This paper presents the results of a computer simulation analysis of an RF signal detection system. The functions of the RF receiver are to monitor the RF spectrum, detect the presence of RF pulse signals, and to generate an output pulse signal. The output signal is used to measure the threshold stability and the pulse width of the detected signals. The receiver was modeled as a complex baseband system using the Signal Processing WorkSystem (SPW). The analysis was performed to (1) predict the system performance of an ideal detection system; (2) verify results obtained with a prototype engineering model; and (3) to evaluate design modifications proposed to improve the accuracy of the output signal generation. The analysis results indicate that the simulation model provides an accurate representation of the receiver. The simulation results differ from analytic results by less than 0.05 dB. The simulation results predict the ideal receiver operating characteristic (ROC) should be 0.8 dB more sensitive than the prototype engineering model. The simulation results predict a threshold stability accuracy that is less than 2 nsec different than the prototype engineering model results. Finally, the simulation results predict that the proposed design changes would enhance the pulse generation accuracy. This result was confirmed by modifying the prototype engineering model.


Understanding the role of donor-specific antibodies (DSAs) in liver transplantation remains an investigative priority. Acute and chronic rejection associated with DSAs have been described. However, most transplant protocols did not consider the presence of DSAs at the moment of liver transplantation (LTx) or for the follow-up. A 65-year-old man received an ABO-compatible LTx for cirrhosis. Ten years after the LTx, he presented with a progressive elevation of liver enzymes and bilirubin. The single antigen Luminex bead assay showed the presence of DSAs against several DQ2, DQ7, and DQ8 alleles. The patient received several desensitization treatments regarding the persistence of DSAs. The anatomopathological study confirms chronic rejection. Although in this case the immunohistochemical deposits of C4d were negative, the data revealed morphological criteria of chronic graft injury and DSAs' incompatibilities explained by structural analysis. These data support an antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). It could be reasonable to establish a protocol for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing of every LTx donor and recipient as well as a periodic follow-up to assess the presence of DSAs. This will make it possible to carry out studies of donor–recipient incompatibility and to confirm the existence of probable cases of AMR.


Studies and documentation on the current knowledge and practices of traditional medicine among African communities are lacking particularly in this era of modern health care expansion. This study aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice of traditional medicine in Jos South Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State, Nigeria. A systemic random sampling technique was employed for this study. A semi-structured open and closed ended questionnaire was used to collect data through house to house interview among 300 participants identified for the study. The data was then analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20.0 (Chicago, SPSS Inc.). The studies revealed two hundred and seventy four (94.8%) have heard about traditional medicine, while two hundred and forty two (83.7%) of them have used traditional medicine once or more in their life time, especially for the treatment of malaria and fever. One hundred and eleven (38.4%) of the respondents preferred using both traditional and modern medicine. The prevalence of Traditional Medicine patronage in Jos South LGA, Plateau state is high and this may be related to the socio-cultural acceptability, easy accessibility, and affordability of Traditional Medicine.
Keywords: Knowledge; Attitude; Practice; Traditional Medicine; Nigeria


Issue convergence theory suggests that candidates should respond to their opponents by discussing the same issues whereas issue divergence theory posits that candidates should instead ignore each other and discuss different issues. Recent studies tend to find evidence in favor of issue convergence, but these results may be inaccurate because the analyses that generated them tested dynamic campaign behavior using cross-sectional methods. Using a dynamic modeling strategy along with television advertising data drawn from 93 U.S. Senate campaigns in 44 states, 5 election years, and on 51 issues, I show that candidates increase the attention they devote to issues as their opponents' emphasis of these same issues increases and that candidates do so to a greater extent in competitive than in noncompetitive elections. This analysis is the first to account for the dynamic nature of issue emphasis and provides support for issue convergence theory.


Abstract Today, to establish a diagnosis, the patient must undergo a biopsy followed by histopathological diagnosis, which causes unnecessary cost, patient trauma, and time delay to obtain a diagnosis. However, the metastases can be discovered by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, which is a simple method that investigates the light distribution within tissue. The theme of this paper is the use of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) to determine the optical spectrum of hamster specimen's tissue and to differentiate biological changes due to laser irradiation (scattering, and cell changes) under the skin. DRS measurements were made on healthy and malignant tissue to diagnose the stages of cancer formation using a fiber-optic probe. The results show that malignant tissue is characterized by a significant decrease in diffuse reflectance spectrum compared to normal tissue.


It is noted that the conditions stated in a previous letter for real nonsymmetric matrices to have real eigenvalues and real nonpositive eigenvalues, respectively, are both necessary and sufficient.


This article argues for a positive, comprehensive conception of peace that goes beyond the mere absence of war and a more integrated conception of human security that encompasses a wider range of issues than threats of physical violence. Education is one of humanity's most effective social institutions for redirecting the violent physical energies of destruction into higher avenues of civilization and culture as an instrument of conscious social evolution. Organization is knowledge of higher accomplishment. Organization has the power to vastly accelerate and multiply the potentials of education for the promotion of peace and security. Peace and Security have a mutually reinforcing effect on each other in the sense that peace results in security while security results in peace. Physical violence eventually led to the development of the knowledge needed for the avoidance of violence by means of diplomacy, trade and cultural exchanges, marking the beginning of the transition from the physical to the mental level of evolution. Trade requires travel, transport, human interaction, exchange, trust with respect to products, and reliable mechanisms for the exchange of a stable currency that can only be effectively founded on an enduring peace that generates confidence among the traders. Isolated communities evolve a communal consciousness as they mature into organized social units founded on shared customs and culture, which later develop into a common legal framework. What began as diplomacy so many centuries ago has now evolved into a near universal recognition of fundamental human rights and the rule of law. The evolution of diplomacy in previous centuries is the foundation for the remarkable betterment of human life witnessed in recent times. The world is in the process of evolving a unifying global culture founded on universal values and recognition of the rich contributions of different cultures to humanity's progress. As physical force once shaped global events, today ideas possess the power for effective action that can change the world. The world in general is moving in a progressive manner in all its aspects. Peace is one such important aspect. Traditionally peace has been defined negatively as the absence of war. With human beings being the center of existence, it may be pertinent to redefine peace in the human context. Peace prevails only when the situation is conducive to the growth of human delight. We say life is generally secure when factors causing physical disturbances are absent. However, security is at a much higher level than mere physical security. Security is enhanced when life situations are arranged in such a way that fosters a man's inner joy. There is plenty of scope for arranging external situations in such a way as to guarantee security.


Background: Many methods have been used to prevent acute postoperative renal complication in cardiac surgery, with various results. The purpose of the present study was to compare ascorbic acid versous isotonic sodium bicarbonate in the prevention of acute postoperative renal complication in adult cardiac surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Methods: In a clinical trial, 150 adult patients scheduled for elective cardiac surgery using CPB, enrolled to this study in three ascorbic acid, sodium bicarbonate and placebo groups (each group=50). During surgery, 1000 ml of normal saline was infused in a 2 hours period that contain ascorbic acid 500mg, sodium bicarbonate 8.4% 75 ml or saline alone, respectively. Invasive hemodynamic and urinary output monitoring was done intra and post-operatively. An increase more than 0.5mg/dl or more than 25% in basic plasma creatinine (Cr) or decrease more than 25% in basic glomerular filtration rate (GFR), was considered as acute kidney injury (AKI). An increase or decrease of more than 50% in basic Cr or GFR, respectively, was considered as acute renal failure (ARF). Data were analyzed using X2, student t-test and ANOVA tests. Results: AKI and ARF were occurred in 36 and 9 patients, respectively (P=0.043 and P=0.001, respectively), those were lesser in ascorbic acid group The renal protective effect of the ascorbic acid occurred for longer period than bicarbonate. Conclusion: Comparing to sodium bicarbonate and placebo groups, ascorbic acid is more effective in prevention of the acute postoperative renal complication in adult cardiac surgery using CPB.


2029 Background: Brain metastasis (BM) and Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis (LC) are uncommon complications in gastroesophageal carcinoma (GEC) patients (pts). These patients have a poor prognosis and are challenging to study. We described the clinicopathologic features and outcomes in the largest real-world cohort of CNS metastasis in GEC pts. Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective study of GEC pts treated at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre from 2007 to 2021 who developed BM. Clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment modalities were reviewed. Survival was calculated from the date of BM or LC diagnosis until date of death/last follow-up using the Kaplan-Meier method. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to examine the association of baseline covariates and survival. Results: Of 3283 consecutive pts with GEC, 101 (3.08%) were diagnosed with BM and 20 with LC (0.61%). Most pts with BM were male (75.3%), non-Asian (93%), with a primary gastroesophageal junction tumor (47%) and adenocarcinoma histology (86%). Among pts with known HER2 status (N= 48), 60% were HER2 positive (defined as IHC 3+ or IHC 2+/FISH+). All patients with LC had adenocarcinoma histology; most were signet-ring subtype (85%), poorly differentiated (80%) histology and only 15% (2/13) were HER2 positive. Median survival was 0.8; 3.8; and 7.7 months (mo) in BM pts treated with palliative care only, radiation only and surgery followed by radiation, respectively (p< 0.001). In LC, median survival was 0.7 mo in pts who had palliative care only (7/20) and 2.7 mo for those (13/20) who had whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) (p .008). Multivariate analysis showed a higher probability of death in patients with number of BM ≥4 (p 0.02) and predicted superior survival in patients who received radiation and surgery followed by radiation (p 0.02). Conclusions: This is the most comprehensive summary of clinicopathologic characteristics and survival in patients with GEC and BM and LC disease to date. Biomarker analysis reveals an enriched frequency of HER2 expression in BM, while this is uncommon in pts with LC. BM pts who were treated with surgery followed by radiation had a significantly improved OS. WBRT benefited patients with LC over palliative care alone. These findings add to our understanding for the management of this understudied population with poor survival. [Table: see text]


Moral rebuilding becomes a necessary dimensionality of humanities during the course of Chinese modernization. With the transformation of society which brings about moral transformation, liberty becomes the basis of moral evaluation and trains moral qualities of modem people.


