Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has taught many lessons to the medical fraternity. Academicians and the general population have been through phases of anxiety, panic, and trail and errors. The growing assumption at the onset of the pandemic that COVID infection may spread by blood has not found its roots deep enough for any clinical consequences. As all the symptoms of COVID relate to its local invasion at the alveolar level and its immunological sequelae, this article discusses the possibilities with the research available over the last 10 months. So far, the plasma viral load detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) seems immaterial in comparison to the viral concentration from nasopharyngeal swabs. So the recommendations to prefer caesarean section for positive mothers, deferring blood donations by COVID patients, frequent antigen testing from blood serum and body fluids like breast milk or amniotic fluid, may really need to be given a second thought. Also, this article concludes about giving up the panic around the viremia-related possibility of vertical transmission from mother to fetus and other clinical implications of testing of blood for the same. This will help in saving the resources heavily to be used only selectively. Newborns in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) may be permitted to be handled without gloves and using simple practices of handwashing, saving further resources and reducing neonatal infections.


This paper evaluates the effect of replacing traditional German five-year degrees with three-year bachelor programs on the duration until graduation and dropping out of university. Using an extensive dataset containing detailed administrative data on more than 9000 students, competing risks models are estimated. The results reveal that the Bologna process reduced the duration until graduation in absolute and relative terms, indicating that one of the reform´s main objectives was achieved. In addition, there is a favorable impact of being enrolled in a bachelor program on the probability of dropping out of university for students enrolled at the faculty of humanities. However, the results concerning university drop out are less conclusive for the other faculties.


Distribution profile and inter-relation of major dimensional and mechanical property parameters of raw coconut fibre have been studied with the help of computerized statistical tool. Relations among the properties are evaluated using the bestfit transformation functions calculated through correlation coefficient. Four different types of defects have been identified and analyzed. All the properties are found to be asymmetric in nature and positively skewed. Diameter of a fibre varies along its length with tapering shape at both the ends. Three physical characteristics, namely length, diameter and linear density, are positively correlated among themselves and also with breaking load. They are negatively correlated with specific work of rupture in exponential manner. Flexural rigidity is positively correlated with diameter and linear density. No correlation has been observed for tenacity and elongation of fibre with length, diameter and linear density. Evaluation of length and diameter would be sufficient for quicker mode approximate assessment of quality (grading) for commercial grade coconut fibre lot.


The mink fiber has a high value in worsted industry.The basic properties of the mink fiber are similar to the cashmere,while the warmth of the mink fiber is more superior to the cashmere.Because of the short length and high static,the spinning performance of mink fiber is poor.Considering all of these reasons,we take polyamide,tencel and viscose to blend with the mink fiber.Then through weaving and related finish,the knitting fabrics of different weave introduced in this article are obtained.Then use properties of these textiles,appearance propertics,basic physical propertics and stile features and the like,are analyzed.It shows that mink knitting products with mixed spinning have fine use properties.


In this paper we address video-on-demand (VOD) scenarios. Initially, we discuss how previous results on the unsuitability of the current adopted business model for the e-commerce of digital items affects VOD services. Then, we propose a reversible degradation method in order to address the lack of an accurate item validation step in current e-commerce implementations, thus providing robustness against mistaken purchases, the proposed method exploits the Scalable Video Coding (SVC) extension of the H.264/AVC standard. Finally, we illustrate how the proposed validation method can be used as a component for fair exchange protocol design, with the purpose of enabling unambiguous dispute resolution for unsatisfied buyers.


The development of an asymmetric protocol for the reductive alkynylation of amides to access important α-stereogenic tertiary propargylic amines is reported using a tandem Ir-catalyzed hydrosilylation/enantioselective Cu-catalyzed alkynylation. The reaction utilizes a Cu/PyBox catalyst system in the alkynylation step to achieve asymmetry and affords excellent yields with moderate to good levels of enantiocontrol while employing low Ir-catalyst loadings (0.5 mol %).


Objective To study the effect of different chemotherapy medicine on the survival rate and apoptosis of synchronized MCF-7 cells in culture.Methods MTT assay and flow cytometer(FCM) assay were used to determine the survival rate and apoptosis of MCF-7 cells,which was estrogen receptor positive in culture.Results The time of MCF-7 cells to proliferate twice was 33 hours,and TAM could synchronize the MCF-7 in G0/G1 phase.When using MTT assay,it was found that 5-Fu,DDP,ADM could decrease the survival rate of MCF-7 in middle-and low-dose groups,and had a significant difference compared with the asynchronized groups(P0.05).When using FCM assay,it was determined that DDP,ADM could increase the PCD% of MCF-7 in middle-and low-dose groups and had a significant difference compared with the asynchronized groups(P0.05).Conclusion Different chemotherapy medicine can induce the apoptosis of the MCF-7 cells.


Hi_Science is instructional media based-android in learning science on material environmental pollution and global warming. This study is aimed: (a) to show the display of Hi_Science that will be applied in Junior High School, and (b) to describe the validity of Hi_Science. Hi_Science as instructional media created with colaboration of innovative learning model and development of technology at the current time. Learning media selected is based-android and collaborated with experiential learning model as an innovative learning model. Hi_Science had adapted student worksheet by Taufiq (2015). Student worksheet had very good category by two expert lecturers and two science teachers (Taufik, 2015). This student worksheet is refined and redeveloped in android as an instructional media which can be used by students for learning science not only in the classroom, but also at home. Therefore, student worksheet which has become instructional media based-android must be validated again. Hi_Science has been validate...


The invention discloses a method for implementing roaming restriction to a VoWiFi (Vocie Over WiFi) voice service. According to the method, when a user registers to an IMS (IP Multimedia System) network by a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) access network, the user can be independently and flexibly controlled whether to use the VoWiFi service according to the position or type of the access network where the user is positioned, thereby implementing roaming restriction to the VoWiFi (Vocie Over WiFi) service of the user. Furthermore, a control opportunity of the method occurs in a stage that the user initially registers to the IMS network, subsequent interaction of a great quantity of invalid signals is avoided, a network signaling load can be effectively reduced, and the method has a high construction value.


This paper analyzes the factors that influence the quality of GPS observation data and introduces the principle of GPS data quality inspect by the TEQC software. Develop interface for TEQC by using visual C# 2010,and realize the parameter setting,quality evaluation,report output and other functions. The software has a certain practical value for GPS data quality inspect work.


Plasma membrane voltage-operated calcium channels (VOCCs) are involved in such important cellular activities as excitability, contraction, and secretion.' Different drugs acting on these channels are currently used as therapeutic agents, particularly for peripheral disorders.' Much less is known, however, on the presence, characteristics, and drug susceptibility of VOCCs on neuronal cells.' Most of the previous studies were carried out on mixed preparations of neuronal tissues, and a few on cultured cell lines, but rarely those of human origin. We studied VOCC characteristics on IMR32 human neuroblastoma and PC 12 rat pheochromocytoma cell lines.4 PC12 and IMR32 cells express high-affinity binding sites for [ ' ' 5 1 ] ~ ~ ~ n ~ t o ~ i n (oCTx), a potent peptide neurotoxin acting specifically on VOCCs: The binding is specific and saturable (TABLE 1). IMR32 cells express binding sites for both


Single crystals of stannic oxide, , of higher purity and with higher Hall mobility than any previously reported have been grown from the vapor using the reaction at 1250° C and 10 Torr. The stannic chloride is obtained from the reaction which is performed in an external reactor and electrical doping is achieved by adding the desired dopant materials to tin charges in parallel doping reactors. The growth rate of the is controlled by adding additional Cl2 to the flow before it is introduced into the furnace; with sufficient Cl2 the crystals can also be etched. Important to the furnace design is a gas injection nozzle which eliminates growth immediately where the gases enter the furnace. Undoped crystals of resistivity at 300°K, and antimony‐doped n‐type crystals with resistivity, carrier concentration, and mobility of 0.1 ohm‐cm, , and 160 cm2/V‐sec at 300°K and of 0.1 ohm‐cm, , and 1200 cm2/V‐sec at 77°K have been grown, as have n‐i junctions.


The rising interest in sports memorabilia, and the increasing number of milestone home runs that land among fans, have given rise to an interesting property law question: Who owns milestone home run baseballs? Virtually all fans, and most lawyers, believe that the customary baseball practice of allowing fans to keep balls hit into the stands creates a property right in the fan who catches a milestone ball. As an analytical legal matter, however, the issue is not so clear. By what mechanism does ownership transfer from the home team to the fan? If the home team agrees to give a milestone ball to the fan who catches it, then the law of donative transfer explains the exchange of property rights. But fans, and prior commentators, appear to believe that the fan has a legally enforceable right even if the team demands that the fan give the ball back.This article analyzes the relevant legal doctrine, and customary sports practices, and reaches the perhaps surprising conclusion that the home team, and even the batter, have stronger ownership claims to a milestone home run ball than does the fan who catches it. While the doctrinal analysis is admittedly debatable, the instrumental goals that typically inform the assignment of property rights - protecting public safety and minimizing litigation - weigh strongly in favor of settling that debate by placing the superior property right in either the home team or the batter.


