared on the votive images (Votiftafel). Further, the most famous votive images could be copied onto Andachtsbilder. Votive images copied onto Andachtsbilder, according to my hypothesis, could have a magical function, like the wellknown Schluckbildchen. The paper presents a cross-section of the main Andachtsbilder typologies and provides examples of images that migrated from votive practices into the practice of domestic, "pocket" piety. The cultural and anthropological analysis of these phenomena follows


The carbon nitride films deposited by rf magnetron sputtering in a pure N2 discharge were annealed in vacuum up to 900 °C. The chemical composition and bonding structure of the films were studied using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It was found that the nitrogen atoms were bound to sp, sp2, and sp3 hybridized carbon atoms in as-deposited films. The effects of the thermal annealing on bonding structure and the electron field emission characteristics of CNx films were investigated. The results showed that thermal annealing treatment caused a great loss of N content and favor formation of sp2 bonds in CNx films, which would significantly influence the field emission properties for the CNx films. The CNx films annealed at temperature of 750 °C showed the optimal electron emission properties. Besides, the correlation between the chemical bonding structures and electron emission properties for the CNx films was discussed.


For position-servo systems,the classical frequency-domain compensation can effectively provide controller design according to the requirements of frequency responses,but the performance is seriously influenced by all kinds of disturbance torques.A novel sliding mode compensator is derived based on the classical frequency-domain compensation,which can overcome the influence of disturbance torques effectively while the frequency-domain performance is retained.The proposed compensator has been applied to a flight simulation turning table control with satisfactory results obtained.


This paper investigates the use of partial functions, fitness sharing and committee learning in genetic programming. The primary intended application of the work is in learning spatial relationships for ecological modelling. The approaches are evaluated using a well-studied ecological modelling problem, the greater glider population density problem. Combinations of the three treatments (partial functions, fitness sharing and committee learning) are compared on the dimensions of accuracy and computational cost. Fitness sharing significantly improves learning accuracy, and populations of partial functions substantially reduce computational cost. The results of committee learning are more equivocal, and require further investigation.


Objective To study the therapeutic effect of Cernilton used for female patients with irritative symptom of low urinary tract.Methods To divide 60 patients into two groups:A group(30 cases) treated with Cernilton,B group(30 cases) treated with consolation drug.To study the therapeutic effect between two groups by analyzing the scores of LUTS(Lower urinary tract symptoms) and QOL(Quality of life).Results After treatment for 4 weeks,the change of scores of LUTS and QOL were superior to that in B group,P0.05.Conclusion Cernilton may be useful in relieving irritative symptom of micturition for the female patients with disease of low urinary tract.


Objective
To compare the accuracy, image quality and radiation dose between prospective ECG-gated sequential and high-pitch acquisition on 128-slice dual-source CT (DSCT) angiography in infants and children with congenital heart disease (CHD).

Methods
Ninety-two children with CHD from October 2011 to February 2013 were prospectively enrolled and assigned into two groups according to random number table. Forty-six patients underwent DSCT angiography with sequential mode, and the other 46 patients were examined with high-pitch mode. With surgical and/or DSA results as the standard, the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity of the two groups for the intracardiac structures, extracadiac and coronary artery anomalies were evaluated, and the comparison was analyzed by Fisher exact test. A 5-grade scoring system was used to interpret the image quality of intracardiac structures, great vessels and the proximal and middle segments of coronary arteries. Interobserver agreement on grades of image quality was assessed by Kappa statistics. The image quality scores were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. The Student t test or the Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze the differences between the two groups regarding to patients' age, weight, heat rate, CT attenuation, image noise and SNR in the ascending aorta and the pulmonary trunk as well as radiation dose.

Results
All 92 patients successfully underwent DSCT angiography. The diagnostic accuracies of intracardiac anomalies by high-pitch group and sequential group were 95.65% (88/92) and 99.28% (274/276), showed significant difference between the two groups (P 0.05). There was no significant difference in the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity of extracadiac anomalies between the two groups (P>0.05). The diagnostic accuracies of coronary artery anomalies by high-pitch group and sequential group were 93.48% (43/46) and 100.00% (46/46), showed no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05), but there was significant difference in the sensitivity of coronary artery anomalies (50.00% (3/6), 100.00% (11/11)) (P 0.05). The median image quality scores of intracardiac structures and proximal and middle segments of coronary arteries respectively by high-pitch group were 4.00 and 3.00, and 5.00 and 4.00 respectively by sequential group. The image quality of intracardiac structures (U=594.500, P<0.05) and proximal and middle segments of coronary arteries (U=397.500, P<0.05) was significantly better in the sequential group than that in the high-pitch group. There was no significant difference between the two groups in CT attenuation, noise and SNR of the ascending aorta and pulmonary trunk. The mean effective doses of the high-pitch group and the sequential group were (0.27±0.11) and (0.39±0.17) mSv, and showed significant difference between the two groups (t=4.316, P<0.05).