The author reviews Emanuel Berman's book Impossible Training from the perspective of a candidate in psychoanalytic training at The William Alanson White Institute in New York. The author relates aspects of her training experience to issues Berman raises in his article, focusing on and expanding a discussion of key problematic aspects of psychoanalytic training.


4517 Background: At present there is no imaging biomarker for patients with mCRPC as the disease primarily metastasizes to bone, which is difficult to visualize and quantify using standard techniqu...


This study of the hidden side of music and its subtle effects is one of the most detailed books ever written on the subject.


In actual electric power system, the relay protection device plays an important role to maintain its stable operation. This paper proposes a novel current comparison pilot protection principle based on the change of current phase angle. When internal fault occurs, the change direction of current phase angle at two ends of transmission line is opposite. However, when external fault occurs, the change direction of current phase angle at two ends of transmission line is the same. Based on that, the proposed principle can determine internal or external fault correctly. Compared with traditional pilot protection principles, the proposed protection principle has several advantages. In addition, the correctness of the novel pilot protection scheme are verified by using field fault data recorded from 500kV transmission line.


We reported a case of a 42-year-old female who showed the jumbling phenomenon due to left labyrinthine dysfunction after GM local treatment for 0. M. C. This patient complained of otorrea and deafness, then we gave her CCL orally, GM and steroids locally as eardrops 7 times. A few days after this treatment she noticed the fullness of the ear, vertigo, nausea and vomiting. This patient complained of difficulty in walking on dim light and apparently felt oscillation movements of a fixed target when she moved her head to the affected ear side either actively or passively. She has had a 12 to 13 year history of left chronic otitis media. Neurological examination of this patient showed left hearing loss and vestibular dysfunction. There was on spontaneous nystagmus, but the DP (directional preponderance) to the right side was found. ETT and OKN were normal in this patient. Usually, the jumbling phenomenon appears in cases that there is a loss of bilateral vestibular function. However, the jumbling phenomenon appeared in our case although she suffered from unilateral vestibular disorder.


During the period of February 10 1984 and February 1 1987 a group of 131 women were fitted with Nova-T IUDs that deliver 20 mcg levonorgestrel (Lng) daily during its useful life of 5 years. No instance of uterine perforation occurred and 2 cases of metritis were diagnosed 3 and 18 months after insertion respectively that responded well to out-patient treatment with antibiotics and removal of the Nova-T Lng. There were 2 cases of tubal pregnancies 2 and 24 months after insertion respectively. Removal of the IUD was requested most frequently because of amenorrhea (13) spotting (8) and metrorrhagia (5) as personal reasons of an unpleasant bleeding pattern. The high rate of amenorrhea necessitated the comparison of a group of 80 women who had not been selected according to specific criteria to the whole group of 131 women. The rate of removal was higher in this group due to complaints about pain and a changed bleeding pattern. Similar findings of spotting have been reported even in those with amenorrhea in spite of the drastic drop of bleeding days per month. The results tend to indicate that those choosing a steroid IUD because of menorrhagia tolerate Nova-T better than the nonselective group. Therefore the use of Lng Nova-T is not recommended for women with excessive uterine bleeding.


While drilling through complex geological formations,a large number of issues will have to be encountered like anisotropy,uncertainty,non-structural and non-numerical practicality and the so-called smart drilling technology is urgent needed to solve those problems.Combining theory with practice,this paper discusses the history,process and technical value of the first and the second generation of the smart drilling technology,and concludes that the second generation will be the main trend of the near future drilling technology with better features of integrating the state-of-the-art techniques and the advanced RD results from drilling and logging,and the essential part of this technology is to research and design on the electric drill string.On the other hand,this paper investigates into basic theory and technical features of the smart drilling technology and analyzes how the smart drilling technology develops in the future.Focusing on a kind of smart drilling technology with an electric drillstring based on a reliable electrical connector integral with a premium drill pipe thread,which is still under research and development,it introduces the main interests and technical difficulties and points out this special smart drilling technology will be expected to solve many bottlenecking issues unsettled by the first generation smart drilling technology.


The concentrations and seasonal and temporal variations in polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins/polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorobiphenyls (dl-PCBs) in ambient air from November 2017 to September 2021 were investigated via passive air samplers containing polyurethane foam (PUF) discs in three residential areas, including the Cau Giay (CG) urban, Quang Minh (QM) industrial-suburban and Ba Vi (BV) rural areas, Hanoi, Vietnam. The average total toxic equivalent value of PCDDs/PCDFs and dl-PCBs ( ∑ TEQ D/F&dl ) in the QM area was the highest (506 fg/PUF/day) and ranged from 317 to 752 fg/PUF/day. Compared to that in the QM area, the average ∑ TEQ D/F&dl value was lower in the CG area (372 to 615 fg/PUF/day; average: 482 fg/PUF/day), and the lowest value occurred in the BV area, ranging from 121 to 414 fg/PUF/day with an average of 231 fg/PUF/day. Air pollution involving PCDDs/PCDFs and dl-PCBs increased during spring and winter. The highest seasonal average ∑ TEQ D/F&dl value in the CG area was 534 fg/PUF/day in winter. The highest average ∑ TEQ D/F&dl values in the QM and BV areas were 653 and 280 fg/PUF/day, respectively, in spring. The average daily dose (ADD) values of PCDDs/PCDFs and dl-PCBs through inhalation for adults in the three areas were minimal (9.9 to 96.2 fg TEQ/kg body weight (BW)/day) and below the 10% threshold of the tolerable daily intake (TDI) value recommended by the World Health Organization (100 to 400 fg TEQ/kg BW/day). For children, the ADD values (15.1 to 243.6 fg TEQ/kg BW/day) were less than and within of 10% of the recommended TDI value.


Because of the essential difficulty caused by the non-vanishing boundary condition, a systematic perturbation approach for dark solitons has not yet been found. Based on a rigorous proof of the completeness of the squared Jost solution with explicit expressions for one-soliton case, a direct perturbation approach for dark solitons is developed in this paper. Difficulties caused by the background are overcome. As an example of the approach, the problem of damping is treated as a perturbation.


Introduction: Striation is a tegumentary atrophy that arises from the rupture of elastic fibers that are located in the dermis, affecting 2.5 times more the female sex when compared to the male. The microgalvanic current is one of the most used techniques for the treatment of stretch marks, despite this, its results are still inconclusive. Objective: To review in the literature the information about the microgalvanopuntura technique and its applicability for the treatment of stretch marks. Method: This article consists of a systematic review, performed from four electronic databases: Google Academic, Scielo, PubMed and Virtual Health Library. The keywords used in the search of the manuscripts were electrotherapy, stretch marks, microgalvanopuncture and microgalvanic current. The original articles related to the subject were researched in Portuguese and English, from 2007 to 2018. Results: The search resulted in twenty-one articles, however, only seven (33.33%) studies fulfilled the necessary criteria for inclusion in this review. All studies performed the process of random sampling of participants. Most studies (85.71%) presented a positive relationship between microgalvanopuncture and stretch marks treatment, indicating that the technique can be effective in improving the aspects and perception of stretch marks. Conclusion: The use of microgalvanopuntura in the treatment of stretch marks presents positive evidence in relation to its clinical applicability, showing as an effective technique for this specificity. However, it is suggested that new controlled studies be conducted comparing the intensities and technique of application.


Bound-constrained optimization has wide applications in science and engineering. In the last two decades, various evolutionary algorithms (EAs) were developed under the umbrella of evolutionary computation for solving various bound-constrained benchmark functions and various real-world problems. In general, the developed evolutionary algorithms (EAs) belong to nature-inspired algorithms (NIAs) and swarm intelligence (SI) paradigms. Differential evolutionary algorithm is one of the most popular and well-known EAs and has secured top ranks in most of the EA competitions in the special session of the IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation. In this paper, a customized differential evolutionary algorithm is suggested and applied on twenty-nine large-scale bound-constrained benchmark functions. The suggested C-DE algorithm has obtained promising numerical results in its 51 independent runs of simulations. Most of the 2013 IEEE-CEC benchmark functions are tackled efficiently in terms of proximity and diversity.


Borneo Ironwood, consists of two species, i.e. Eusideroxylon zwageri and Potoxylon melagangai, is the most well known durable tropical hardwood timber tree of Borneo. Both species are morphologically similar, except
the wood characteristics. This has resulted in taxonomic difference between them. We used PCR with M13 universal primer to determine the genetic relatedness and SCAR marker to distinguish both species. Cluster analysis
grouped both species into two major clusters, suggesting that there are two genetically distantly related species. One diagnostic band (locus M13-16) was successfully converted to SCAR marker. A single fragment (720 bp)
was amplified in all E. zwageri individuals but
completely absent in P. melagangai. Differentiating the species by SCAR marker is very useful for screening large numbers of Borneo Ironwood seedlings collected from
natural populations. The identification of individuals at species level constitutes one of the first basics in any effective conservation programme. In fact, the Borneo Ironwood has been counted as one of the endangered species in Sarawak.