SAIGON, Mar. 15-—The gov ernm ent of F rench Indo-China refused to adm it M itsui Com pany's branch office here, en gaged in exporting rice, a s a m em ber of the new ly-created se m i-official export-im port associ ation, i t w as learned. I t was understood th a t the Mi tsu i Com pany's office had been disqualified on the grounds th a t "resu lts of its business in the p as t few years have been insuffi cient to w arran t its adm ission as a m em ber."


A guide to the Dordogne, designed specifically for tourists, containing itineraries for varying lengths of visit. Also included are details of local culture, economy, history, geography, architecture and places of interest, as well as practical information.


Traditional macroeconometric models of the Australian economy estimate the behaviour of wage and price inflation separately, thereby ignoring the possibility that there is a contemporaneous relationship between these two variables. This thesis follows a recent trend emerging in other small open economies, such as the UK and Norway, which is to estimate the behaviour of wage and price inflation in a simultaneous-equations model. In order to capture the behaviour of the major variables which drive wages and prices, a complete model is constructed which embeds these important transmission channels.

 The model is developed in three stages. First, underpinned by a theoretical framework of a unionized economy with imperfect competition, the core wage- price system is developed whereby consumer prices and average weekly earnings are jointly estimated in a simultaneous-equations framework. Particular atten- tion is given to estimating two identified cointegrating relationships for wages and prices. These equations are interpreted as the long-run targets of workers and firms respectively and are embedded in a parsimonious system of short-run dynamics which drive wages and prices towards their long-run levels.

 Second, llie behaviour of llie main feedback variables driving llie wage-price system is modelled, with particular attention given to the unemployment rate. While several of the most recent models of unemployment show that the aggregate unemployment rate in Australia does indeed behave differently during periods of low and high unemployment, none can explain what drives the unemployment rate to increase at such a rapid rate and what contributes to its much slower decrease. Another central issue of this thesis, therefore, is to propose a rationale for this as yet unexplained phenomenon. The remaining behavioural variables in the model, including aggregate labour productivity, domestic output and the real exchange rate, are all estimated in a single-equation framework.

 Third, these equations are then combined with a number of important identi- ties and an interest-rate reaction function to close the model. Then, the impacts of several simulated economic scenarios on Australia's economic landscape are considered. Special emphasis is given to analysing the impact of a large nomi- nal wage shock. The outcomes from these simulated scenarios are pertinent to understanding the inflation process and have important implications for a small open economy like Australia with an explicit inflation target.

Overall, the major result to emerge from this thesis is that there is significant statistical support for the hypothesis that wage and price inflation in Australia are jointly determined. This phenomenon has not yet been fully exploited in current macroeconometric models of the Australian economy. The modelling exercise also reveals that the Australian unemployment rate is linear in demand and labour productivity shocks, with nonlinear behaviour caused by real wage rigidity and generous unemployment benefits. Importantly, this simple model is able to simulate the behaviour of the Australian economy extremely well. The outcome from the policy scenarios is clear: both demand-side and supply-side shocks have real and nominal effects on the economy in the short- to medium- run, ceteris paribus. Moreover, a large nominal wage shock to the economy, which results in a real wage rise, will have no sustained effect on the level of domestic activity in the economy, the inflation rate or the real exchange rate. Unemployment is, however, pushed slightly above equilibrium in the short- to medium-run due to a sustained higher real wage level.


Objective:To investigate changes of concentrations of plasma fibrinogen(Fg) and serum uric acid(UA) in Uygur nationality male patients with coronary heart disease(CHD) and heart failure(HF).Methods:According to left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF),a total of 237 Uygur nationality male CHD patients were divided into LVEF50% group(control group,n=86) and HF group [40%LVEF≤50% sub group(n=70) and LVEF≤40% sub group(n=81)].According to abnormal glucose metabolism or not,all patients were divided into two groups and changes of concentrations of Fg and UA were compared among all groups.Results:In LVEF50% group,Fg level [(3.33±0.54) g/L] was significantly lower than those of two HF sub groups [(3.54±0.58) g/L,(3.70±0.64) g/L,P0.05],and there was no significant difference between two HF sub groups(P=0.092);When LVEF decreased,UA levels of the three groups significantly increased[(324.55±51.65) mmol/L vs.(358.21±39.72) mmol/L vs.(375.57±63.13) mmol/L,P0.05];compared with normal glucose metabolism group,levels of Fg [(3.39±0.60) g/L vs.(3.65±0.58) g/L] and UA [(333.47±53.40) mmol/L vs.(372.60±53.95) mmol/L] significantly increased in abnormal glucose metabolism group(P0.01);partial correlation analysis showed no significant correlation between Fg and UA(r=0.08,P=0.23);both Fg and UA levels were negatively correlated with LVEF(r=-0.257,-0.41,P0.001).Conclusion:Levels of plasma Fg and serum UA are increase and closely related with HF,and are predictors of heart failure.Change of UA is more obvious in CHD patients;whereas levels of Fg and UA more significantly increase in patient with abnormal glucose metabolism.


Abstract. The study included patients with chronic uveitis caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV), or mixed HSV/ cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections. Deficiencies in CD3+ and CD4+ T lymphocytes and significant increase of CD8+ lymphocyte subpopulations were found in posterior uveitis. A single-pathogen (HSV) infection was characterized by decreased expression of CD3+ and CD4+ lymphocytes, IgG hypoglobulinaemia. Irrespectively of etiology, both groups of the patients exhibited sharp increase in CD16+ cells, as well as suppressed CD25+ receptors for IL-2, increased numbers of activated CD38+ lymphocytes, enhanced expression of late activation markers (CD95+ and HLA-DR+) in both mixed and single-pathogen uveitis. IFN-alpha is detected at low concentrations, or is absent; increased TNF-alpha production was noted in the tears in cases of posterior uveitis. Statistically significant interrelations have been found between expression of HLA-DR+, and CD3+; CD95+ and HLA-DR+; CD95+ lymphocytes and TNFalpha levels in the course of chronic persistence of Herpesviridae in the patients with chronic uveitis. The degree of immunological disturbances correlated with severity of clinical features.


Purpose: Colitis is a widespread inflammatory bowel disease with heterogeneous etiology (genetic and immunological). It is treated with drugs such as steroidal and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory that, in the long term, can cause side effects. For this reason, the exploitation of natural resources to combat this type of disease is the concern of researchers. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the anti-colitis (anti-inflammatory) effect of β-Chitosane induced in albino mice by acetic acid (5%). Methods: Mices were separated into six groups: the witness (untreated and not ulcerated), negative control group (ulcerated and untreated), the positive control ulcerated and treated with the Dexaméthasone® (1 mg/kg), and test groups ulcerated and treated with different doses of β-Chitosane (0.5 g/ kg; 0.75 g/ kg and 1 g/ kg) for the entire treatment estimated to six-days. β-Chitosane efficacy was evaluated by macroscopic and microscopic scores. Results: The clinical scores showed that β-Chitosane with a dose of 1 g/kg for the entire treatment significantly reduced the damage caused by acetic acid with a score of (3.41 ± 1.45) compared to those of the positive control which reduced less the inflammation (6.26 ± 1.23). The histological study of the colons was able to validate the effect of β-Chitosane by decreasing neutrophil infiltration and ulceration in the colon as well as by structural recovery of the mucosa. Conclusion: These results provide evidence that β-Chitosane has a protective effect against ulcerative colitis that may be due to its antioxidant, anti infectious, anti-inflammatory and healing activities.


Upconversion nanoparticles, Yb,Tm,Fe-doped NaYF4 nanoparticles, are synthesized and modified with polymyxin B for the selective detection of Gram-negative bacteria. Polymyxin B, a cyclic cationic antimicrobial peptide which can specifically bind to the lipopolysaccharides of cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, is used to target and bind Gram-negative bacteria. The bacteria are then quantified by measuring the fluorescence intensity of the upconversion nanoparticle–bacteria complexes at 801 nm under 980 nm excitation. A limit of detection of 36 CFU/mL is achieved in the detection of Escherichia coli, and Escherichia coli in soybean milk is successfully detected. The limited autofluorescence and photobleaching properties of the upconversion nanoparticles make the proposed method useful for in vivo fluorescence imaging of Gram-negative bacteria.


The aim of this study was to assess the efficiency of the local defect correction multi-grid method on solid mechanics test cases showing local singularities and derived from an industrial context. The levels of local refinement are automatically obtained recursively, using Zienkiewicz and Zhu's a posteriori error estimator. Choices of the prolongation operator, the refinement ratio and criterion are discussed in order to give the most satisfactory performances. Comparisons with an h-adaptive refinement method show the efficiency of the tool presented here, in terms of its accuracy and the memory space and processor time required.