Conclusions
Both sequential and high-pitch mode of 128-slice DSCT angiography provide high accuracy for the assessment of CHD in infants and children, while the high-pitch mode, though with some image quality declined, shows further significantly lower radiation dose.

Key words:
Heart defects, congenital; Tomography, X-ray computed; Radiation dosage


George was watching his old dog, Helga, pick her way across the backyard when his nephew Oscar came into view off through the trees, sunlight glinting on his oily hair, a bloody bag over his shoulder. It had been dawning on George that his dog would soon have to be put down, and seeing Oscar in the distance with his load of dead meat only served to drive the stake further into his heart. Not only was Helga slow and stiff, not only did she stop at every bush to make sure that no one but him and her had been pissing there, but the stops and sniffs seemed to take forever now, the old girl sucking up the scent like eating oatmeal through a straw. Her eyesight was failing her too, and she began to bark at someone passing by in the street. Her bark was still quick and brave — she'd been a watchdog all her life — but she'd always barked only at strangers, at what she didn't know. Now she barked at anything that moved, at Oscar, at George's wife, Elsie, at Henry, their son. At everybody but him. She could sense who he was, she'd always been his dog. George she knew by heart. Lucy Wilson was walking by on her way to work. "Helga! Quiet, girl — it's only Lucy." Lucy was a signal tower operator in the railroad yard just beyond the gully that bordered his backyard, a spinster, about forty, a year or two older than him, her short, curly hair going gray, not a bad looking woman. She was wearing her blue polka-dot dress. Lucy waved. "Hi, George — putting in the garden?" "Somebody's got to!" Exactly why they laughed at this wasn't clear, though it seemed like a necessary thing at the time. Oscar was making his way through the trees across the tracks to the railroad yard, around the low spots still wet from the flood. George watched as Oscar and Lucy exchanged a nod and a word in passing, Lucy giving him a wide berth. Judging by the pull of the burlap bag on his shoulder, Oscar was lugging maybe three or four small, dead things — rabbits usually, but maybe he'd been lucky and bagged a fox or a weasel or a skunk. Their skins brought more. Oscar's fur check from Peterson's Premium Pelts amounted to maybe ten dollars every three weeks or so, and he still had a long way to go for


The study examined whether the positive emotions experienced during multimedia learning facilitate cognitive process that leads to better learning performance and satisfaction. Positive emotions were experimentally induced before a multimedia based learning by means of self-referencing mood induction procedure (positive or neutral emotions) and during the learning by the aesthetic design of the learning materials (good or neutral design). The result of the experiment shows that there is significant effect of emotions on their transfer test, mental effort investment, as well as level of satisfaction. It also indicates that positive emotions can be generated by the instructional design that may be able to affect learners' experience and performance. The study implies that positive emotions should be considered as important factors in instructional design. Also, emotional design principles should be studied in more detail for better instructional material design. Is it important that learners experience positive emotions during learning? If so, how can multimedia learning environments be designed to be both efficient and inducing positive emotions in learners? Research on emotions has been conducted in various academic fields. However, little empirical research on users' emotions and their effect on learning performance is available that could guide the design of learning environments. The purpose of the research is to study whether the positive emotions experienced during multimedia learning facilitate cognitive process that leads to better learning performance and satisfaction. Furthermore, we investigate whether positive emotions induced before the learning are maintained throughout the learning process so that they affect the learners' cognitive process during the learning, and how we can generate positive emotions by instructional design focusing on the aesthetic design of learning materials.