The campuses at tertiary institutes can act as a social environment for peer to peer connections. However, socialization is not the only aspect that campuses provide. The campus can act as a learning environment that has often been termed as the campus curriculum. Many tertiary institutes have taken steps to make their campus a 'green campus' whereby initiatives have been taken to reduce their impact on the environment. However, as visible as these initiatives are, it is debatable whether these have any effect on students' and their understanding of sustainable campus operations. Therefore, research was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of sustainable campus operations in raising students' awareness of sustainability. Students at two vocational institutes participated in this interpretive research with data collected through surveys and focus groups. The findings indicated that majority of vocational education students remained oblivious of sustainability initiatives on campuses. Keywords—Education for Sustainability, campus learning, social learning, vocational education.


This paper discusses a non-standard technique for timedomain waveform synthesis. In Extended Waveform Segment Synthesis sound is described as a structure of blocks of amplitude micro-fluctuations. These structures can be updated during synthesis or different structures can be combined generating dynamic evolving waveforms. This technique is intended to be: first, an extension of the existing linear segment synthesis techniques, second a generalized framework of various existing non-standard techniques like stochastic waveform synthesis or pulsar synthesis and third, the basis of new directions in composing the sound and in waveform transformation. The concept of a compositional structure that goes down to the microlevel is also presented.


The invention relates to a safety scanning method and device of a downloaded file. The safety scanning method comprises the steps that when it is monitored that the file is downloaded, the content of the downloaded file is obtained and scanned, and file feature information corresponding to the content of the file is obtained; a preset local feature information library is inquired, whether the file feature information corresponding to the file content is matched with information items stored in the local feature information library is judged according to preset rules; the safety grade of the downloaded file is determined according to the matching result. The safety scanning method can detect malicious information like fishing information contained in the file, thereby avoiding missed judgment of malicious files, and improving accuracy of judgment.


The effects of performance and emission parameters of a mono-cylinder CI engine have been studied using new alternate fuel: Lemongrass oil (LGO) with nano additive (Cerium Oxide). The study focuses on a novel biosynthesis method (Plant-mediated synthesis) of CeO2 nano-additives from the Azadirachta indica plant, which is less toxic and more compatible with other chemical methods. The biosynthesis method is a simple, high-yielding, environmentally friendly alternative to chemical methods. Recently, a green technique based on impulsively decreasing elements such as polysaccharides, microorganisms (bacteria and fungas), or plant extract has been developed. This is due to the fact that the process is a simpler, non-hazardous, and environmentally friendly alternative technique when compared to the intricate chemical techniques of synthesis of nano-additives. The engine tests were carried out by using three different volumetric percentages (LGO25, LGO25 + 50 ppm and LGO25 + 100 ppm) and related with base diesel. The test outcomes revealed that the BSFC decreased by 4.98% and 6.83% and BTE increased by 1.76% and 2.27% at LGO25 + CE 50 ppm and 100 ppm concentrations, correspondingly. The CO emission decreased by 18.18% and 24.2%, HC emission decreased by 3.03% and 9.1%, NOx emission decreased by 14.8% and 31%, Smoke emission decreased by 10.5% and 15.1% for LGO25 + CE 50 ppm and 100 ppm correspondingly.


The present invention discloses a U-shaped sub-frame Stiffness Test apparatus belonging to technical field detecting member railway wagon. It includes a left positioning bar, the right positioning rod slidably connected to the two beams, and a dial indicator spud; further comprises a L-shaped mounting base; lateral sides of the L-shaped mount has a slot, the slot disposed dial ; the longitudinal sides of the sliding beam connected to the L-shaped mount; positioning seat provided with a U-shaped opening at one end, the other end is provided with an end plate; dial indicator jack contact with the end plate. The present invention is simple and compact structure, quick to install, secure, reliable and durable, easy to manufacture; ensure the accuracy and reliability of the test. Test low cost, versatility and flexible operation.


Objective: A high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed to determine sucralose. Method: The column of DIKMA C18 (250 mm × 4.6 mm i.d. 5 μm) and a mobile phase of methanol-water (65:35, V/V) at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min and column temperature 40 ℃ with refractive index detector were adopeted. Results: The method is proved to be linear in the range of sucralose from 1.5~2000 mg/L. The recovery is 99.65%. The relative standard deviation (RSD) is 0.15%. Conclusion: The method is simple, fast and stable. It is suitable for quantitative analysis for sucralose production process.


The investigation concerning processes where the environmental impact is decreased, energy conservation, and effective use for wastes becomes an important problem also in oil and fat industry, while the demand for the environmental protection is rising worldwide in recent years. This paper takes up the research on the above mentioned subjects, such as effective use of refining process and soap stock which are the characteristic wastes in a refining process, paying attention to the refining process in an oil and fat manufacturing process.


This reflection paper is framed within the research Project called "Systematization of the experience of assisting the Community of San Sebastian from Betania between the years 2013-2018", particularly in the work done with children of the soccer and dance class. The text seeks for the generation of reflections regarding one of the University's main functions: the social outreach, which is understood not only within the frame of the University Social Responsibility as an institutionalized subject, but also within the projection of this idea. All this, in order to assume this social outreach, as an action of endowment and hospitality with others, where it achieves the exercise of replicating the knowledge acquired at the University, and the understanding of the knowledge coming from the assessed communities in order to generate spaces for open dialogue and combined construction.


Regional development improvement represents one of the key commitments which success is constantly being evaluated by the European Union, and is directly related to the position which the Republic of Serbia holds in the accession process. This science paper highlights the importance of regional development and the degree of regionalization in Serbia, as well as the level of influence for the four financial instruments of the European Union and their individual contribution to regional development and cooperation. The four described instruments, which have contributed most to the regional development of Serbia, are: "Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation", the first and second "Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance - IPA" and "The European Support to Municipal Development Programme - EU PRO".


Nigeria's politicians have proposed requiring doctors to stay in the country for five years to get a licence, to help stem the tide of medical talent it loses to higher income countries. But such a solution creates its own problems, say Oluwatosin Adeshokan and Chiebuka Obumselu


• Apart from the extent and depth of burns, inflammatory reactions and infections (caused by impurities, cell detritus, bacterial degradation etc.) impair the healing of burn wounds. Bacterial colonization and invasion significantly influence wound healing (epithelialisa‐ tion and contraction of the wound) [1]. Early debridement and depth-specific early cover‐ age are currently the standard in the surgical treatment of burns [2,3,8,10]. Basic prerequisites are exact determination of the depth and accurate debridement. Particularly in cases of large burn wounds it is essential to preserve and protect vital tissue. In cases of wide, generous removal of tissue by the use of the Dermatom, Guilon or Humbey knife, one frequently removes more than the actual burned tissue and unnecessarily damages vital tissue. On the other hand, one may remove too little necrotic tissue. The depth of the burn may be difficult to difficult to assess so that the surgeon waits too long, causing val‐ uable time to lapse during which he may well have performed surgical repair. Accurate ablation of the damaged layers of skin and identification of petechial bleeding help to as‐ sess the vitality of tissue. This permits exact determination of depth (whether the subpa‐ pillary, cutaneous or subdermal plexus are preserved) [9,16] and depth-specific coverage.


1 In rat whole brain homogenates, saturation analysis revealed that both [3H]‐idazoxan and [3H]‐RX821002, a selective α2‐adrenoceptor ligand, bound with high affinity to an apparent single population of sites. However, the Bmax for [3H]‐idazoxan was significantly (P < 0.01) greater than that for [3H]‐RX821002. 2 In competition studies, (−)‐adrenaline displaced 3 nm [3H]‐idazoxan binding with an affinity consistent with [3H]‐idazoxan labelling α2‐adrenoceptors. However, this displacement was incomplete since 23.68 ± 1.11% of specific [3H]‐idazoxan binding remained in the presence of an excess concentration (100 μm) of (−)‐adrenaline. In contrast, unlabelled idazoxan promoted a complete displacement of [3H]‐idazoxan binding with a Hill slope close to unity and an affinity comparable with its KD determined in saturation studies. 3 Displacement of [3H]‐idazoxan binding by the α2‐adrenoceptor antagonists yohimbine, RX821002 (2‐(2‐methoxy‐1,4‐benzodioxan‐2‐yl)‐2‐imidazoline) and RX811059 (2‐(2‐ethoxy‐1,4‐benzodioxan‐2‐yl)‐2‐imidazoline) was more complex, with Hill slopes considerably less than unity, and best described by a two‐site model of interaction comprising a high and low affinity component. The proportion of sites with high affinity for each antagonist was similar (60–80%). 4 The rank order of antagonist potency for the high affinity component in each displacement curve (RX821002 > RX811059 > yohimbine) is similar to that determined against the binding of [3H]‐RX821002 to rat brain, suggesting that these components reflect the inhibition of [3H]‐idazoxan binding to α2‐adrenoceptors. The remaining component in each displacement curve exhibiting low affinity towards these antagonists is attributable to the displacement of [3H]‐idazoxin from a non‐adrenoceptor idazoxan binding site (NAIBS) since a comparable amount of [3H]‐idazoxan binding was not displaced by an excess concentration of (−)‐adrenaline. 5 The displacement of [3H]‐idazoxan binding by RX801023 (6‐fluoro‐(2‐(1,4‐benzodioxan‐2‐yl)‐2‐imidazoline) was also best described by a model assuming a two site interaction with 20.07 ± 3.11% of the sites labelled displaying high affinity for RX801023. The Ki of RX801023 for the remainder of the sites labelled was similar to its Ki versus [3H]‐RX821002, indicating that this drug displays improved affinity and NAIBS/α2‐adrenoceptor selectivity compared with idazoxan. 6 In autoradiographical studies, the distribution of 5 nm [3H]‐idazoxan binding to sections of rat whole brain was consistent with that reported from previous studies and resembled the distribution of α2‐adrenoceptors. However, when sections of brain were coincubated with concentrations of α2‐adrenoceptor agonists or antagonists predicted to saturate α2‐adrenoceptors, there remained distinct areas of binding corresponding to discrete brain nuclei. This remaining binding was however displaced by unlabelled idazoxan (3 μm) or RX801023 (3 μm) indicative of the labelling of NAIBS. 7 Quantitative autoradiography of NAIBS revealed several brain nuclei which contained higher densities of these sites than α2‐adrenoceptors, notably the area postrema, interpeduncular nucleus, arcuate nucleus, ependyma and pineal gland.