A method for preparing high-purity lutetium ultrafine nanocrystalline bulk material, belongs to the technical field of the preparation of nanomaterials. First nanoparticles prepared lutetium; protected under an inert atmosphere, the nanoparticles lutetium sequentially through a 40 mesh, 100 mesh, the 200 mesh sieve, charged with carbide tooling, pre-pressed into a blank, and then sent to a vacuum degree of 1.0x10-7Pa above, a discharge plasma sintering system environment oxygen content below 0.1ppm, and the like; compact nanoparticles of lutetium spark plasma sintering: heating rate 60-120 ℃ / min, the sintering pressure 300-500MPa, the final state sintering temperature of 400-700 deg.] C, and incubated 6-12min final state at the sintering temperature. Lutetium present invention nanocrystalline bulk density reached more than 99%, purity more than 99.95 wt.% In the average grain size of 40nm or less, relative to conventional coarse-grained bulk material lutetium, elastic modulus and microhardness there are improved.


In 1988 it was discovered, that a natural polycationic protein, the trans-acting activator of transcription (TAT) of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), passed very efficiently through cell membranes of cultured mammalian cells. Covalently binding the TAT protein (or a specific peptide sequence of it) to proteins or fluorescent markers allowed these molecules also to traverse the cell membrane. Following this discovery, additional polycationic peptides of natural (vp22 and AntP) and synthetic origin (transportan) have been identified which also facilitate cellular uptake of attached cargos such as genes, proteins, or even nanoparticles. These peptide sequences were named alternatively cell-penetrating peptides (CPP), protein transduction domains (PTD), or Trojan horse peptides. Their common characteristic feature is a large content of basic amino acids, in particular arginin, leading to highly charged molecules. A fairly large range of these peptides is commercially available now but in spite of their potential use for gene transfer, drug delivery, and intracellular imaging their mode of action is still mysterious.


Computing the exact likelihood of data in large Bayesian networks consisting of thousands of vertices is often a difficult task. When these models contain many deterministic conditional probability tables and when the observed values are extremely unlikely even alternative algorithms such as variational methods and stochastic sampling often perform poorly. We present a new importance sampling algorithm for Bayesian networks which is based on variational techniques. We use the updates of the importance function to predict whether the stochastic sampling converged above or below the true likelihood, and change the proposal distribution accordingly. The validity of the method and its contribution to convergence is demonstrated on hard networks of large genetic linkage analysis tasks.


Spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) is one of the major coniferous species represented in Moscow region. It grows on loam or clay loam soils and it is sensitive to soil moisture. The drought of 2010 adversely affected spruce forest. Weak spruce is further highly influenced by various pathogens and pests, among which the most aggressive is bark beetle (Ips Typographus L.). Many researchers have investigated the role of climatic fluctuations in respect of the development of pathogens; however, soil and hydrological factors are often out of the focus. The aim of our work was to study the soil factors affecting the state and resistance of spruce stands. The object of the study was spruce stands of the Moscow educational-experimental forest unit. Forest inventory data in combination with satellite imagery in a GIS environment allowed us to discover a plot with alive resistant spruce surrounded by dead spruce stands of the same age. During field surveys, we investigated soil in both alive and died spruce plots. The study showed that alive spruce forest has developed on soil with specific alternation of horizons of different texture (contains sand layer of varying thickness, underlain by loam horizons). The surrounding soils with dead spruce do not have such a sandy layer. The combination of layers with different texture support accumulation of soil moisture. This moisture, which is trapped by capillary forces in the small pore layer of the soil. Most probably, the ability of soil to store more water has allowed spruce to survive during the drought. We plan to continue our research and investigate more plots with alive spruce stands, to prove our hypothesis.


Tmesiphodimerus Coulon and Yin, new genus (Pselaphitae: Tmesiphorini) is proposed for T. sinensis Yin and Coulon, new species from Hainan, South China (type species), and T. malaysianus Coulon and Yin, new species from Perak, West Malaysia. The new taxa are described, with their major diagnostic features illustrated. The taxonomic placement of Tmesiphodimerus is discussed.


Y.B. Mangunwijaya is known from his architectural and interior designed with emphasis in wastu citra, a design that fulfill the function of the building also the beauty which is created with the truth. Among of his works, the dominant of his design are the worship spaces. Santa Perawan Maria di Fatima church; interior relief in Panti Semedi chapel; Santa Maria Assumpta church; Angin Mammiri seminary; Santo Albertus Magnus Jetis church and chapel are chosen as the sample. This study used qualitative methods. All data were found with literature studies and interviews. The function of this study are to know the concept background and the application of Y.B. Mangunwijaya's concept in this worship space. The results of this study indicate that the interior design style of worship space that Y.B. Mangunwijaya's design relate with the value of Vatican II's, churches that open to the world. Also Y.B. Mangunwijaya uses diaspora church concept or churches that relate with Java cultural value, which is a new idea results from the mix between Y.B. Mangunwijaya's background as an architect with an emphasis on wastu citra, wastu widya, and the values of the Christianity as well as Y.B. Mangunwijaya's understanding of the traditional architectural style Java that is harmony with the natural environment. With this, Christianity value becomes harmony with the culture surround it.


The paper discusses the following questions: "How to start learning to read? How to make sure that the child will learn reading with pleasure? At what stages to divide the learning process? How to prepare classes that will not be rejected by the child at first attempts to teach him to read?" Children who immediately refuse to learn to read have classes that are built in a wrong way not taking into account individual characteristics of children, their difficulties, missing the necessary for them steps, hurting children with the references to the successful learning experience of other children. It is shown that to be ready to learn to read is very important. If a child is not ready, a preparatory phase is needed, the duration of which is individual (from 23 days to 23 months). Adults should also be prepared for classes with the child. It is noted that, otherwise, the preparatory phase for adults is also needed. The author's play method of determining readiness to read is introduced.


The Indonesian government has chosen to implement large-scale social restrictions, or Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar (PSBB), to minimize the spread of COVID-19. PSBB is a government policy aimed at restricting the internal movement of people in a bid to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2. This study aims to assess the impact of such large-scale social restriction measures on the incidence of COVID-19 cases in four provinces of Indonesia. Time series analysis was used to describe trends in COVID-19 cases by using surveillance data from the Ministry of Health of Indonesia. Quasi-Poisson regression with an interaction model was used to estimate the incidence rate ratio (IRR), and this was calculated to compare the incidence rate before and during PSBB implementation. The trend in COVID-19 cases in the provinces of West Java, East Java, Banten, and Jakarta has continued to fluctuate. These four provinces have continued to experience a significant increase in the COVID-19 incidence rate ratio after the implementation of the first and second PSBB periods compared to the  period before PSBB implementation. Lack of proper implementation of the large-scale social restrictions has led to PSBB's ineffectiveness in reducing the number of COVID-19 cases in each of the provinces.


In the last decades, the rise of life expectancy has accelerated the demand for new technological solutions to provide a longer life with improved quality. One of the major areas of the Ambient Assisted Living aims to monitor the elderly location indoors. For this purpose, indoor positioning systems are valuable tools and can be classified depending on the need of a supporting infrastructure. Infrastructure-based systems require the investment on expensive equipment and existing infrastructure-free systems, although rely on the pervasively available characteristics of the buildings, present some limitations regarding the extensive process of acquiring and maintaining fingerprints, the maps that store the environmental characteristics to be used in the localisation phase. These problems hinder indoor positioning systems to be deployed in most scenarios. To overcome these limitations, an algorithm for the automatic construction of indoor floor plans and environmental fingerprints is proposed. With the use of crowdsourcing techniques, where the extensiveness of a task is reduced with the help of a large undefined group of users, the algorithm relies on the combination of multiple sources of information, collected in a non-annotated way by common smartphones. The crowdsourced data is composed by inertial sensors, responsible for estimating the users' trajectories, Wi-Fi radio and magnetic field signals. Wi-Fi radio data is used to cluster the trajectories into smaller groups, each corresponding to specific areas of the building. Distance metrics applied to magnetic field signals are used to identify geomagnetic similarities between different users' trajectories. The building's floor plan is then automatically created, which results in fingerprints labelled with physical locations. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm achieved comparable floor plan and fingerprints to those acquired manually, allowing the conclusion that is possible to automate the setup process of infrastructure-free systems. With these results, this solution can be applied in any fingerprinting-based indoor positioning system.


In this work we focus our study on the transition from hadron to deconfined quark matter, and we shall assume that the phase transition is first-order with two independent components, which are related to the local conservation of baryon number and the global conservation of electric charge. Relativistic effective theories are employed to describe the hadron and quark phase. Two different hadronic models are adopted: an adjustable model and the well known Boguta–Bodmer model. Deconfined phase is described employing the MIT bag model. Previous studies showed that the choice of the hadronic model as well as its parameters (including nucleon effective mass and hyperonic coupling schemes) have influence on phase transition properties. Our aim is to analyze if such results on phase transition play an important role on the modeling of neutron stars. To carry out such analysis, the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equations are employed to determine the maximum mass for each combination of hadronic model and parameters.


Background:  A prospective observational study in a university hospital setting to study the immunohistochemical (IHC) characteristics of non‐neoplastic human lacrimal sac epithelium.


Soft defects in integrated circuits (ICs) are defined as failures when the IC is partially functional, but will not operate properly under all specified conditions - these conditions may be within or outside normal limits. To address soft defects, a laser scanning methodology termed soft defect localization (SDL) was developed that rapidly locates soft defects in integrated circuits. The SDL method evaluates the pass/fail state of a device in response to localized laser heating to successfully localize soft defects. The method operates globally by scanning the laser over the entire die to quickly isolate soft defects in a matter of minutes. The SDL imaging system and methodology will be described followed by the presentation of several examples.