Abstract : Previous studies indicate that circulating estradiol is significantly elevated in breast cancer patients compared to controls in high and low risk populations. A variation in enzyme activity, i.e., the polymorphism of genes encoding the enzymes responsible for the metabolism and binding of estrogen may be related to an altered risk of breast cancer. The cytochrome P45O17a, an enzyme involved in estrogen biosynthesis has shown the most potential in the etiology of breast cancer. In this study we investigated whether a polymorphism of the CYP 17 gene, involved in the biosynthesis of estrogen, is associated with an altered risk of breast cancer among a population-based sample of women (400 cases and 400 controls) participating in the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project. We also explored whether the effects of reproductive risk factors and exposure to exogenous estrogen or estrogen-like substances are modified by the CYP 17 polymorphism. In addition we are investigating the relation between urinary estrogen metabolites and the CYP 17 polymorphism. Since this polymorphism is prevalent in the population, it may potentially contribute to a high population attributable risk. Unfortunately, at this time, due to the politically sensitive nature of the parent Long Island project (P.1. Marilie Gammon) we are not permitted to release the actual results of this.


One of the most critical challenges faced by management scholars is how to integrate micro and macro research methods and theories. This article introduces a special issue of the Journal of Management addressing this integration challenge. First, the authors describe the nature of the micro—macro divide and its challenge for the field of management. Second, the authors provide a summary of each of the four guest editorials and seven articles published in the special issue and how each piece, in its own unique way and adopting a different perspective, makes a novel contribution toward addressing this challenge. Finally, they offer suggestions for future research that they hope will stimulate greater integration of management research with the goal of bridging not only the micro—macro gap but also the science—practice gap.


A high-power (10 TW) laser is employed to generate relativistic channels in an underdense plasma. The lengths of the channels are measured by imaging the Thomson-scattered light, and the gas densities are determined through the forward Raman scattered light. The laser-pulse parameters are varied and their impact on the channel formation is studied. It is found that increasing the laser pulse duration in many cases produces longer channels, even as this implies reducing the laser peak power. A theoretical discussion is presented, proposing an explanation of the experimental results.


The classical Yamabe problem in Riemannian geometry states that every conformal class contains a metric with constant scalar curvature. In Finsler geometry, the C-convexity is needed in general. In this paper, we study the strong C-convexity of Randers metrics, and provide a result on the Yamabe problem for the metrics of Randers type.


Preterm birth is a leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity and continues to be one of the most common complications plaguing obstetrics and neonatology. Primary prevention of preterm birth remains the ultimate but elusive goal. However, efforts to curtail the impact of preterm birth are of great importance. Use of antenatal corticosteroids (ACSs) in threatened preterm labor has been one of the landmark interventions that have improved the neonatal outcome. Since the start of use of ACS: the acceptance has increased dramatically and now it has become the standard of care in threatened preterm labor. However, there are still many unresolved issues surrounding the usage of ACS. In this article, we attempt to synthesize the current available evidence and its application in our daily clinical scenarios.


For much of the Edo period, Dutch had been the only western language studied in Japan, but with the sudden arrival of Commodore M. C. Perry's four 'black ships' at Uraga Bay in 1853, learning English became indispensable. Under these circumstances, the Tokugawa government ordered Hori Tatsunoske, a Dutch interpreter, to develop an English-Japanese dictionary at the government-run school of European languages. Hori was the first Japanese to have spoken English to a foreign officer at the time of Perry's first official visit to Japan.In 1863 when the Dictionary was first published, only two hundred copies were printed and distributed by the government. However, the need for this dictionary was so great that it was revised and published again in 1866, 1867 and 1869.Research on the owners of this dictionary has been carried out by the author from 1998 to 2006. According to this research, there are currently a total of two hundred and eight known copies of this dictionary in existence. The fact that this many of the dictionaries can still be found over a century after their publication shows us how important this first English-Japanese dictionary has been over the years.


Objective To investingate the pathogenesis,pathology,diagnosis and therapy of hyponatremia after acute spinal cord injury.?Methods 15 in-patients with hyponatremia after acute spinal cord injury from 2000 to 2004 were retrospectively analyzed.?Results Serum sodium was lower than 130 mmol/L in all cases. Urine sodium ranged from 40 to 68 mmol/L and urine osmotic pressure ranged from 420 to 980 mmol/L.After limitation of water intake and appropriate salt intake,12 patiants recovered after 2 to 3 weeks.Because of fever and avoiding limitation of water intake, the other 3 patiants recovered slowly.?Conclusion The more serious the acute spinal cord injury,the higher the frequency of hyponatremia; syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) is its primary cause;appropriate measures should be taken to correct the hyponatremia according to the findings of serum sodium and urine osmotic pressure.