ABSTRACT Purpose: To analyze the professional insertion process of Administration and Public Administration course graduates in Brazil, with ages ranging from 18 to 36, who graduated after 2011. Originality/value: As the main contribution of the study, it is possible to highlight the contingent of well-qualified professionals that are unemployed or in informal and often underoccupied jobs, indicating the expansion of non-qualifying job insertion. Thus, as a widespread problem which cuts across different ages, classes, genders, races, and ethnicities, this aggravating factor in the labor market falls mainly on individuals with higher education that are working jobs below their skill and education levels. Design/methodology/approach: This study has a quantitative, non-probabilistic, non-experimental, transversal, and descriptive approach. Data collection began in September 2018 and ended in November 2018. The sample consisted of 847 cases, divided by regions: 344 from Southeast, 244 from South, 163 from Northeast, 56 from Midwest, and 40 from North. Findings: It is worth noting that 73% of the respondents did not spend more than one year to professionally enter into the labor market, 20% of graduates are in positions with less than undergraduate education requirements, and 16.6% are not working. In addition, despite being well qualified, the investigated professionals share a structurally fragile occupational scenario, especially about the types of employment contracts practiced, regardless of their sociodemographic characteristics.


The design and development of appropriate regulatory mechanisms for implementation in business ethics has attracted great interest from researchers in recent years. A shift to the voluntary application of self-regulatory mechanisms of ethics has been observed in many industries and sectors of the economy, as well as in the financial sector industry, besides the enforcement system of State rules and laws, which is a way of coercion in entrepreneurial behavior.
The need of an organization to maintain its legitimacy or social license of operation, often prompts the organization to go beyond mere compliance of a control system applied with rules and legal conformity, it motivates to implement an internal way of self-regulatory ethics program to promote ethics values. One form of internal self-regulation is the codes of ethics, that are formulated in writing and include a general value system of the organization.
 Many empirical studies have been conducted on the development of ethics codes and the potential impact in the employees' behavior in different sectors and organizations. The results of these surveys often confirm that codes is a variable that can affect the behavior of employees', however a number of research results has shown that there is no change in employees' behavior due to code influence and yet other results report a very weak relationship, (Kaptein & Schwartz, 2008).
The purpose of this study is to assist in defining the effect on employees' behavior, of ethics codes, in the banking sector in the Prefecture of Achaia Greece. For this purpose, with the use of data, drawn from employees in the local banking sector, we will attempt to answer three main questions:
(1) The effect of codes on employee behavior.
(2) The reasons why employees implement or not ethics codes.
(3) The way that codes affect behavioral change.
All organizations, under the present survey, own a rigorous regulatory framework, which includes normative ethics codes of conduct compliance based.
A summary of the findings on the questions raised by this research leads to the following conclusions:
(1) The effect of codes in employees' behavior.
• 80.5% of employees responded positively "yes" to the question, of reading the code of their organization, the remaining 19.5% replied negatively.
 • 57.57% of employees can recall the text of the code to a degree scale from "quite", "very" up to "very well". In contrast, 39.39% are unable to recall the ethics code text of their organization.
• Employees find many examples of breach of ethical behavior in their organization, financial abuse at a rate of 39,39%, fraud 32,32%, conflict of interest 27,27%, confidentiality breach 21% and falsification of financial statements 15,5%.
• 60,66% indicate change of behavior, due to code influence, to some extent from "quite", "very" up to "very well"
• There appears no effect in change of behavior in 30.30% of the sample, due to code influence of their organization.
 (2) The reasons for applying or not applying the codes.
• A main reason for non-compliance with the code requirements showed a high 69.7% percent employee ignorance and 24.24% employee selfish motives.
• On the contrary 69.70% declare conformity with the code content, due to personal moral values and a 41.41% indicated the loyalty sense.
 (3) The way that codes affect behavioral change.
Employees perceive that codes affect behavioral change in different ways.
• 50% reported that they will use the code as a "guidance tool", in case of doubt in decision making.
• At the same time a lower percentage of 41% consider that the code can affect behavior as a "mirror of their moral values".
• Also there is a 38% stating the perceived use of these codes as a "protective shield" to possible dilemmas.
The research leads to two general conclusions. First, it is concluded that, while employees of the banking sector of Achaia Prefecture indicate strongly that they know the ethics codes of their organization and are affected by these to a change to a better ethical behavior. At the same time high rates of phenomena of violation of ethical behavior, of financial nature mainly, which employees themselves observe in their organizations, demonstrate that there is prevalence of illegal behavior.
This conclusion can be interpreted that the simple application of a code may not have a significant impact in reducing ethical violations and that possibly other factors influence the modification of employee ethical behavior, and respectively reduce ethical violations in the organisms under survey. Future research should examine factors, separately or in combination, such as management moral, individual employee's morality, organizational commitment, psychological contract and ethical organizational culture of organizations.
The second conclusion reached in this survey is that employee moral values solely do not prevent them from unethical behavior which is recorded extensively, according to their statements, in their organizations. But themselves the employees, in difficult decisions or dilemmas, are likely to hasten to ethics codes for guidance and protection.


The effect of four processing methods and the storage time on the chemical properties of palm oil were determined. The palm oil samples were extracted using hot extraction (HEPO), Cold extraction (CEPO), hot extraction with Sand (HSEPO) and Mechanized extraction (MEPO). Processing methods had no significant effect on the iodine value (45.94±0.68 to 47.06±2.25 wijis) whereas there were significant (p≤0.05) variations in saponification value (250.89±4.84 to 260.50±3.35mgKOH/g), peroxide value (8.59±4.14 to 12.08±4.70 mEq/kg), free fatty acid value (1.80±1.01 to 3.94±1.03%, mgKOH/g), acid value (3.77±1.91 to 7.90±2.08%, mgKOH/g) and carotenoids level (301.12±13.38  to 311.21±12.59 mg/kg) due to the processing methods. Storage time (months) caused no significant (p≤0.05) effect in iodine value (45.93±1.55 to 47.91±0.83 wijis) of palm oil samples stored for 0 to 3 month(s) but caused significant (p≤0.05) decrease in the carotenoids content (321.72±5.68 to 287.15±5.19 mg/kg). Storage time caused significant (p≤0.05) increase in saponification value (250.41±4.30 to 260.96±3.61 mgKOH/g), peroxide value (4.56±1.36 to 14.93±1.61%, mgKOH/g), free fatty acid value (1.83±0.84 to 3.77±1.32%, mgKOH/g) and acid value (2.45±1.74 to 7.54±1.80). Hot extraction method of palm oil was observed as the best method because its palm oil had the better quality parameter than other methods such as saponification value (252.20±4.00 mgKOH/g), iodine value (47.03±0.94 wijis), peroxide value (8.59±4.14 mEq/kg), free fatty acid (2.03±0.96%, mgKOH/g), acid value (3.94 ± 2.04%, mgKOH/g) and carotenoids level (302.90±13.46 mg/kg). Crude palm oil should not be stored for more than two months. It is recommendable to study the effect of storage conditions on the chemical properties of palm oil.


The serious environmental challenges that the human settlements are faced with, such as climate change, resource crisis, greenhouse gas emissions and water crisis are necessitated changing the perspectives and adopting the adaptive policies of guiding and controlling the human settlements towards responsiveness of the above challenges. Accordingly, the present research aims at investigating the effective aspects of urban form on environmental performances while focusing on urban openness as one of the important general factors of built form. The methodological framework of the research has been founded on the analytical-comparative studies of the impacts of urban form on the theoretical energy demands according to the specific morphological units in the general morphological context of the Isfahan. On this basis, five tissue types (morphological units) have been selected arising from urban morphological approaches and methods as the comparative and analytical basis of the study. The results and findings demonstrate that there is a strong and significant correlation between energy demands and urban openness in general while the two classes of measures in terms of levels of complexity are classified as the analytical basis of the research. Results demonstrate that geometrical and configurational aspects of urban form are in compliance with the climatic conditions in environmental performances studies. Finally, indicating the paradoxical behaviors of heating energy demands in cold seasons and cooling energy demands in hot seasons especially in the case of hot and arid climate conditions in relation with urban morphological characteristics (focusing on urban openness factor) has been considered as the most important achievement of this research.


Orientation: A literature review relating to the positive side of the work/family interface were rigourosly explored. Research purpose: The main purpose of this article was to report on a review of the literature that covered the positive side of the work/family interface; followed by the identification of a theoretical framework for the positive side and to make recommendations for future research. Motivation for the study: Gaining more insight into the literature by exploring the often neglected positive side of the work/family interface will expand researchers" insight into the topic. Research approach, design and method: The research method was to approach various databases, in order to examine the positive side of the work/family interface. A range of relevant literature (1960-2012) was reviewed, which provided information about the positive side of the work/family interface. Main findings: From the literature it was evident that various concepts are used to conceptualise the positive side of the work/family interface (e.g. work-family enhancement, work-family positive spillover, work-family facilitation and work-family enrichment). Most of these concepts are distinct from each other. Furthermore, findings showed that only a few studies on the phenomenon of positive work/family interface have been reported for the South African population, thus there is still a huge gap in the South African literature regarding the positive work/family interface. Practical/managerial implications: Exploring the often neglected side of the work/family interface, will help researchers gain more knowledge about this concept and it will assist men and women in their quest for greater satisfaction in life; it will also help employers understand how to cultivate greater work satisfaction among their employees and improve individual and organisational performance.