Pareiorhina carrancas, new species, is described from a headwater stream of the rio Grande basin, Alto Parana, in the State of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It is distinguishable from P. rudolphi, the type and only other species of Pareiorhina, by the combination of several characters, such as: anterior profile of head elliptical, ventral border of rostral region and dorsal border of upper lip covered with odontodes, presence of a low elongate ridge on postdorsal surface of trunk, inferior surfaces of first pectoral, pelvic, and anal-fin ray covered by conspicuously pointed odontodes. The external morphology of P. carrancas was compared to that of putatively allied taxa. Pareiorhina carrancas was found in a pristine stretch of a third order headwater stream, with dense vegetal coverage. The probable original illustrations of the holotype of Hypostomus (Rhinelepis) microps Ihering (=Pareiorhina rudolphi) are published for the first time.


The title compound, C15H10ClNO4, belongs to the class of 1,2-diketones, which have important applications in both synthetic organic chemistry and supramolecular chemistry. A dihedral angle of 9.03 (1)° is found between the mean planes of the two benzene rings. C—H⋯O interactions help to stabilize the crystal structure.


In IEEE 802.15.4 beacon-enabled mode, the personal area network (PAN) coordinator can assign guaranteed time slot (GTS) to allocate a particular duration for requested devices. The main challenge in GTS mechanism is how the PAN coordinator allocates time slot duration for the devices which request GTS. However, if the allocated devices use GTS slot partially or the traffic pattern is not suitable, the wasted bandwidth will increase which make degrade the performance of network. In order to overcome the above mentioned problem, this paper proposes a partitioned GTS allocation scheme (PEGAS) for IEEE 802.15.4 networks. PEGAS aims to decide the precise time for the starting time (GTSstart), the end of GTS (GTSend), and the GTS length (GTSlength) allocation for requested devices taking into the value of superframe order (SO), length of data packet and arrival data packet rate. The simulation results show that the proposed mechanisms outperform the IEEE 802.15.4 standard in terms of total of transmitted packet, throughput, energy efficiency, and latency.


The Bracero Program recruited more than 4.5 million temporary Mexican male laborers to work in the agriculture industry in the U.S. from 1942-1964. This program represented one of the largest influxes of Mexican male migrants into the United States, and one of the biggest bi-national efforts of turning pre-modern laboring bodies into abject bodies. While the majority of Bracero scholarship focuses on nation, citizenship, modernity, the fracturing of the Mexican family, and migration, this essay provides an account of how power, legibility, and desire get configured in Bracero's lack of leisure within the domestic sphere by examining selected images photographer Leonard Nadel's 1956 documentary archive. It argues that even in times of supposed leisure, their gender roles were reconfigured through various forms of reproductive labor in the homosocial domestic sphere.


This review summarizes the ongoing research activities on morphological changes being brought about by subjecting the natural cellulosic fibers to various chemical treatments. Most of the natural fibers being used as reinforcements in poly meric resins to form the polymer matrix composites are considered. The natural fibers contain an abundant number of polar hydroxyl groups and most of these hydroxyl groups are removed or modified in the cellulosic fibers when chemical treatments such as alkali, potassium permanganate, acetylation, benzoylation, acrylation, and silane treatments are carried out. A comprehensive review of mechanical characterization carried out on various combinations of natural fiber-polymer composites were presented. This review is expected to provide a ready reference for the researchers interested in the preparation of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites.This review summarizes the ongoing research activities on morphological changes being brought about by subjecting the natural cellulosic fibers to various chemical treatments. Most of the natural fibers being used as reinforcements in poly meric resins to form the polymer matrix composites are considered. The natural fibers contain an abundant number of polar hydroxyl groups and most of these hydroxyl groups are removed or modified in the cellulosic fibers when chemical treatments such as alkali, potassium permanganate, acetylation, benzoylation, acrylation, and silane treatments are carried out. A comprehensive review of mechanical characterization carried out on various combinations of natural fiber-polymer composites were presented. This review is expected to provide a ready reference for the researchers interested in the preparation of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites.


Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has been an attractive research area for the last three decades and mature OCR systems reporting near to 100% recognition rates are available for many scripts/languages today. Despite these develop-ments, research on recognition of text in many languages is still in its early days, Urdu being one of them. The limited existing literature on Urdu OCR is either limited to isolated characters or considers limited vocabularies in fixed font sizes. This research presents a segmentation free and size invariant technique for recognition of Urdu words in Nastaliq font using ligatures as units of recognition. Ligatures, separated into primary ligatures and diacritics, are recognized using right-to-left HMMs. Diacritics are then associated with the main body using position information and the resulting ligatures are validated using a dictionary. The system evaluated on Urdu words realized promising recognition rates at ligature and word levels.


We report a patient with a long history of pan‐hypopituitarism treated with pituitary snuff who developed superior mediastinal fibrosis involving the visceral pericardium, retroperitoneal fibrosis, and a peculiar widespread nodular fibrosis of the lungs.


Generation of photo-realistic images of human hair is a challenging topic in computer graphics. The difficulty in solving the problem in this aspect comes mainly from the extremely large number of hairs and the high complexity of the hair shapes. Regarding to the modeling and rendering of hair-type objects,Kajiya proposed a so-called texel model for producing furry surfaces. However,Kajiya's model could be only used for the generation of short hairs. In this paper,a concise and practical approach is presented to solve the problem of rendering long hairs, and in particular the method of rendering the smooth segmental texels for the generation of long hairs is addressed.


Summary

An approximation to the traveltime field is calculated for an elastic wave that propagates in a homogeneous anisotropic layer and is reflected at a plane boundary. The traveltime is approximated by a Taylor series expansion with the third derivative of the traveltime being taken into account. The coefficients of the series refer to the seismic ray, which is locally the fastest ray. Simple formulae are obtained for orthorhombic media in the crystal coordinate system, which relate the traveltimes of the reflected waves to the elastic constants of the medium. A numerical example is presented for wave propagation in orthorhombic olivine, which is a constituent of the Earth's mantle. A second example is given by an isotropic host rock with a set of parallel cracks, which is an important model for wave propagation in the Earth's crust. The elastic parameters can be determined by measuring the reflection times as a function of source–receiver offset. The approximate traveltime–distance curves are compared with traveltimes obtained from seismic ray tracing.


An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry( ICP-MS) was developed for the direct determination of Be,Na,Mg,Al,K,Ca,Ti,V,Cr,Mn,Fe,Co,Ni,Cu,Zn,Ga,Zr,Mo,Sr,Cd,Ba, Pd,Ag,Sn,Au and Pb in lithium hexafluorophosphate. The sample was dissolved with absolute ethyl alcohol to analyze the above 26 impurity elements in the solution by ICP-MS. The condensation and deposition of high concentrations of carbon in mass cone interface and ion lens,which will decrease the sensitivity of element analysis,can be avoided effectively by introducing O2to plasma. The mass spectral interferences of polyatomic ions to analytes were corrected by collision reaction cell( CRC). The matrix matching method was used to corrected matrix effect. Satisfactory linearity of each working curve of 26 impurity elements was obtained. The correlation coefficients being over 0. 9995,the detection limits for the investigated elements were in the range of 0. 6- 32 ng / L,the relative standard deviation of each element within 2. 5%- 7. 3%,and the recovery of each element at 90. 6%- 108. 6%. The method had been applied to the determination of trace elements in lithium hexafluorophosphate with satisfactory results.


The reasons of electromagnetic compatibility problems occurred in the shipbuilding spots and in the process of production experiments were analyzed.In light of the relative rules and regulations,some countermeasure and solutions were put forward for the electromagnetic compatibility problems.


At the moment, almost any electronic product incorporates measuring sensors for converting physical quantities. These devices produce a signal of measurement information in a form suitable for transmission and further conversion. As a rule, the output signal from the measurement sensors undergoes first preprocessing such as amplification, filtering, modulation, etc. After preprocessing the prepared signal, various architectures of analog‑to‑digital converters (ADC) are used. The choice of ADC depends on the parameters of the conversion signal and the dynamic characteristics of the sensors used. This paper considers converting a square‑amplitude modulated signal from a current sensor to a pulse width using a phase‑locked loop (PLL). The architecture of the ADC based on the PLL circuit allows obtaining a linear dependence of the output signal duty cycle on the value of the measured input current. The layout of the device is implemented on a printed circuit board, the main components of which are: current sensor, which is a bridge circuit of magnetoresistive conductors; phase‑sensitive rectifier and microcircuit of a two‑channel PLL circuit made inTechnological Center.