Let G be a graph with vertex set V (G). The zeroth-order general Randić index of G is defined as χα(G) = ∑


Examination of the chronology, location and size of waves of SARS-CoV-2 infection across England could shed light on the inter-play between the 1st and the 2nd Waves. From mid-October onwards such an analysis becomes increasingly difficult due to the emergence of a new strain (VOC-202012/01) and in light of the differential implementation of lockdown measures and tiers. Therefore, we sought to examine trends and correlations in virus prevalence and covid-related deaths spanning the start of the UK pandemic in March 2020 through to early November 2020, i.e., including the first growth period of the 2nd Wave. We found striking regional relationships between the 1st and the 2nd Wave that are difficult to explain other than by involving some role for changing levels of immunity in the population affecting the progression of the pandemic.


An adsorptive stripping voltammetric procedure for the determination of folic acid at an in situ plated lead film electrode was described. Formation of lead film on a glassy carbon substrate and accumulation of folic acid was performed simultaneously from an acetate buffer solution of pH 5.6 at the potential −0.88 V. The measurements were carried out from aerated solutions. The calibration graph for an accumulation time of 300 s was linear from 2×10−9 to 5×10−8 mol L−1. The detection limit was 7×10−10 mol L−1, the relative standard deviation for 2×10−8 mol L−1 of folic acid was 3.9%. The proposed procedure was applied to folic acid determinations in pharmaceutical preparations.


Introduction. The fungus Aspergillus oryzae is widely used in the production of fermented soy-based products. However, there is little data on how its genetic characteristics affect the biochemical and fractional composition of protein substances during fermentation and the quality of fermented products. This study aimed to investigate the conversion of soy meal under the influence of two A. oryzae strains with different morphological and cultural properties during the production of a fermented soy sauce.
Study objects and methods. The study used two A. oryzae strains, RCAM 01133 and RCAM 01134, which were isolated from the industrial F-931 strain (Russian Collection of Industrial Microorganisms), a producer of hydrolytic enzymes. Micromycetes were cultivated by a solid-phase method on soy meal, followed by dry fermentation. The results were analyzed with regard to accumulation of amine nitrogen, bound and free amino acids, proteins and carbohydrates.
Results and discussion. The cultivation of micromycetes resulted in a 35–38% increase in protein, a tenfold increase in free amino acids, and a 1.5–1.7 fold decrease in polysaccharides. The contents of essential amino acids in the fermented soy sauce were 1.7 and 1.2 times as high as in the initial medium (soy meal) and in the reference protein, respectively. Fermentation enhanced the biological value of proteins, increasing the amino acid scores of phenylalanine (7.3–7.7 times), phenylalanine (2 times), as well as valine, threonine, tryptophan, and lysine. The contents of protein and essential amino acids were slightly higher in the sauce with the RCAM 01133 strain.
Conclusion. Fermenting soy materials with the RCAM 01133 strain of A. oryzae is an alternative way to produce food ingredients with good sensory properties containing carbohydrates and biologically complete protein in easily digestible forms.


Dietary and anthropometric surveys of children were conducted as part of a nutritional evaluation of the central (urban) and peripheral (rural) areas of San Ramon, a town located in the central plateau of Costa Rica. The findings showed marked differences between the center and the peripheral villages in the intake of selected nutrients, height and weight of children. The data show a primary energy deficiency in children from the peripheral villages. Anthropometric data suggested that there were nutrition problems in the villages, but in the center of the town, 87 percent of the sample, had an adequate height‐for‐age relationship. The lowering of morbidity, its effect on nutritional status, and the role of public health programs in nutritional planning are discussed. This information confirms the problem of maldistribution of scarce national resources at the rural level. This is due to the fact that government services promoting rural development are located in the center of rural populations with limited...