Chirality control of the spin structure in monoaxial helimagnets by using charge current is theoretically investigated. The classical J 1 − J 2 Heisenberg model has two degenerate helical states that are characterized by the chirality. In a recent experiment, it has been shown that the chirality of the spin structure can be controlled by applying a charge current during the field-decreasing process [Jiang et al., Nat. Commun. 11, 1601 (2020)]. We reproduced this experiment by numerical calculations based on the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation with the spin-transfer torque. We show that the damping torque and spin-transfer torque are responsible for the controllability. In addition, we theoretically propose more convenient forms of chirality control: instantaneous switching of chirality and zero-field control by using a ferromagnet junction. Such improved controllability may pave the way to spintronics based on the chirality degree of freedom.


Harmonic mode-locking of a solid-state bulk laser combines the benefits of long resonators with large pulse energy and high repetition rates. With this technique it is possible to operate a system at different repetition rates without changing the optical setup. The signal to noise ratio of a fundamentally mode-locked oscillator is typically much better than in harmonic operation [1]. In this contribution we present a SESAM based solitary mode-locked diode pumped Yb:CALGO bulk oscillator. This system provides femtosecond pulses at a fundamental repetition rate of 94 MHz. For the second order harmonic mode-locking operation at the repetition rate of 188 MHz and the third harmonic at 282 MHz we have only to increase the pump power. At both operation points we need no active stabilization for a long term low signal to noise operation.


Several kinetic aspects of the polymerization of dodecyl acrylate photoinitiated with p-nitroaniline in the presence of an aliphatic tertiary amine, either 2-(N,N-diethyl-amino)ethanol or 2-(N,N-dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate, acting as coinitiator, were studied. Under low absorption conditions, the rate of polymerization was found to be proportional to the square-root of the incident light intensity, the initiator and the coinitiator concentrations. The polymerization behaviour was analyzed also under aerobic conditions. Under identical irradiation conditions, both initiation and polymerization processes present higher rates and quantum yields than those obtained with conventional aromatic ketone photoinitiators.


To solve the mystery of early thermal cycling failures on a relatively small size (1.6 mm × 2.4 mm) wafer level chip scale package (WLCSP) with bump on re-passivation (BOR) structure, details of bump geometry parameters are looked into. While the under bump metal layer stack is first confirmed within specifications, UBM offset from center point is found greater than typical on the failed units. To fully understand the impact of this bump parameter shift that is defined by lithographic process, additional geometric configurations of the bump structure and materials, as well as bump parameter deviations are studied on the stress in solder, UBM and on chip SiN passivations. The study takes into consideration the thickness/size of UBM, aluminum metal pad, SiN passivation layer and PI re-passivation layer. UBM materials, such as nickel vs copper, are also included in the study. Board-level thermal cycling test (TMCL) is conducted on a WLCSP with 8×8 bump array at 0.4mm pitch. Simulation reveals that size ratio and bump offset indeed change the stress level in the critical passivation layer, and the results well explain the early failures recorded in a device qualification reliability test and follow up experimental verifications. Conclusion of this work should be applied when defining design rules for robust reliability performance and manufacturability of this traditional WLCSP bumping technology.


Assessment of the safety of transport modes used by pupils to and from school is an important issue for ensuring the well-being and academic success of pupils. This research aimed at assessing the safety of transportation modes used by pupils in selected schools of Western, North Western, and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia. The study used a qualitative approach involving 4 schools conveniently sampled from each of the three (3) provinces. A total of eight pupils were further conveniently selected from each of the schools. More so, 8 pupils were sampled conveniently from each of the schools, making total of 96 pupils altogether. This means 32 pupils from each province participated in this study. The selection criteria included schools with a diverse range of pupil populations and varying levels of experience. Data was collected using in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The data collected was analyzed using thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes in the data. The results showed that different transportation modes, such as vehicles, bicycles, and walking, had different levels of safety risks and challenges. Common safety concerns included speeding, reckless driving, inadequate vehicle maintenance, and lack of appropriate safety gear. The study identified several recommendations to mitigate these risks, such as improving road infrastructure, enforcing speed limits, providing safety education for pupils, and ensuring adequate vehicle maintenance. Additionally, the study highlighted the importance of parental involvement in ensuring the safety of their children during school transportation. The findings of this research can inform policies and interventions aimed at improving the safety of school transportation modes and promoting the well-being and academic success of pupils in Zambia.


being computa-tionally fast, and has the capability of yielding results with as much precision as the hardware will permit. The algorithm does not break down when presented with a matrix which is not diag-onalizable; that is, a set of eigenvectors satisfying the eigen-equation is computed regardless of the existence of linearly independent eigenvectors. However, when a matrix is diagonalizable and degenerate, the algorithm does not yield well separated eigen-vectors corresponding to non-distinct eigenvalues. Another apparent disadvantage is the possible indication of completely successful computation (INDIC), even in clearly ill-conditioned situations where computational difficulties are inevitable. This latter property, however, is a common fault of other algorithms as well. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This author wishes to thank the editor and referee for their valuable critique and useful suggestions. and eigenvectors of a real general matrix. A method for the solution of roots of a nonlinear equation and for solution of the general eigenvalue problem. Algorithm 321, as published, was coded in CSIRO 3200 ALGOL and run on a CDC 3200 with programmed floating point operations. A FORTRAN equivalent of Algorithm 321 was run for comparison with the FORTRAN Algorithm 344, which uses the same recurrence relation based on Student's cosine formula as that used in Algorithm 321 for df degrees of freedom less than maxn. Numerical results agreed with 6-digit tabulated values [1] and double precision calculations indicate that accuracy is limited by truncation of intermediate results to the precision of the processor , with error in the final result increasing as the square root of dr. Timing tests rated Algorithm 344 at approximately (} d$+1½) msec; slightly faster than Algorithm 321, which required approximately (¼ df+2½)msec for df < maxn. For df >_ maxn Algorithm 321 uses Fisher's [2] fifth order approximation , whose accuracy is summarized in the diagram for df = 10(10)50 (see Figure 1). The shaded regions indicate values


A workflow universal service method includes obtaining a business process demand; receiving a process definitive instruction, combining mutually associated and preset operation assemblies according to the business flow demand and the process definitive instruction, packaging the combined operation assemblies into service corresponding to the business process demands, mapping the service to business activities, and assembling the business activities into a business process; and storing the packaged business process and publishing the business process to a Web service interface. The invention further provides a corresponding system. Through presetting of the operation assemblies, the preset operation assemblies can be packaged into service as required, when the business process is changed, the business process still can be provided flexibly for calling of clients.


Turn over one of the problem that occur in organization which affect not only the employees performance, but also the performance of the organization itself in term of productivity, production as well as services. The main objective of this research is to determine the factors that contribute to employee turnover at the SKALI WEB SERVICES. Besides, researcher also identifies the main factors which affect employee turnover plus the relationship between the factors towards employee turnover. The factors are job/employee satisfaction, organization performance and job related/stress. Researcher used questionnaire as a main instrumental in data collection method. Next, data that have been collected, will be analyzed through frequency, percentage, mean and Pearson Correlation. In general, the results of this research show that factor Job/employee satisfaction is the most influence toward employee turnover. This followed by the factors of organization performance and job related/stress.


Contexte et atouts du poste The European project ROMI aims at developing an open lightweight robotics platform for crop monitoring and weed reduction in small farming land areas. This platform will be equipped with imaging sensors and software to reconstruct and analyze plants in 3D. Within this project, the proposed PhD position will be at the core of the data processing pipeline. More specifically, the data acquisition and conversion to 3D point clouds will be done by a team at CNRS (Lyon, France) and a team at Sony CSL (Paris, France), while plant architecture models and parameter extraction methods for these models will be developed by teams at CNRS and Inria (Lyon, France). In coordination with them, the hired PhD student will be in charge of developing new mathematical and algorithmic tools to segment a plant (represented as a 3D point cloud) into its organs and track these organs through time.


As "globalization" has become a common and controversial term in academic debates, this paper intends to discuss how global economy challenges the definition of agricultural regions and its governance. Taiwan's green industry is taken as an instance because its restructuring process typically reflects changes of production and trade of economic plants in the globalizing economy. The restructuring process of Taiwan's green industry, that rose with cut flowers in the late 1960s and depending on the domestic and the nearby foreign markets, has emerged since the mid-1990s for responding the crisis of over-production affected by the shrinkage of the markets. Shifting from cut flowers to potted flowers, live plants and seedlings, that are more durable during transporting, is the facial characteristic of this restructuring, yet it is a complicated process made up of the progress of production and distribution technology, financial liberalization, and new markets arising, where mainland China is the most influential one. Via segmentation of production process over different places, a new form of cross-border production-and-trade networks is being made. This implies a deep challenge on the conventional governance of agricultural regions since they are no longer geographically homogeneous landscapes under the control of the nation state but have become contested segments in the cross-border networks in the globalizing economy.