Dietary flavonoid intake, especially berry flavonoids, has been associated with antioxidant functions and metal chelation in mechanistic studies. Purpose: We examined the hypothesis that freeze‐dried strawberries (FDS) improve antioxidant biomarkers in adults with abdominal adiposity and elevated serum lipids. Methods: In a randomized dose‐response controlled trial, 60 volunteers [5 men and 55 women; age: 49 ± 10 years; BMI: 36 ± 5 kg/m2 (mean±SD)] were assigned to one of the following arms: low dose FDS (LD‐FDS) (25g/d), low dose control (LD‐C), high dose FDS (HD‐FDS) (50g/d), and high dose control (HD‐C) beverages for 12 weeks. Control beverages were matched for calories and total fiber. Serum levels of trace elements (copper, iron, selenium, zinc) and whole blood glutathione (GSH), and catalase activity were examined at screening (0 week) and after 12 weeks intervention. Results: At 12 weeks, glutathione levels were higher in HD‐FDS vs. LD‐FDS, as well as vs. HD‐C, and catalase activity was lower in HD‐FDS vs. baseline (all P<0.05). No differences were noted in serum trace elements following FDS intervention.


With the introduction of increasingly complex Web services over the last decade, there has been an explosion of interest in service-oriented architecture (SOA), a structural style whose goal is to achieve a coupling of interacting services - functionalities such as filling out an online application for an account, viewing an online bank statement, or placing an online booking or airline ticket order. These services operate through specific interfaces that control and define their operation. However, due to the evolving nature of enterprises, new services and applications must often be incorporated into these same interfaces. Such incorporation can be costly and complex if the original interface is inflexible or incompatible with the technology utilized by the new applications. In his new book, data architecture guru James Bean teaches you exactly how to design web service interfaces that are capable of being extended to accommodate ever changing business needs and promote incorporation simplicity. The book first provides an overview of critical SOA principles, thereby offering a basic conceptual summary. The book then provides explicit, tactical, and real-world techniques for ensuring compliance with these principles. Using a focused, tutorial-based approach the book provides working syntactical examples - described by Web services standards such as XML, XML Schemas, WSDL and SOAP - that can be used to directly implement interface design procedures, thus allowing you immediately generate value from your efforts. In summary, SOA and Web Services Interface Design provides the basic theory, but also design techniques and very specific implementable encoded interface examples that can be immediately employed in your work, making it an invaluable practical guide to any practitioner in today's exploding Web-based service market. Provides chapters on topics of introductory WSDL syntax and XML Schema syntax, taking take the reader through fundamental concepts and into deeper techniques and allowing them to quickly climb the learning curve.Provides working syntactical examples - described by Web services standards such as XML, XML Schemas, WSDL and SOAP - that can be used to directly implement interface design procedures.Real-world examples generated using the Altova XML Spy tooling reinforce applicability, allowing you to immediately generate value from their efforts.A companion website with all artwork and code examples accompanies the book.


"The Effect of Text Length on Students' Reading Comprehension" by Yan Wang Theory and Practice in Language Studies Volume 1, Number 9, September 2011, Page(s): 1160-1166 After careful and considered review of the content and authorship of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, the above paper has been found to be in violation of Academy Publisher's Publication Principles. The author (Yan Wang) has taken full responsibility for this violation. This paper contains significant portions of original text from the paper cited below. The original text was copied without attribution (including appropriate references to the original authors and/or paper title) and without permission. Due to the nature of this violation, reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper, and future references should be made to the following article: Saeed. M., & Abdolmehdi. R. (2004). The Impact of Text Length on EFL Students' Reading Comprehension. Asian EFL Journal , Volume 6, Issue 3, Article 9.


Summary. In the two‐sample comparison of survival times with long‐term survivors, the overall difference between the two distributions reflects differences occurring in early follow‐up for susceptible subjects and in long‐term follow‐up for nonsusceptible subjects. In this setting, we propose statistics for testing (i) no overall, (ii) no short‐term, and (iii) no long‐term difference between the two distributions to be compared. The statistics are derived as follows. A semiparametric model is defined that characterizes a short‐term effect and a long‐term effect. By approximating this model about no difference in early survival, a time‐dependent proportional hazards model is obtained. The statistics are obtained from this working model. The asymptotic distributions of the statistics for testing no overall or no short‐term effects are ascertained, while that of the statistic for testing no long‐term effect is valid only when the short‐term effect is small. Simulation studies investigate the power properties of the proposed tests for different configurations. The results show the interesting behavior of the proposed tests for situations where a short‐term effect is expected. An example investigating the impact of progesterone receptors status on local tumor relapse for patients with early breast cancer illustrates the use of the proposed tests.


The present article is related to a research based on ethnography and memory reconstruction guided by oral history. Its main purpose is to reveal relevant characteristics about a social and educational project implemented in Heliopolis community, in the city of Sao Paulo, seeking to understand the changes experienced by adolescents in their everyday life, relating the possible contributions for structuring actions which use sport as the guideline. The results underscored as most significant are the relationship between teacher and student, the feeling of belonging and the continuity of learning. The study is concluded by indicating the importance of careful pedagogic treatment when offering sports as the focus of action towards a community.


This chapter explains fundamental differences between seeing and recognition, notably how and why our brains use conscious seeing to control actions like looking and reaching, while we learn both view-, size-, and view-specific object recognition categories, and view-, size-, and position-invariant object recognition categories, as our eyes search a scene during active vision. The dorsal Where cortical stream and the ventral What cortical stream interact to regulate invariant category learning by solving the View-to-Object Binding problem whereby inferotemporal, or IT, cortex associates only views of a single object with its learned invariant category. Feature-category resonances between V2/V4 and IT support category recognition. Symptoms of visual agnosia emerge when IT is lesioned. V2 and V4 interact to enable amodal completion of partially occluded objects behind their occluders, without requiring that all occluders look transparent. V4 represents the unoccluded surfaces of opaque objects and triggers a surface-shroud resonance with posterial parietal cortex, or PPC, that renders surfaces consciously visible, and enables them to control actions. Clinical symptoms of visual neglect emerge when PPC is lesioned. A unified explanation is given of data about visual crowding, situational awareness, change blindness, motion-induced blindness, visual search, perceptual stability, and target swapping. Although visual boundaries and surfaces obey computationally complementary laws, feedback between boundaries and surfaces ensure their consistency and initiate figure-ground separation, while commanding our eyes to foveate sequences of salient features on object surfaces, and thereby triggering invariant category learning. What-to-Where stream interactions enable Where's Waldo searches for desired objects in cluttered scenes.


ABSTRACT In past decades, China has experienced rapid urbanization, which has brought about environmental changes. The assessment of regional environmental risk (RER) is a complex study for evaluating risk associated with risk sources, risk receptors, and risk retardation under uncertainty. This study aims to evaluate the RER through the holistic macro-assessment, and to ascertain management guide for rapid urbanization to diminish the RER. The results of our case study in the Su-Xi-Chang city cluster, which is a metropolitan area that largely contributed to the economic growth of Jiangsu Province, showed that the RER scores constantly increased from 0.506 to 0.817 during the period from 2001 to 2011. Coupled with the current tendency, in addition, scenario predictions revealed that rapid expansion of urban land would cause a multiple increase in RER. However, RER would begin to decline if the rate of urban population growth (UPG) stabilizes at 1.7%. Moreover, when the urban population ratio increases to 78% along the previous trend, a higher UPG corresponds to a lower declining rate of RER. Otherwise, a lower UPG corresponds to an earlier decline of RER. Finally, implementing city cluster plans was discussed to provide a scientific basis for guiding risk management and sustainable development of urbanization.


Technological parameters (bulk and volume weight, restoration, filling and raw materials replacement factors) are defined when extracting biologically active substances from wild raw materials with curd whey in comparison with spirit. The substantiation of the hydro module of the process and calculations for output of whey extracts from raw materials (lime blossom, common nettle and ordinary oregano) is given.


PVDF-PET woven tubal hollow fiber composite membrane were prepared using PET woven tubal for support layer,PVDF for film base material and PVA for hydrophilization modifiers in this study.The effects of the parameters of woven tube,PVA concentration in casting solution on membrane performance and the relevant properties on filter municipal secondary effluent were investigated.The test results showed that when outside diameters(OD)of the PET woven tubal increased or the mesh decreased,the water flux and average pore diameter of composite membrane increased dramatically,while the porosity decreased.When OD was 2.1mm and mesh was 45(~325μm),the water flux was 1 516L/(m2·h),the porosity attained 61.6%.And with the increase of PVA concentration,the water flux,average pore diameter and the porosity of composite membrane increased,meanwhile the holes in the surface of composite membrane changed from tiny to large.When PVA concentration was 4%,the composite membrane showed the best performance.


We investigate simulated changes in the annular modes in historical and RCP 4.5 scenario simulations of 37 models from the fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), a much larger ensemble of models than has previously been used to investigate annular mode trends, with improved resolution and forcings. The CMIP5 models on average simulate increases in the Northern Annular Mode (NAM) and Southern Annular Mode (SAM) in every season by 2100, and no CMIP5 model simulates a significant decrease in either the NAM or SAM in any season. No significant increase in the NAM or North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is simulated in response to volcanic aerosol, and no significant NAM or NAO response to solar irradiance variations is simulated. The CMIP5 models simulate a significant negative SAM response to volcanic aerosol in MAM and JJA, and a significant positive SAM response to solar irradiance variations in MAM, JJA and DJF.