Article 406 of Civil Law: "A gift is a contract whereby the parties agree that one of the parties delivers his property gratuitously to another party and the latter agrees to accept it." According to Article 408, so long as the right of the gift has not been transferred to the donee, the donor can revoke the gift. So, can the donor revoke the gratuitous promise if she writes a bank check to the donee after the gift contract was made? Can the doner refuse to pay when the donee exercise the recourse right of the bank check? To solve questions mentioned above, this paper, employing the approach of law and economics, tries to differentiate gift contract from market exchange. It suggests we can look to the relationship between donor and donee when it is difficult to ascertain whether a gift contract exists. Furthermore, the contract form cannot serve a good signal to tell the good promisor from the masquerader. A donor's right of regret should not be forfeited just because her gratuitous promise was written down on a piece of paper. However, a bank check is another thing. With the insights from economic analysis, this paper hopes a better understanding on donor's right of regret can be established.


The nanosized Mo-ZSM-5 was synthesized by hydrothermal method in the SiO2-MoO3-TPAOH-Na2O-H2O system and characterized by TEM,X-ray diffraction(XRD),FT-IR spectrometer,UV-Vis,UV Raman spectrometer.The results showed that the diameters of synthesized Mo-ZSM-5 particles were uniformly distributed in the range of 10-30 nm.With the Mo content increasing,the cell parameters of the sample increased.Moreover,there was a weak peak at 968 cm-1 in FT-IR spectrum and a bread peak at 967 cm-1 in UV-Raman spectrum,and their intensity increased with the Mo content,which fully proved that Mo atoms were introduced into the framework of the ZSM-5 molecular sieve.


By analyzing and researching several digital chaotic image encryption algorithms, this paper designs a symmetric image encryption scheme based on the three- dimensional Henon chaotic map and the general Cat chaotic map. In this scheme, the chaotic sequence of general Cat map is used as the initialization sequence to confuse the positions of image pixels; the three-dimensional Henon chaotic map can diffuse the image pixels; Then, repeat the confusing and diffusing process to increase the resistance to statistical and related attacks. Thorough experimental tests are carried out with detailed analysis, demonstrating the high security and fast encryption speed of the new scheme.


The present work reports macroscopic thermal mechanical and in-situ neutron diffraction measurements from a 22.9 volume percent, 50.7 at percent Ni-Ti fiber actuated 6082-T6 aluminum matrix composite and 6082-T6 homogeneous aluminum control material subjected to an initial room temperature 4 percent tensile elongation and unloading process followed by a subsequent room temperature to 120 degrees C unconstrained heating process. During the unconstrained room temperature to 120 degrees C heating process, the composite exhibited a pronounced, nonlinear thermal contraction, while the homogeneous control exhibited the expected linear thermal expansion. The composite thermal compression was clearly the result of a powerful shape memory response in the NiTi fiber actuators.


The paper deals with a recent measurement improvement introduced into the Italian power quality monitoring system, concerning voltage dips detection and their proper evaluation in the presence of voltage transformer VT saturation phenomena. Saturation effects, essentially on network operated with isolated neutral, can give origin to "false" voltage dips, which can affect the on-line voltage monitoring during a few specific events (i.e. single line-to-ground faults). The "false dip" problem, on the other hand, can be considered negligible in compensated neutral networks. A new criterion has been developed in cooperation with the Polytechnic of Turin, based on the detection of a second harmonic component in the measured voltages, which, once provided with the proper setting parameters, can succeed in identifying "false" dips. The criterion effectiveness has been evaluated on field. The major advantage of the filter implementation in the monitoring system is that, from now on, network operated with isolated neutral could be considered quite similar to those operated with neutral compensation from the point of view of voltage dip performance.


Decoupled payments were introduced in the United States with the 1996 FAIR Act. The payments, called Production Flexibility Contract payments, were fixed, annual lump-sum installments totaling about $36 billion over 1996-2002. PFCs have also been called Agricultural Market Transition Assistance (AMTA) payments. PFC payments accounted for an average of 9 percent of net farm income over 1996-2001.


The embodiment of the invention provides an instant messaging tool adding friends processing method, an instant messaging device and a system, belonging to the field of computer communications. The method comprises the following steps: a grouping for adding friends is not comprised in an existing friends grouping while adding friends, a new grouping button is used to call out a new grouping interface by adding a new grouping in a friends grouping interface, inputting new group information in the new group interface, and sending the inputted new group information to a server to establish a new group; selecting the established new grouping as a grouping for adding friends in a friends grouping list listed read out from the server in the adding friends interface and, adding the information of the added friends into the new group, and displaying the added friends in the new group on a main panel of the instant messaging tool. The method is convenient for adding friends and improves the experience the users.