A case report is presented of a 54 yr old peasant who survived a blood alcohol concentration of 6.2(per mille). The clinical findings, therapeutics, and the drinking habits of the patient are reported.


The author examines hyperthermia death rates in the United States from 1979 to 1996 to determine the relative risk for different demographic groups during peak years for heat-related deaths and for nonpeak years.


A time-dependent, two-dimensional, detailed-chemistry computational fluid dynamics model, known as UNICORN (unsteady ignition and combustion using reactions), is used for solving complex flame problems. The unique features incorporated in UNICORN for handling extremely large chemical kinetics with ease and efficiency are discussed. A submixture concept that is used for evaluating transport properties is described. This concept increases the computational speed by a factor of five for a 208-species mechanism and is expected to have even higher efficiency with larger mechanisms. An implicit treatment for certain reaction-rate terms applied during the solution of species-conservation equations is described. Moving the reaction-rate source terms to the left-hand side of the partial differential equations eases the stiffness problem that is typically associated with combustion chemical kinetics. Computational speeds are further improved in UNICORN by completely integrating the chemical-kinetics mechanisms with the solution algorithm. A software-generated computational fluid dynamics approach is used to avoid the tedious and near-impossible task of manually integrating a large chemical-kinetics mechanism into a computational fluid dynamics code. Several calculations demonstrating the abilities of the UNICORN code are presented. Chemical-kinetics mechanisms up to 366 species and 3700 reaction steps are incorporated, and simulations for unsteady multidimensional flames are performed on personal computers. Making use of the robustness and efficiency of the UNICORN code, detailed chemical mechanisms developed for JP-8 fuel are tested for their accuracy, and a parametric study on the role of parent species of a surrogate mixture in predicting flame extinguishment is performed. Ease of changing chemical kinetics in the UNICORN code is demonstrated through the investigation of effects of additives in JP-8 fuel.


born members of the band automatically became enemy aliens and as such were subject to special restrictions. Like other Germans and Austrians, they were also the subject of numerous denunciations, many of which were shown to be without substance but were still dutifully filed away for future reference. Like many other German and Austrian refugees, Stefan Weintraub and two fellow band members were eventually interned— largely because they had been denounced as spies on account of events that supposedly happened during their tour of the Soviet Union. The history of that denunciation, and of the man who made it, is one of the many fascinating stories told in Dreyfus's book. Silence and Secrets shows that the xenophobia of the Musicians' Union, of the many Australians who dobbed in their neighbours and work colleagues as fifth columnists, and of the Australian security services who investigated alleged disloyalty were ultimately responsible for the lack of welcome experienced by the Weintraubs. Dreyfus also demonstrates that the Weintraubs' behaviour made it easily possible to perceive them as arrogant. As the Australian authorities interned enemy aliens also if they were likely to cause disaffection in the Australian community, their perceived superior attitude exacerbated their problems. The Weintraubs failed to appreciate that—perhaps understandably so, because before September 1939, their "conspicuous foreignness" (200) had been an asset, as its appeal added to their popularity as entertainers. Silences and Secrets is most valuable for an understanding of Australia in the late 1930s and early 1940s, as it provides a nuanced analysis of the "unlovely factors" (117) of Australia's treatment of a particular group of Jewish refugees. The text is also wellwritten. But as a book, it has its shortcomings. To me, much of it read more like a Ph.D. thesis: too specialised and too much designed to appeal to examiners rather than to a broader audience, which would have wanted to know more about the biographies of the Weintraubs before 1937 and after the war, and about how the protectionism of the Musicians' Union was related to the anti-alien hysteria that gripped Australia during the war. That is a pity, the subject certainly warrants a widely read book. Or a film. One of the chapters of Silences and Secrets, which incidentally reads like a stand-alone article, is a detailed critique of Weintraubs Syncopators: Bisansandere Ende der Welt, a German documentary about the Weintraubs. Maybe the research that went into this book could be used to inform an Australian documentary that features the Weintraubs and the anxieties about European refugees in the late 1930s and early 1940s.


A synthesis is presented in this research, microspheres carbon by mixing Pluronic F127 triblock copolymer, which was used as a main pore size direction, gelatine as a codirecting agent, Sucrose becomes the main ingredient of carbon precursor and H2SO4 be a catalyst. The mixture solution carried out at hydrothermal reactor followed by evaporation, partial carbonization, and pyrolysis under nitrogen flow. After being microspheres carbon have activated by KOH solution at room temperature for 24 h using a variation of the KOH concentration at 5, 10, 15 and 20 (%w/v), respectively. Activated Microspheres carbon have characterized by SEM and FTIR. In this study, it was found that carbon mass after activation is increased due to the deposition of potassium and a free water molecule. The morphology of microspheres carbon after activation process observed as soccer balls-like with pore size 0.5-15 µm with numerous of carbonyl and hydroxyl group. In this study, it was found that the greater the activator concentration, the greater the adsorption capacity, due to potassium deposition and water molecules. Maximum adsorb capacity is at 20% KOH concentration at 35 minutes. Microspheres for drug delivery systems are interesting to study.


Improved distance education practices have the  potential to enhance educational  outcomes, especially when the amount and kind of learner interaction is increased using technologysupported collaborative learning. This paper  describes a study  undertaken to evaluate the results of Open University regarding teacher training as well as to examine the extent to which teachers who obtained their degrees from AIOU possessed such competency; survey questionnaires were devised to gather data from several perspectives. The questionnaires were piloted and revised in response to comments from participants representing the sample groups. The populations sampled for this study were composed of: secondary School Teachers who have a B.Ed degree from AIOU  and  are  working  in Pakistani schools  and  teacher educators  from  the  Faculty of Education, AIOU, and Pakistan.  On  the basis of  the  data  discussion,  conclusion and  recommendations are made.


A single cylinder engine with the combustion chamber mounted on the piston was designed to allow visualization in the direction of the cylinder axis. By using this engine, the evaporating process of the fuel injected into the combustion chamber was observed. High speed Schlieren, shadowgraph, and back-illuminated movies were taken for detailed observation of the combustion chambers with a single hole injector and a swirl injector which have different injection characteristics. The one with a single hole injector shows strong collision of the spray with the bottom of the chamber and fast evaporation. Another with a swirl injector shows no trace of such collision and relatively slow evaporation.


Harald Schüler's Die türkischen Parteien und ihre Mitglieder (Turkish Political Parties and Their Members) is based on the doctoral dissertation he submitted to the Institute for Oriental Studies at the University of Bamberg in 1998. Contrary to the book's title, Schüler's main research concerns the Social Democrat Populist Party (Sosyaldemokrat Halkci Partisi, SHP) and its predecessors, although one does find in the first one hundred pages a good survey of the parties that currently participate in Turkish elections and that have played a significant public role since the coup of 1980. In addition to this survey, Schüler presents other research that does not focus exclusively on the SHP, including a historical overview of the number of political-party members in Turkey, the parties' politics, and legal measures that aimed at centralizing parties in the 1960s and at controlling parties in the 1980s. This information gives readers an idea about the special problems that exist between Turkish parties and their members. In his Introduction, Schüler shows, for example, that Turkey's political parties have trouble registering members not only because of special legal procedures and the general problem in Turkey of obligatory registration, but also because the parties themselves disregard their members. In describing the parties' sources of financial support—especially since the development of state funding of parties in Republican Turkey—Schüler also points out that membership fees play a negligible role in a party's finances because the regulations concerning such fees are usually ignored.


The present study tries to determine the attitude towards the NEET examination among higher secondary school students in Erode District. The survey method is applied for this research study. 350 higher secondary students were selected as a sample by using a stratified random sampling technique. NEET Attitude Scale, which is constructed and standardised by Nithya (2017), was used for this study. This study found that Higher secondary school students studying in Erode district had neither a positive nor negative attitude towards the NEET examination.


A capacitive-gap transduced micromechanical resonator design based on an acoustic whispering gallery mode (WGM) constructed in micro-crystalline diamond has achieved a Q >;109,000 at 515MHz, posting an f·Q product of >;5.6×1013. The key to this performance is anchor-loss nulling by the WGM, as evidenced by comparison of Q values between radial-contour modes and WGM ones on the same disk device, where a 2-3× enhancement of Q is observed. Q's exceeding 100,000 should enable unprecedented RF front-end frequency selectivity and low phase noise oscillators for future communications.


This paper presents a novel approach to increase the safety of road travel using the concept of wireless sensor networks for intelligent transportatio n systems (ITS). Safety of road travel can be increased if vehicles can be made to form groups for mut ual interaction with each other. With the number of sensors available on vehicles incr easing, a need has arisen to make collaborative use of the information collected by individu al vehicles to form an enhanced data set to improve the inter-vehicle safety features. We di scuss how a group of vehicles can form a mobile ad hoc sensor network and exchange data sensed b y the on-board sensors. The fusion of these data could give a better understanding of the surrounding traffic conditions. An inter-vehicle communication (IVC) protocol which decid es the manner of data exchange among vehicles based on the data contained in the messages is utilized for communication among vehicles. These messages are divided into two main type s, namely, periodic and alert messages. Periodic messages can be generated by a sensor base d control system on the vehicle and are transmitted at regular intervals to inform other veh icl s. Alert messages are generated by the vehicle in an emergency situation, like, after an airb g deployment. This differentiation is needed since periodic and alert messages are used to conve y different types of data under different situations. This work also discusses exchange of a lert messages between vehicles and fixed roadside gateways. This type of vehicle to vehicle and veh icle infrastructure integration (VII) raises the safety of road travel. Results of simulatio ns in network simulator ( ns-2), MATLAB and hardware experiments with mobile sensor nodes prov e the effectiveness of the proposed IVC protocol for providing safety-related servic es to vehicles.