Abstract The article argues that filmmakers communicate character emotions not only by directly showing their emotional expressions, but also by metaphoric representation of emotions in picture and sound. Based on research on audiovisual and on emotion metaphors, the paper discusses the case of SHAME-metaphors. While shame emotions are considered in psychology as "mixed feelings" being difficult to articulate, it will be in several analyses shown that metaphors (such as SHAME IS HIDING AWAY FROM THE WORLD) help filmmakers to represent vividly in vision and sound the complex bodily and culturally based sensations and feelings of shame. Using canonical film examples of drama and comedy the article will closely analyse metaphoric scenarios of shame that address embodied associations and schemata in their viewers. In order to scrutinize more precisely genre specific narratives of shame, the study furthermore considers how these emotion metaphors contribute to genre typical paradigm scenarios (de Sousa) of shame. These imply redundantly performed types of complex emotion situation in these genres, including a characteristic set of strategies to cope with shameful situations. Consequently the article will also touch normative effects of audiovisual emotion metaphors in standard narrative situations of shame. Resume Le present article pretend que des cineastes communiquent les emotions des protagonistes non seulement en montrant leurs expressions emotionnelles directement, mais aussi par la representation audiovisuelle et metaphorique d'emotions. En s'appuyant sur des recherches relatives aux metaphores audiovisuelles ou emotionnelles, cet article analyse le cas des metaphores concernant la honte. Alors que les emotions liees a la honte sont considerees en psychologie comme des sentiments ambigus difficiles a articuler, plusieurs analyses montreront que des metaphores (comme AVOIR HONTE EST SE CACHER DU MONDE) aident les cineastes a representer vivement les sensations et emotions complexes, a la fois basees sur le corps et la culture, liees a la honte. En s'appuyant sur des exemples classiques (de drame ou de comedie) cet article examinera en detail les scenarios metaphoriques de la honte qui offrent des associations corporelles et des schemas aux spectateurs. En outre, pour analyser des narrations de honte specifiques aux genres, le present article etudie comment ces metaphores emotionnelles contribuent aux scenarios de honte typiques pour certains genres (de Sousa). Elles impliquent differentes categories (executees de maniere redondante) de situations emotionnelles complexes dans ces genres, dont un certain nombre de strategies characteristiques pour gerer des situations honteuses. Dans le present article il sera donc aussi question des effets normatifs des metaphores emotionnelles audiovisuelles dans les narrations classiques liees a la honte.


The article by Raja and Bhasin 1 assessed the independent predictors of sleep quality of 375 call handlers, who were under 40 years of age, in international call centers. Sleep quality was assessed using Athens insomnia scale. About 78% of participants were male and 83.5% of respondents were unmarried. Prevalence of insomnia, including suspicious cases, was 77.6%. By logistic regression analysis, independent predictors for sleep quality were found to be smoking, poor social support, heavy workload, lack of relaxation facility at office, and prolonged travel time to office. I would like to comment on their study. First, Patterson, et al, reported that short and long sleep duration and late chronotype were associated with physical inactivity, sedentary behavior, and dietary problems. They also reported that percentages of current smoking in short and adequate sleepers were 9.8% and 6.9%, and percentages of current smoking in those with late and intermediate chronotypes were 14.9% and 7.4%, respectively. There is also clear evidence that smoking status is closely related to obesity, and that short sleep duration is significantly associated with subsequent obesity. Taking all these together, I recommend the authors including obesity index and chronotype as independent variables in their analyses too. Related to the first query, there is a report on sex difference in the relationship between sleep and obesity. Li, et al, reported that short and long sleep duration are both risk factors for metabolic syndrome in men. In contrast, there is no significant association between sleep and metabolic syndrome in women. Raja and Bhasin handled mainly male workers, and the association in female works should therefore be assessed in further studies. Finally, the working status is closely related to sleep and lifestyle factors. There is a significant association between sleep and mental health. Taken together, the causality of the association between sleep quality and its predictors should be comprehensively evaluated.


Variation is part of everyday life and exists all the time. Variation is the product of differences. Difference in nature of processes results in different products during the time. Proper diagnosis of variation patterns in minimizing the loss is necessary. Continuous quality improvement is regarded as successive reduction of performance variation for delivering high quality products to the customers. In Deming viewpoint, quality deviation is classified to two groups of common and special causes. Variation is not a new word, but understanding and concerns about it are modern. First step in performance variation management is acceptance and belief of variation. For proper management of variations, appropriate tools should be used for detection and display of them. Control are useful tools in recognition, analysis and removing process performance variations.


Poly(2,6-quinoxaline)s having methyl (P(2,6-Qx(Me)) and ethyl (P(2,6-Qx(Et)) substituents in 3-position have been prepared by organometallic dehalogenation polycondensation of the corresponding dichloro monomers in high yields. P(2,6-Qx(Et)) gives an [η] value of 3.38 dl g -1 . These polymers exhibit π-π * absorption peaks at a longer wavelength by above 20 nm compared with that of non-substituted P(2,6-Qx). Films of the polymers give rise to an electrochemically active cycle in the reduction region in an acetonitrile solution, and they show a reduction (n-doping) peak in the range of -1.83 through -2.03 V vs. Ag/Ag + . The n-doping levels of P(2,6-Qx(Me)) and P(2,6-Qx(Et)) are 0.33 and 0.28, respectively. The electrochemical n-doping of the film of P(2,6-Qx(Et)) is accompanied by changes in its UV-vis spectrum (electrochromism), and new absorption peaks emerge in the range of 504 to 793 nm by the n-doping. The polymers are also electrochemically active in acidic aqueous media.


for an Invited Paper for the MAR07 Meeting of The American Physical Society Biophysical studies of biological membranes SARAH KELLER, University of Washington No abstract available.


The instrument described is from a design by Benjamin Franklin, of modern manufacture by Gerhard Finkenbeiner of Waltham, Mass., played by Vera Meyer of Cambridge, Mass., and encompasses three octaves. Two notes from each octave were investigated at varying amplitudes of excitation and different speeds of rotation. Data will be presented to show that harmonic richness is a function of octave, and is relatively unaffected by amplitude of excitation; also that the rotation of the disks splits the degeneracy of the normal modes. An analysis will be presented of the splitting by decomposition into traveling waves around the circumference of the disk, which relates rotation speed and the shear velocity of sound in the glass medium.


End structure for a side-viewing endoscope with an end body (1), a receiving groove (2) whose front end on the end face of the end body (1) is open, one in the receiving groove (2) lifting member pivotally received (3) for a treatment instrument (60), and an end cap (30) having a closed front end and an open rear end, which at the end body (1) is detachably fastened and surrounding marked by one at the end face of the end body (1) provided in the bridge (11) extending across the front opening of the receiving groove (2), one with the bridge (11) at the front end of the end body (1) formed recess (112a) and provided one at the closed end of the end cap (30) projection (33) in the recess (112a) engages when the end cap (30) complete the end body (1) is attached.


Halobacterium halobium belongs to a class of organisms termed "Archaebacteria" by Woose and his coworkers (1). This bacterium displays both prokaryotic and eukaryotic features and is proposed to constitute a major line of descent besides prokaryotes and eukaryotes. One interesting feature of H. halobium is its ability to utilize light energy without involvement of photosynthesis. It is known that light transduction is achieved by means of a membrane protein (bacteriorhodopsin) which catalyzes the light dependent translocation of protons out of cells and hence produces a transmembrane electrochemical gradient. This gradient is not wasted but is used by cells to synthesize ATP and to drive other transport processes (2).


The wheat growing fields of north Karnataka were non-saline (ECe < 4 dSm-1) and pH of these soils was buffered at 8.4. Most of the fields were low in organic carbon content. Among major nutrients, Nitrogen was the most deficient with the average available nitrogen status of 148 kg ha-1. The available phosphorus was rated as medium to high and available potassium was very high. Among the micronutrients, Fe, Zn and Cu were deficient in the wheat soils whereas, Mn available status was rated high. The grain yield remained significantly higher under STCR fertilizer dose that had 190:89:91 kg ha-1 N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively compared to recommended fertilizer dose (100:75:50 kg ha-1 N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively) under LMH category of soil test values. Under the LML category of the soil fertility status, STCR dose (178:100:135 kg ha-1 N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively) registered the highest grain (29.2 q ha-1) and straw yield (49.2 q ha-1) of the crop. This treatment was significantly higher compared to all other treatments except the dose that was modified by -+ 25 per cent for nitrogen and potassium which were low in soil (125:75:62 kg ha-1 N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively). Similarly, STCR (200:89:103 kg ha-1 N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively) and + 50 per cent modified fertilizer dose (150:56:25 kg ha-1 N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively) recorded higher grain and straw yields compared to the RDF under LHH category of soil nutrient status category. Fertilizer use efficiency remained the least and significantly lower in STCR dose compared to all other soil test based doses.


The invention provides a display substrate, a making method thereof and a display device. The display substrate comprises a liner substrate and an alignment layer formed on the liner substrate, and conductive patterns used for dispersing static electricity are formed between the liner substrate and the alignment layer. The conductive patterns are arranged between the liner substrate and the alignment layer, when the alignment layer is aligned by adopting rubbing technology, static electricity generated by the rubbing technology can be quickly dispersed through the conductive patterns, and accordingly harmful effect caused by the static electricity on the display substrate can be avoided effectively.