Size-distance relationships reveal the importance, or lack thereof, of competition among understory plants in an old-growth deciduous forest Marina S. Neytcheva In this study, I applied the little-used method of size-distance relationships to the ecological problem of species coexistence by investigating competitive interactions in an old-growth deciduous forest understory community, with the specific objectives to (1) explore and critically assess the method and (2) test the predictions of niche and neutral theory regarding the intensity of intraversus interspecific competition. No fatal flaws were detected in the method, but the mechanisms of species coexistence in this community remain unclear, as the finding that intraspecific competition is less intense than interspecific competition was inconsistent with the predictions of both niche and neutral theory. More importantly, though, size-distance relationships revealed that competition is less important than expected, which suggests that asking what enables species coexistence may have been an inappropriate line of inquiry to begin with, given that the coexistence question itself is based on assumptions about competition that were not justified in this community. I, therefore, advise ecologists to reassess the approach to the study of natural diversity by rethinking both the questions posed and the methods used.


Objective GSH,Vit-C and DMPS were given to rats to study the effects on the renal toxicity induced by chronic exposure to cadmium.Methods Fifty SD rats were divided into five groups at random.Four groups rats were given subcutaneous injections of 5μmol/kg CdCl\-2 and another group rats were injected with 0\^9% NaCl for eleven weeks.The urine sample were collected after the last injection.From the twelfth week,the sceond group rats were intraperitonealy(ip) injected with 0\^9% NaCl,the third group rats were ip injected with 1mmol/kg GSH,the fourth group rats were ip injected with 4mmol/kg Vit-C and the fifth group rats were ip injected with 0\^2mmol/kg DMPS.After two weeks,urinary samples were collected again.NAG activities,protein and cadmium contents were determined in the urinary samples.Results Urinary NAG activities,contents of urinary protein and cadmium in the Cd-administered groups were increased significantly,and they were different from the control group.After the administration of GSH,Vit-C and DMPS,urinary NAG activities and the contents of urinary protein was decreased significantly as compared with that before the administration of the three compounds,and with that of the animals given cadmium alone.The urinary cadmium contents were decreased significantly except the animals that were administered with DMPS.Conclusion Cadmium administration resulted in the renal injury,and GSH,Vit-C and DMPS played the antagonistic effects on the renal toxicity of cadmium.


The article analyses the poem "From the Windowˮ, which was not included in any of the lifetime poetry books by Victor Sosnora. The typewritten text is kept in the Central State Archive of Literature and Art of St. Petersburg and was not available to a wide range of readers or researchers of Victor Sosnora's creative work. The importance of publishing this work is connected, in particular, with the fact that in 2018 (a year before the author's death) Palmira Publishing house published three books of Victor Sosnora's works under his editorship. There may be an erroneous opinion that these books have absorbed the entire legacy of the author, thereby the question of the need to prepare a complete academic collection of Victor Sosnora's works will not be raised in a timely manner. The publication of previously unknown works contributes to solving this problem. Within the framework of the conducted research, a detailed philological analysis of the poem "From the Windowˮ was performed. The phonetic, morphological, syntactic levels, the motif-figurative system, the problematic of the text are analysed. Allusions and reminiscences significant for understanding are revealed. As a result, a hypothesis was put forward according to which Victor Sosnora's poem, from a formal point of view not inferior to the published texts, was not included in lifetime collections, since it dissonates with the author's autobiographical myth.


1. Along with paying taxes and dying, most people (not just nurses) despise public speaking and writing. As I have always told my graduate students in advanced practice nursing, educated nurses are able to write and speak, so you will be doing both. 2. Writing and public speaking are NOT genetic! The more you do of both, the better you get at each of these skills—just like riding a bicycle or advancing from novice to expert in clinical practice. 3. Nurses for too long have been the silent and invisible healthcare providers, despite the facts that we are the most "trusted" by society and are the majority of the healthcare workforce. Be silent no more! When a neonatal nurse at one of my conferences shares a practice change or a case study, my fi rst response is: "are you writing this up and where are you publishing this?" You must share your wisdom and experience with your colleagues! Let's stop reinventing the wheel and move the art and science of nursing forward by writing. 4. I am often asked if I started out to write a book. My response is: "Never, do I look stupid to you?" Having written a bestselling handbook, it is both a gift and a curse! A gift in that my "baby" is loved and a curse in that it has to be revised every 2 years. But I have come to love the process and the colleagues I have written with and the new colleagues who have the opportunity to contribute as the older ones retire.