In laboratory tests with 115 species of dicotyledons, the concentration of pronamide in water for 50% inhibition of root elongation ranged from 0.03 to >8 parts/million. With certain exceptions, species within a family responded similarly. Polygonaceae and Caryophyllaceae were the most susceptible and Compositae the most tolerant, as they were also to chlorpropham. There was good correspondence between the test results and the relative susceptibility of species to pre-emergence application in the field.


This Memo explains the Model for classifying and evaluating legal and criminological research as it has been approved by the Faculty of Law of the KU Leuven in March 2014.It suggests criteria for distinguishing between star academic research, academic research, non-academic research and popular publications. The six headlines of the model are: -Quality rather than Quantity-Self-Assessment based on -Five Criteria-International and National-Methodological Transparency-Open AccessThis Model will now be used by all legal and criminological researchers of the Faculty of Law for classifying their publications, lectures and research projects.It will be evaluated in April-March 2015.


m Subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy (SNE) in children has many neuropathologic similarities to Wernicke's encephalopathy in adults.' The latter has been described in adults who have been deprived of an adequate diet by alcoholism or by gastrointestinal, febrile or debilitating diseases.' -' The occurrence of a similar disease process in children has been reported from Japan as "breast milk intoxication,"6 since it occurred in infants who were breast fed without supplementary feeding. It has also been found in children with lactic acidosis,' in those with an inborn error of gluconeogenesis,* and in perfectly healthy infants and children who expired within two weeks to a few months of a mild upper respiratory i n f e ~ t i o n . ~ The fact that the same pathologic picture is found in all these patients does not necessarily point to a single etiology. Leighg has described the findings in an eight month old infant, who appeared entirely normal until six weeks before death, and noted the striking similarity between the histologic changes in brain tissue in his case and those found in Wernicke's syndrome. Wernicke's encephalopathy is generally thought to result from deficiency of a vitamin, presumably thiamine, while SNE has been thought to result from a familial, presumably genetic, metabolic defect. Because of the similarity in the pathologic processes in SNE and Wernicke's encephalopathy, it is probable that both result from a common metabolic abnormality, although the ultimate cause is probably genetic in the former and nutritional in the latter. It is this relationship to Wernicke's encephalopathy that has led to studies in thiamine metabolism in children with SNE. Cooper and associates' i1 found thiamine triphosphate absent from the brains of patients who died with SNE; it was present in the brains from four control subjects. They found also a factor in the blood and urine of patients with SNE that inhibits the synthesis of thiamine triphosphate by brain tissue. The inhibitor appears t o be a glycoprotein. This paper describes metabolic, endocrinologic and hematologic abnormalities in a girl with SNE whose urine contained Cooper's factor. Furthermore, anemia and vacuolation of bone marrow cells were found, as have been observed in alcoholics, thus adding two more pathologic processes common to Wernicke's encephalopathy and SNE. At autopsy, vacuolation and demyelination of the white matter and


There continues to be a disturbing number of duplicate submissions and plagiarism cases reported in all major journals, including the journals of The Optical Society. Duplicate submissions and plagiarism can take many forms, all of them are violations of professional ethics, the copyright agreement that an author signs along with submission of the paper, and the Guidelines of The Optical Society Concerning Ethical Practices in the Publication of Research. There must be a significant component of new science for a paper to be publishable. The copying of large segments of text from previously published or in-press papers with only minor cosmetic changes is not acceptable and can lead to the rejection of papers.


Immunotherapy with cytokines or cytokine-activated effector cells is a promising therapeutic approach, which has not been extensively evaluated in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Preclinical data obtained with human effector cells , both MHCrestricted cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) and MHC-nonrestricted natural killer (NK) cells, indicate that it is feasible to generate such cytokine-activated effector cells in patients with advanced HNC. Technology for separation of human effector cells and their culture on a therapeutic scale is available . Purified subsets of lymphocytes derived from autologous peripheral blood, lymph node lymphocytes or tumor-infiltrating cells can be consistently prepared by immunoselection in patients with HNC , evaluated for antitumor efficacy in vitro, using 51Cr-release assays, monolayer cultures or tumor spheroids and used for adoptive transfers. Locoregional transfer of such immune cells plus cytokine(s) can effectively inhibit growth of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) xenografts established in nude mice . Human IL2-activated NK cells (A-NK) have been shown to preferentially enter SCCHN spheroids and kill or inhibit growth of tumor cells in spheroids or in SCCHN xenografts established in nude mice. A-NK cells can be armed in vitro with chimeric monoclonal antibodies selectively reactive with squamous epithelia (e.g., cMAbs E48 or U36) to optimize their targeting to the tumor. In vivo arming with these cMAbs is likely to increase anti-SCCHN responses. Supernatants of A-NK cells cultured in the presence of IL2 have been shown to arrest SCCHN cells in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle and to inhibit growth of SCCHN xenografts in nude mice. Efforts to transduce A-NK cells with cytokine genes are in progress. An urgent need exists in head and neck oncology for effective adjuvant therapy, and immunotherapy with immune effector cells should be considered as a feasible therapeutic modality in the adjuvant setting in HNC.


The rmoregulation of newborn is a complex and critical physiological function which is influenced by many factors and environmental control is one of the major factors. The health care professionals play an important role in maintaining the temperature of the newborn. According to WHO neonatal mortality rate in India as of 2010 is 32/1000 live birth and neonatal mortality rate related to hypothermia is 18–42%. The aim of the present study was to assess the knowledge and practice of staff nurses regarding thermoregulation of neonates selected hospital at mysuru. A descriptive survey approach was adopted for the study. The 60 staff nurses were selected using convenience sampling technique. After assessing the knowledge and practise of staff nurses regarding thermoregulation of neonate's data was collected by using questionnaire booklet and observational checklist. The findings revealed that shows that is significant correlation between Knowledge and practices of staff nurses regarding thermoregulation of neonates. Findings shows that Knowledge questionnaire mean score is 19.9 and observation check list mean score is 11.5The correlation coefficient (r (58) = 0.273) is less than calculated value (r =3.86). Hence the result doesn't support the null hypothesis H01. It is inferred that there is a significant relationship between knowledge and practices of staff nurses regarding thermoregulation of neonates. Conclusion of the study, the study was conducted among 60 Staff nurses and the findings revealed that, majority 58(96.6%)% nurses are doing good practice, 2(3.5%) of nurses are having poor practice and the study findings shows that needs of improvement to practice regarding thermoregulation of neonates by conducting in-service education.


The performance assessment (PA) process is being applied to support an increasing variety of waste management decisions that involve the whole spectrum of stakeholders. As with many technical tools, the PA process can be seen as a black box, which can be difficult to understand when implemented. Recognizing the increasing use of PA and the concerns about difficulties with understanding, the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) made a recommendation that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provide a Public Educational Forum on PAs. The DOE-Headquarters Environmental Management (DOE-EM) Office of Compliance and the DOE-Savannah River (DOE-SR) responded to this recommendation by supporting the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) in developing several presentation modules that can be used to describe different aspects of the PA process. For the Public Educational Forum, the PA modules were combined with presentations on DOE perspectives, historical modeling efforts at the Savannah River Site, and review perspectives from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The overall goals are to help the public understand how PAs are implemented and the rigor that is applied, and to provide insight into the use of PAs for waste management decision-making.


Introduction: The usual Chilean diet is characterized by a high energy intake from saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium in foods like fried foods, baked goods and pastries, meats, sweets and sugary drinks; and the lack of physical activity has contributed to the deterioration of the nutritional status of young adult population, as shown in the National Health Survey of 2010 which found in 15-24 years old persons a prevalence of 10.9% for obesity, 13.2% of high cholesterol and 79.3% of sedentary lifestyle. Objective: To relate the use of JUNAEB card with the nutritional status of students of the Santo Tomas University in Valdivia during the second half of 2014. Methodology: Cross sectional study involving 60 students to whom the "JUNATEST" survey was applied to assess the quality of food they purchased using the JUNAEB card and their nutritional status. Statistical analysis: STATA 12.0 and Shapiro Wilk test, Bartlett, ANOVA and Pearson correlation was used. To calculate the sample size a power of 80%, confi dence level of 95%, an error of 5% and p value <0.05 was used.


Four novel coordination polymers, [Cd2(ctpy)4]n·2nH2O (1), [Cd2(ctpy)2(ox)]n (2), [Zn(ctpy)(ox)0.5]n·0.5nH2O (3) and [Cu2(ctpy)2(ox)]n (4), (Hctpy = 4′-carboxy-4,2′:6′,4′′-terpyridine H2ox = oxalic acid), have been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, single crystal X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analyses. Compound 1 is a new two-fold interpenetrating (3,5)-connected 3D framework with Schlafli symbol (63)(69·8). Compound 2 displays an unusual three-dimensional coordination network which exhibits an intriguing (4,5)-connected binodal new topological net with Schlafli symbol (42·63·8)(42·65·83). Compound 3 features a two-fold interpenetrating (3,4)-connected 3D framework with the fsc topological net and the Schlafli symbol (63)(65·8). Compound 4 is a three-fold interpenetrating (3,4)-connected 3D framework with dmc topological net and Schlafli symbol (4.82)(4.85). Interestingly, compounds 1–4 were obtained under similar reaction conditions. The structural diversity of compounds 1 and 2 may illustrate the marked effect of pH on the reaction solution. And the diversity structures of the compounds 2–4 may illustrate the marked effect of the metal ion on the reaction solution. Moreover, the fluorescent property of compounds 1–3 as well as the adsorption properties of 3 are also investigated.