Over 34.6 million people around the world suffer from type 1 diabetes [1]. There is currently no cure for type 1 diabetes and, therefore, patients with this disease require constant care, especially in controlling the level of their serum glucose[1]. Patients with type 1 diabetes nowadays can live an almost normal life with insulin therapy in conjunction with serum glucose monitoring. Before the discovery of insulin, these patients would likely have died from complications of diabetic ketoacidosis. Insulin is a small protein produced by a subgroup of cells called β-cells in the pancreas located in the islet of Langerhans, named after Paul Langerhans, the German medical student who discovered it in 1869[2]. Soon later, it was found that the absence of pancreas cells, in particular the islet of Langerhans, caused type 1 diabetes [3]. Several attempts were made to use pancreas extract to treat diabetic dogs (induced by removal of pancreas). However, none of these attempts were successful except the one led by Frederick Banting [4]. Banting figured out that the reason why the whole pancreas extract did not work was a result of contamination from the non-islet parenchymal tissue part of the pancreas. With help from J. J. R. Macleod and his summer student, Charles Best, Banting ligated the pancreatic ducts of the dog to induce degeneration of the pancreatic acini, leaving the endocrine islet of Langerhans intact. He then isolated the islet extract and called it "isletin." Isletin, later known as insulin, was used to rescue a pancreatectomized dog named Marjorie. Later they recruited James Collip, a biochemist, who helped them purify isletin from fetal calf pancreas, before the development of pancreatic acini. Banting and Macleod received the Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923 and shared their prize with Best and Collip [4]. Insulin protein itself became the first protein to have its amino acid sequence determined by Federick Sanger, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work [5]. The three dimensional x-ray crystallographic structure of insulin was determined by Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, who also received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of protein x-ray crystallography [6].


The utility model discloses a liquid distribution device of a falling film evaporator, which is installed at the upper end of a heat exchange pipe of a vertical multitubular falling film evaporator. The liquid distribution device comprises an upper cylinder, an upper cone, a middle cylinder, a lower cone and a baseplate which are integrally and coaxially processed or press-molded; the outer diameter of the upper cylinder is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the heat exchange pipe; an orbicular spigot is formed on the lower rim of the side wall of the upper cylinder and is in contact with the top surface of the heat exchange pipe; an overflow trough or an overflow hole is formed on the middle cylinder in the circumferential direction. The liquid distribution device in the utility model is applied in an overflow manner, and the liquid distribution device is automatically centered in the heat exchange pipe, so that the clearance between the liquid distribution device and the pipe wall is always uniform and consistent; and the overflowing liquid can be uniformly distributed on the pipe wall to form a uniform liquid film, thereby enlarging heat exchange area, improving vaporization efficiency, and achieving more than 50 percent of evaporation efficiency. The liquid distribution device with simple structure can be in batch production as a small element, thereby greatly increasing exchangeability of products and convenient disassembly and assembly.


Detail of the Renaissance Revival balustrade with finial (with electric bulb) and lion's head, above Corinthian colonnade; John D. and Adolph Spreckels donated the Spreckels Organ, one of the world's largest outdoor pipe organs, to the City of San Diego in 1914 for the Panama-California Exposition. This unique organ contains 4,530 pipes ranging in length from the size of a pencil to 32 feet and is housed in an ornate vaulted structure with highly embellished gables (which contain electric lighting for evening performances). Since 1917, San Diego has had a civic organist, who performs free weekly Sunday concerts. During the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition the stage size was doubled and a fountain added. The outdoor seating accommodates over 2,400. The sound is powered by a 20 HP blower housed in the basement, and can be heard for 3 miles. Source: Balboa Park (San Diego) [website]; http://www.balboapark.org/ (accessed 7/24/2013)


The physiological indexes of colony of new maize variety Luoyu 818 were studied. The results showed that: under the suitable planting density 67500 plant /hm2,the yield structure of Luoyu 818 was as follows: the number of spike 67068 spike/hm2,number of row per spike 15.6,number of grain per row 35.8,and 1000-grain weight 326.5 g; the colony productivity was exerted sufficiently,and its yield reached 11454. 2 kg /hm2. Under the condition of suitable planting density,all physiological indexes of Luoyu 818 colony developed harmoniously,the leaf area index( LAI) reached the maximum value( 5. 72) at silking stage,and it kept at a high level for a long time and was still 3. 19 at maturing stage; the gross of leaf area duration( LAD) reached3569100( m2·d) /hm2,and LAD distributed rationally in various growth periods; the net assimilation rate( NAR) was well coordinated with LAD; the total dry matter accumulation amount was 25113. 7 kg /hm2,and the dry matter accumulation amount after silking stage accounted for 60. 9% of the total amount; the colony growth rate( CGR) reached 256. 7 kg /( hm2·d); the grain-filling rate always stayed at a reasonable level.


Objective To investigate clinical characteristics,diagnosis and treatment of adenomysis of uterus.Methods Clinical data of 130 patients with adenomysis of uterus confirmed by histo-pathology admitted in our hospital over a period from January 2003 to December 2008 were analyzed retrospectively.Results The 130 operations for adenomysis of uterus accounted for 14.7% of total gynecological operations in the same period.116 cases were diagnosed as adenomysis of uterus preoperatively with 89.23% diagnostic accordance rate.Among all patients 94(72.31%)cases had dysmenorrhea.The serum CA-125 was positive in 72.3% of patients measured.The relief rate of dysmenorrhea treated with hysterectomy was 100%,while that in women treated with adenomyosis resection of uterus was 95.3%.Dysmenorrhea was relieved in 94.4% of patients treated with conservative operation combined with hormonotherapy after one year and dysmenorrhea was relieved in 88.0% of the patients after two years.8 patients desired to preserve their fertility and 5 patients had pregnancy after operation,of which,2 women had term delivery and 3 women had spontaneous abortion.Conclusion Hysterectomy remains the dominant and radical treatment of adenomysis of uterus up to now.But for younger patients who desire to preserve their fertility,age,histo-pathological type of the lesion and family economic condition should be comprehensively analyzed to work out an individualized treatment scheme for the patients.


Relatively, little is k n o ~ ~ z about sleep distur-!~ances among children, this descriptive study, examined a wriety of corntnon sleep behaviors in a group of 500 elementary school children aged frorn 4 to 10 yecrrs (median 7 years), using a battevy of sleep questionnaires. The prevalence of parent-deji'ned sleep problems ranged.from head banging (3.2%) to teeth grinding (19.2%) and bed wetting (21.2%) with 94 clzildren (18.8%) of over all sample described as having significant sleep problems. Polysomnographic recordings were obtained frorn 21 children with severe sleep disturbances : rhythmic movement disorders ( 4 children), obstructive sleep apnen syncfrome (OSAS) 5 childrtw, noct~irnal en~lresis (5 children) arid other parasonuzins constitute 7 children. One of the four children with rhythmic nlovernent clisor~ler~s proved by polysomnogruphic records (EEG) tcj had noct~lnzal frontal lobe epilepsy, while 3 clddren out of the five children with clinically suspected OSAS met its polysomnogruphic criteria . We concluded from this study that sleep disturbances are common in school ugcd c-lzildrun and polysomnography is of great value in diugnosis cf OSAS and violent noct~trnal movements.


This Paper reviewed and summarized the development of Wuhan city tourism since the reform and opening-up,which was divided into four stages.With four development advantages,Wuhan yacht economy will become the leader to promote city tourism transformation in a new era.Finally,the author gave some suggestions to the development of yacht economy in Wuhan city,from the policy,management,planning,personnel and facilities.


This paper investigates the housing-macroeconomic nexus in Taiwan with endogenous structural breaks during 1991–2006. GDP and CPI are taken into consideration for examining the inflation hedging ability of Taiwan's housing returns and the contribution of the housing market to economic growth. The empirical results show that the growth of GDP actually affects inflation, but it does not cause the growth in housing returns. In particular, when taking the time trend into account, it is found that the effect of inflation on housing returns is negative and the effect of housing returns on inflation is positive. This evidence demonstrates the ineffectiveness of inflation hedging of Taiwan's housing during the period of study and the opportunistic characteristic of investors. In addition, the growth of the housing market is not beneficial for economic growth in the long-run, yet it leads to higher inflation in the short-run.


This work aims to disclose the technology works by contemporary educational psychologists of the Russian Federation and Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) on the emotional development of children of younger preschool age. Peculiarities of children of primary school age, emotional development and emotional development in younger preschoolers. During the analysis of psycho-pedagogical and methodical literature there is a set of methods aimed at the emotional development of the younger preschoolers: art therapy, music therapy and fairy tale therapy.