The Virtual Telescope for X-ray Observations (VTXO) will use lightweight Phase Frensel Lenses (PFLs) in a virtual X-ray telescope with ∼1 km focal length and with ∼50 milli-arcsecond angular resolution. VTXO is formed by using precision formation flying of two SmallSats: a smaller OpticsSat that houses the PFLs and navigation beacons while a larger DetectorSat contains an X-ray camera, a precision start tracker, and the propulsion for the formation flying. The baseline flight dynamics uses a highly elliptical supersynchronous orbit allow the formation to hold in an inertial frame around the 90,000 km apogee for 10 hours of the 32.5 hour orbit with nearly a year mission lifetime. VTXO's fine angular resolution enables measuring the environments close to the central engines of bright compact X-ray sources. This X-ray imaging capability allows for the study of the effects of dust scattering near to the central objects such as Cyg X-3 and GX 5-1, for the search for jet structure near to the compact object in X-ray novae such as Cyg X-1 and GRS 1915+105, and for the search for structure in the termination shock of in the Crab pulsar wind nebula. The VTXO SmallSat and instrument designs, mission parameters, and science performance are described. VTXO development was supported as one of the selected 2018 NASA Astrophysics SmallSat Study (AS3) missions.


The present work is been partially of the execution of the Institutional Investigative Project for the evaluation of the impact of the methodology for the development of the intellectual capital in the services of health in Guantanamo. Reflections are offered on the results of the observations, surveys and interviews as well as qualitative studies of the problematic sociopolitical participation seen starting from the most current approaches in this respect, those that constituted in primary information, that  allows to propose an alternative of sociopolitical educational intervention in the university youths of the health that properly implemented it ,favoring the incorporation aware of the youth's segment in the tasks of sociopolitical address in our model of socialism.


Personality disorders are common among high-risk offenders. These disorders may have relevance for their risk of offending, and they are likely to present barriers to their engagement in rehabilitation programmes. Co-morbidity between personality disorders - and the high frequency of clinical disorders in general - in offender samples complicate research on personality disorder in offender rehabilitation. One approach to understanding this heterogeneity is to use cluster analysis (CA). CA is an empirical strategy which is used to identify subgroups (clusters) of individuals who have similar scores on the variables used in the analysis. It has been used to empirically identify different patterns of personality and clinical psychopathology among incarcerated offenders. Two profiles frequently emerge in cluster analytic research on offender psychopathology profiles: an antisocial/narcissistic profile and a high-psychopathology profile. However, previous research has not empirically examined whether the identification of these profiles has clinical relevance for offender rehabilitation; that is, whether the profiles are simply descriptive, or whether they can provide useful information for the management and rehabilitation of offenders.  In the current research, I used data collected from high risk offenders entering prison-based rehabilitation programmes to investigate the clinical utility of psychopathology clusters. Using a self-report measure of personality and clinical psychopathology - the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III - I identified three clusters: a low-psychopathology cluster (26% of the sample), a high-psychopathology cluster (35% of the sample), and an antisocial/narcissistic cluster (39% of the sample). The high-psychopathology and antisocial/narcissistic clusters in particular resembled high risk clusters found in previous research.  To determine whether the three clusters had clinical relevance, I investigated cluster differences in criminal risk, treatment responsivity, and self-report predictive validity. I found evidence for cluster differences in criminal risk: men in the high-psychopathology and antisocial/narcissistic clusters had higher rates of criminal recidivism after release compared to men in the low-psychopathology cluster. However, I found that regardless of psychopathology, men in all three clusters made progress in treatment, and there was little evidence that clusters that reported more psychopathology were less engaged, or made less progress. In the final study I examined cluster differences in self-presentation style and the predictive validity of self-report. Results indicated that offenders who reported high levels of psychopathology had a more general tendency for negative self-presentation, and their self-report on risk-related measures was highly predictive of criminal recidivism.  Combined, the results of this research show that cluster analysis of self-reported psychopathology can generate a parsimonious model of heterogeneity in offender samples. Importantly, the resulting clusters can also provide information for some of the most important tasks in offender management: assessment and treatment. The results suggest the highest risk offenders tend to report higher levels of psychopathology, and that offenders who report extensive psychopathology also have highly predictive risk-related self-report. Perhaps one of the most reassuring findings of the current research is that even offenders who report high levels of psychopathology appear to benefit from rehabilitation.