The present investigation is dealing with the variances of five long staple Egyptian cotton (Gossypium barbadense L.) genotypes, with respect to yield, its components and fiber properties in the first and the second picks in Delta (Gharbia and Mounofia). Genotypes were three cultivars, viz. G.85, G.86 and G.89, which are normally grown in Delta. The others were hybrids, viz (G.89 x G.86) and (G.89 x Pima S-6). One field experiment latin square design was carried out in the two locations. Results of simple latin square exhibited that G.89 x Pima S-6 was the best genotype with respect to yields (seed and lint) since it kept the first rank in the first pick in the two locations and the maturity of this hybrid was faster than other genotypes. G.86 was more skilled with respect to fiber length in the two picks in the two locations. Two analyses of combined latin square to estimate the environments variance in the first and the second pick by two ways direct and indirect. First analysis (direct) depends on two combined, one the first pick (two environments) and the other second pick (two environments). Second analysis (indirect) depends on one combined (four picks) and partitioning of pick. Direct depends on two analyses of combined to estimate environments variance in the first pick and the second pick. Indirect surpassed direct due to it needed one analysis of combined to estimate environments variance in the first pick and the second pick. Although direct and indirect calculated the same values of environments variance in the first pick and the second pick but they exhibited different results of significant variation due to different values of F tabulated of them, which depends on degrees of freedom of error and different experimental error.


The article focuses on a study which assess the perception of medical teachers on the flipped classroom approach. It discusses the particular concerns of teachers regarding the amount of work and motivation needed by students. It mentions that teachers were also concerned that students feel that the approach would reduce the tutorials and the approach would not work across range of different medical courses.


Objective To compare the effects of two different anterior locking cervical plate systems.Methods AO and Orion anterior locking cervical plate systems were used to treat 36 patients with the cervical fracture-dislocations,spondylosis with myelopathy and tumor.The patients were followed up for 7-24 months.The stability of vertebrae,fusion rate and complications were observed.Results There was no significant difference in stability of vertebrae,fusion rate and complications between AO and Orion systems(P0.05).It was more difficult to control the angle between the fixation screw and the plate by AO systems.Conclusion Both AO and Orion plate systems have strong stability,but the latter is easier to be performed than AO system.


© Contributors 2013. All rights reserved. In this chapter I address the meaning and representativity of the term 'Cuban popular culture' through two rather different test-cases, the first of which is the film Aventuras de Juan Quinquin (1967) by the Cuban film director Julio Garcia-Espinosa (b. 1926), and the second the religious social phenomenon of santeria. In each case I ask the question of the extent to which the energy of popular culture is co-opted into a new (revolutionary) value-system or whether, ultimately, it escapes that hermeneutic net. It is legitimate to argue that Garcia-Espinosa's films as much as santeria as we nowadays understand the phenomenon came into being as a result of the Cuban Revolution. The experience of a revolution in Cuba in 1959 was as decisive for its generation as the French Revolution had been for European intellectuals in the 1790s. As Hobsbawm puts it: 'It was now known that social revolution was possible; that nationals existed as something independent of states, peoples as something independent of their rulers, and even that the poor existed as something independent of the ruling classes' (1962: 91). Hobsbawm's last point about the 'poor' existing 'as something independent of the ruling classes' is particularly relevant to the Cuban context. Hugh Thomas provides a sense of Fidel Castro's particular personal impact among the popular sectors of Cuban society soon after the Revolution: A month after Batista's flight, Castro had established a personal hold over the Cuban masses such as no Latin American leader had ever had. […] Castro appeared so often on the television screen (the State Department was already beginning to curse the salesmen of those 400,000 sets) that he resembled less a De Gaulle or a Kennedy (others who used television to effect) than a kind of permanent confessor or a resident revolutionary medicine man. (1971: 1193)


Few attempts have been made to study entrepreneurs' social networks in local communities. This study empirically explores the relationships between self-employed workers' involvement in local communities and their earnings. Examining whether their weak ties with community members and strong ties with their neighbors work differently, we hypothesize that while the former yields positive returns, a high involvement in their neighborhoods limits self-employed workers' access to extra-community contacts, causes free-rider problems, and produces leveling pressures. Our findings suggest that participating in local community organizations significantly raises self-employment earnings. Alternatively, self-employed workers strongly connected with their neighbors receive significantly lower earnings.


A Mach 2, hydrogen-air combustor with an unswept 10-deg ramp fuel injector was experimentally and numerically studied for a simulated flight Mach number near 5. Numerical modeling was performed using the Viscous Upwind Algorithm for Complex Flow Analysis code, and results were compared against experimental wall-pressure distributions, fuel plume images, and fuel plume velocity measurements. The model matched wall-pressure distributions well for the case of fuel-off and fuel-air mixing. For a fuel-air reacting case, pressure was matched well in the upstream third of the duct. Downstream, however, the pressure rise as a result of combustion was underpredicted. Based on the fuel plume imaging and velocity measurements, fuel plume shape was matched well for both the mixing and reacting cases. However, plume size, penetration, and centerplane axial growth were generally underpredicted by the model. The full extent of the velocity reduction caused by thermal choking was also not predicted. Despite these findings, the numerical model performed better than a previous model developed by the investigators. It was proposed that differences between the present numerical model and experiment stemmed from numerical underprediction of fuel-air turbulent mixing, and this resulted in underprediction of heat release.


The analytical design of pressure vessels generally adopts stress classification which based on elastic stress analysis and plastic design criterion,and the difficulty in stress classification and the unsafe partial design can bother engineering application.Regarding the design of openning's adapter tube at a hydrocracking reactor head,the direct method which based on elastic-plastic analysis and the failure mode proposed by EU EN13445 was adopted.The results show that this method is simple,reliable and worthy of promotion in pressure vessel analytical design.


Although Mary Austin has generally come to be perceived as a writer who, as Patrick Murphy summarizes, "gives primacy to nature as a dynamic interactive system in which people can participate if they follow the lead of the land" (67), recent critical reevaluations of her writings have provoked critical debates about the relation of her quasi-sentimental mysticism and tendencies toward feminist or cultural essentialism to her more compellingly detailed descriptions of the desert and her early championing and felt indignation regarding the stares of women and Native cultures in the early twentieth century. (1) In one of her earliest short story collections, Lost Borders (1909), Austin uses her tales to establish the parameters of this debate through her creation of characters who mirror the "inextricable disordered ranges" that frame their borderlands (156), simultaneously revealing their narrator (an unnamed storyteller, a thinly-disguised narrative voice for Austin) to be neither strictly feminist nor environmentalist, but rather a combination of the two--that is, an early ecofeminist. Although individual tales in Lost Borders have been discussed and anthologized in recent years, their collective impact, as the following reading argues, clarifies Austin's environmentalist perspective--a perspective that suggests that most "civilized" men and women remain unable to understand the "inextricable," if not inscrutable, "disorder" of the natural landscape of the desert, even though their spiritual growth and general well-being, in terms of these sketches, depends upon it. In these sketches, characters are continually challenged to awaken and explore this landscape. As the poetic versification that frames this collection suggests, the narrator remains hopeful that such explorations for a "Word" that has "never" been "printed in a page" will "wake" in this region of lost borders "with the wind that wakes the morning on a thousand miles of sage" (154). In Lost Borders, Austin, as storyteller, consciously engages in a reexamination of this "Word"--which is voiceless and seems, as it did for earlier romantic nature writers such as Thoreau or Muir, both connected to and beyond human experience. Unlike these authors, however, Austin becomes engaged in this short story collection with what it means to be human in relation to a civilization (whether European and American) that remains asleep to its own "feminine" potential. In Austin's desert borderlands, "lost" civilized wanderers--typically men--have only barely begun to comprehend what she calls the "Power" of "desertness," a "Power" that she specifically links not only to women but also to indigenous Native cultures. Such a perspective makes Austin an ecofeminist insofar as ecofeminism, as Karen Warren summarizes, not only refers to a "variety of multicultural perspectives on the nature of the connections within social systems of domination" between women and "nonhuman nature," but also has a "twofold commitment to the recognition and elimination of male-gender bias wherever and whenever it occurs ..." (1). Although the term "ecofeminist" was not coined until the 1970s, (2) Austin is best understood as one of its pioneers, particularly in Lost Borders, where Austin's storytelling exposes, in Warren's words, "social systems of domination," explores connections between women and "nonhuman nature," and reveals an implicit commitment to the "recognition and elimination of male-gender bias...." In Lost Borders, Austin's desert is not only depicted as "real" but also as metaphoric for the "lost" borders of westward expansion--borders that Austin links to the expanding parameters of gender self-consciousness in her early twentieth-century America. In this collection, Austin offers a curious blending of mysticism, realistic detailing, and personal belief about gender and culture to suggest (1) that the desert, as a wilderness that bears a complex relation to the universe, is eternal and self-sustaining; (2) that the "feminine" qualities of the desert both define and limit the true "borders" of westward expansion; and (3) that indigenous or Native cultures who have learned to live in relation to the "inextricable disordered ranges" of the desert have, like the land, been devalued by civilized people who are too obtuse or blind in their understanding of both. …


A high performance Stark cell has been made of which the essential features are stainless steel plates, 2-mm spacing, electric fields up to 100 kV/cm, field uniformity better than 5 x 10(-5). This Stark cell has been placed at a waist created inside a CO2 laser cavity, so that the beam propagates almost freely inside the cell. Thus we get the high sensitivity of intracavity spectroscopy but we preserve the quality and the stability of extracavity spectroscopy.