Consumer electronics devices have a common point called integrated circuit (IC). Among the most advanced integrated circuits are the microprocessors which control everything from computers and cellular phones to the USB. In this paper, a novel manufacturing technique to enhance the passivation layer which protects the ICs is presented where a stronger passivation layer is made from Ni-TiO2 composite coating and Tetraethyl orthosilicate compound (TEOS/O2). The Ni-TiO2 will provide a high wear resistance and improve the hardness while the Tetraethyl orthosilicate will protect the microprocessor against ultraviolet attack on the ICs passivation layer.


A new technique for measurement and characterization of biological contamination on composite insulators has been developed and investigated. The technique, based on photography and digital image analysis, has been applied to insulators partly covered by fungal growth. Different methods for estimating measures characterizing growth patterns, like covered area and remaining creepage distance, have been explored. It is shown that the developed technique for automatic insulator recognition and estimation of its position allows for non-supervised measurements to be performed outdoors. Finally, results from flashover voltage measurements on insulators with fungal growth are reported.


ABSTRACT The hysteretic properties of RAC structure subjected to different strain rates are analyzed, and the displacement ductility is assessed. It is revealed that, under earthquake wave excitation with the increasing strain rate, the lateral stiffness, the bearing capacity, and the energy dissipation increases progressively. However, the ductility of RAC structure decreases gradually with the increasing strain rate. The rate-dependent capacity curve model of RAC structure is suggested. The damage evolution of RAC structure subjected to different strain rates is investigated. Furthermore, the dynamic damage model of RAC structure in which the strain rate effect is taken into account is proposed.


The paper expressed the necessity of strengthening bio-safety protection measures in large animal laboratory according to the practices in our laboratory.Besides,we also expressed the concrete measures from the aspects of laboratory layout,hardware configuration,the daily administration,the health and disease prevention,the animal administration,personnel management and so on.


For certain applications such as E911/E999/E112, GPS chipset receiver manufacturers will possibly have to test their products to ensure these fulfill mandated performance specifications for a variety of outdoor and indoor conditions. As opposed to testing in the field, laboratory testing is totally repeatable and controllable, and may be less costly. Hardware GPS signal simulators are now able to simulate signals under a variety of attenuation and multipath conditions. In indoor environments, GPS signals suffer not only from severe attenuation and multipath but from complex variations thereof. A method to simulate indoor GPS signals such that the stochastic characteristics of the simulated signals match those of actual GPS signals received in situ by a high sensitivity GPS receiver in various indoor environments is presented. Probability density functions and correlation coefficients are used to demonstrate the similarity between field and simulated data in terms of signal power fading and estimated pseudorange error. The results clearly demonstrate the feasibility of the approach.


The need for renewable sources of energy to either complement or replace the conventional sources is increasingly gaining momentum. This study deals with the automation process control and automation of a biodiesel processing plant. The process control was achieved with the aid of sensors and micro-controller. The threshold values of the critical process parameters were pre-set on the micro-controller. The comparative analysis between the measured values from the sensors and the values preset on the micro-controller forms the basis for the execution of control actions. The performance of the blended forms of biodiesel produced using the automated plant was tested in a diesel engine. The results indicated efficient process control during the production of biodiesel. The comparative analysis of the Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC), Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT) and Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE), of the biodiesel blends produced indicated the capacity of the plant for biodiesel production. Hence, the findings of this work will add to the understanding of the biodiesel production using an automated plant. It will also add to the understanding of the process control and automation for biodiesel production.


This chapter is concerned with the geometric structure of linear transformations, i.e. spectral theory. Let X be a non-trivial Hilbert space over with inner product (·, ·). 1.1.1 Theorem (Projection on a closed convex set). Let X be a Hilbert space and K ⊆ X be non-empty, closed, and convex. Let x ∈ X be given. Then there is exactly one point y 0 ∈ K such that x − y 0 = inf{{x − y | y ∈ K} 1.1.2 Theorem (Projection). Let X be a Hilbert space and M a closed subspace of X. Let x ∈ X be given. Then there is exactly one pair (y, z) ∈ M × M ⊥ such that x = y + z. In fact, y is the point y 0 for K = M in the previous theorem.