The Melting and crystallization behavior of 1,2-polybutadiene with 25-% crystallinity were observed by DSC thermograms at various heating and cooling rates. The effects of annealing were observed through melting phenomena of the sample, at temperature from 40 to 95°C.It was found that the specimen annealed for a long time at a fixed temperature had two endothermic peaks in its melting thermogram, one corresponding to the annealing temperature and the other to the melting of the crystal formed at the stage of annealing at room temperature or in the quenching period after the annealing. An analytical equation was proposed for the kinetics of crystallization at constant cooling rate on the bases of Avrami's equation. The proposed relation appeared to be valid over a wide range of x/x∞ not only for the present sample but also for other crystalline polymers such as isotactic polypropylene. This method enables us to observe crystallization behavior at lower temperature side than that by dilatometry. The characteristics of the kinetics of 1,2-polybutadiene were as follows. The induction time for the crystallization was relatively large and the temperature coefficient of the rate of crystallization was small as compared to those of highly crystalline polymers such as high- and low-density polyethylenes, and isotactic polypropylene.


The relations of solutions between different models of Support Vector Regression are proposed in this paper. Usually, Support Vector Regression (SVR) is formulated as a convex quadratic programming with bound constrains. With different improvements, different improved regression models and their strong convex programming have come into being. Basing on Lagrange function and KKT conditions, this paper proves strictly that the solution of improved model is the solution of prime model. Which provides the SVR with theory base. Keywords-quadratic rogramming; lagrange function; kkt condition


Twelve compounds each having a six membered Si-contained heterocycle, have been successfully synthesized. Of these eleven compounds have never been reported in the literature. The structures were confirmed by Spectral analysis and elementary analysis. The stability and properties of these compounds is also discussed.


The effect of connected vehicle environment on the transportation systems and the relationship between the penetration rate of connected vehicle and its efficiency are investigated in this study. An example based on the classical two-route network is adopted in this study, in which the drivers consist of two types: informed and uninformed. The advantages and disadvantages of the connected vehicle environment are analyzed, and the concentration phenomenon is proposed and found to be mitigated when only a fraction of drivers are informed. The simulation tool embodying the characteristics of the connected vehicle environment is developed using the multiagent technology. Finally, different scenarios are simulated, such as the zero-information environment, the full-information environment, and the connected vehicle environment with various penetration rates. Moreover, simulation results of the global performance of the transportation system are compared. The results show that the connected vehicle environment can efficiently improve the performance of the transportation system, while the adverse effects due to concentration rise out from the excessive informed drivers. An optimal penetration rate of the connected vehicles is found to characterize the best performance of the system. These findings can aid in understanding the effect of the connected vehicle environment on the transportation system.


In view of current safety product and administrate situation of coal industry,so it is indispensable to develop coal mine intelligent safety monitoring system,and it also should be high intelligentzing and reliability.This system is under Windows 2000,using the skills of program mixing C# and MATLAB,establish a fuzzy inference system on MATLAB software platform,and make fuzzy inference and forecast to the gas in the mine environment.Also using the ANFIS module of MATLAB to train the FIS structure,to get further structure optimizing,combining the expert experience to analyze the reason of accident on line;at meantime,we can also build dynamic system model on Simulink platform through VRML method to reappear the situation of the coal mine so as to process the real-time monitoring.In running structure,the intelligent monitoring system consists of five modules: the real-time monitoring and displaying,query,deletion and maintenance of history data,graphic statistic,report printing,expert diagnosis and decision-making support module.This system research,development and promoted application will provide the safeguard regarding the mine pit security work.


This paper proposes and tests a new hypothesis concerning the price impact of option introductions on the underlying asset. We argue that the leverage properties of options induce a higher level of informed trading in the aggregate market (underlying plus derivative), resulting in excess listing-day price movements in the newly optioned equity. Using an alternative dataset, our results suggest that this may be an explanation for the observed positive than negative excess listing-day returns of US optioned stocks over the past thirty years.


To study is the air quality in the region of Campinas was set up three collection sites in different locations: Barão Geraldo, Campinas, downtown and Paulinia. Environmental monitoring in addition to researching the amount of total suspended particles (PM10) by comparing the values with the reference value for air quality considered regular CETESB (Technology Company Environmental Sanitation) for 150 μg.m. After the samples were prepared by a chemical process for measuring technique the total reflection (SR-TXRF) synchrotron radiation at the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS). The technique detected 19 chemical elements: Al; Si; P; S; Cl; K; Ca; Ti; V; Cr; Mn; Fe; Co; Ni; Cu; Zn; Se; Br and Pb, addition to measuring the percentage of chemicals related to particulate matter collected. Even with the help of the statistical method – PCA (Principal Components Analysis) grouping the elements according to one of four emission sources that they are: soil re-suspension, vehicular, industrial and sulfates. Getting the percentage of pollution emitted by each source.


Atomic absorption lines provide stable optical frequency references, which can be used to interrogate strain-induced frequency shifts of fiber Bragg gratings. High sensitivity of 1.2 nanostrain//spl radic/Hz at 1.5 Hz is obtained using this novel technique.


Productivity of gas–condensate wells can significantly be declined as the condensate bank evolves around the wellbore. Wettability alteration of formation minerals from strongly liquid-wet to intermediate gas-wet conditions using liquid-repellent fluorinated chemicals has shown promising results to mitigate such liquid-blockage issues. This paper, for the first time, presents the results of unique contact angle measurements conducted on the treated carbonate substrates using synthetic gas–condensate fluids. The impact of hydrocarbon composition and interfacial tension (IFT) on the condensate wetting tendency was investigated using various binary and multi-component mixtures at ambient temperature. A high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) drop shape analysis setup was customized to perform the static contact angle tests. The generality of the new findings from these measurements was also confirmed using dynamic unsteady-state flow tests. The results demonstrated that the wetting tendency of the condensate i...


The present world is witnessing the challenges of managing the waste or life span ended components or parts or structures made out of plastics of different grades. Researchers have always found some technological breakthrough in managing those plastics which are affecting or polluting the environment by coming up with innovative techniques of recycling those plastics making them less toxic, biodegradable, and easy handling or disposing suitably. To manage waste plastics always many materials developer have found better path in this regard. Considering such potential situations, an attempt has been made to develop a prototype machine which uses waste plastics to produce paver blocks.


The pericarp of the Longkong fruit rapidly browns during ambient storage, typically reducing its shelf life to between 3 and 7 days. Recently, n-butanol has demonstrated a promising effect in preventing this deterioration, extending the shelf life of tropical fruits to more than a week. The present study exploited this opportunity to examine the exogenous application of aqueous n-butanol at various concentrations (0.2–0.6%) in controlling pericarp browning and suppressing different oxidoreductase enzymes in the pericarp under prolonged ambient storage conditions (8 days). Every two days, the fruit pericarps were tested for color (lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*)), browning index (BI), membrane permeability loss (MPL), malondialdehyde (MDA) content, total phenolic content (TPC), and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Enzymes including phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), phospholipase D (PLD), lipoxygenase (LOX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were also analyzed. All sample test results showed that increased storage significantly impacted color characteristics (decreased L*, b* and increased a*, and BI). MPL, MDA, and ROS also continuously increased. Furthermore, the browning-related enzymes (PAL and PPO), membrane-degrading enzymes (PLD and LOX), and antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, and GPX) continuously increased in all pericarp samples throughout the storage. Among the samples, pericarp color, BI, MPL, MDA, PAL, PPO, PLD, and LOX were significantly high in the control samples, consequently adversely affecting the quality and shelf life of Longkong. On the other hand, the n-butanol-treated samples significantly controlled the loss and all problematic enzymes while improving the activities of SOD, CAT, and GPX in the pericarp. Furthermore, the positive effect of n-butanol application was dose-dependent; higher concentrations (0.4–0.6%) performed well in protecting the fruit from deterioration.


The authors have carried out investigations on horses with cerebral symptoms clinically, pathologically, and epidemiologically which were obtained in various areas in Hokkaido in non‐epidemic years—1955, 1956 and 1957. Among cases investigated, there were three cases in which the authors could certainly prove the existence of encephalitic changes histopathologically in addition to two cases, one being positive to the complement‐fixation test and the other in virus isolation. In five out of eighteen cases investigation, slight leucocyte emigration was observed in the brain tissue. Comparing such facts with the judgement from the viewpoint of epidemiology and differential diagnosis, the authors have concluded that all of the cases with encephalitic symptoms were infected with Japanese encephalitis (Encephalitis epidemica japonica). They have also added considerations pertaining to the infection‐pathology of Japanese encephalitis based upon the discrepancies in infected horses between epidemic and non‐epidemic years.


A small optical lever is described which can detect a change of 10-10 rad in orientation of a 2 mm2 mirror, with a response time of about 0.25 s. A differential cadmium selenide photocell is used with a standard optical grid technique to detect the displacement of the reflected light beam from a 4 V 3.2 W lamp. Transistors are used to stabilize the lamp current and to amplify the signals for a pen recorder. "Noise" arising from convection currents in the light beam and from the photocells appears not to exceed greatly the photon fluctuations in the light beam. Records illustrate the performance of the lever and amplifier in detecting changes in dimension of a crystal of a few times 10-10 cm and changes in refractive index of a gas by a few times 10-9. The system has also been applied to an infra-red detector using the linear expansion of a metallic strip, where the limit for a 5 × 0.2 mm strip is about 10-11 W for a 1 c/s bandwidth. For this purpose the signal can be differentiated with respect to time, and velocities of down to 30 μ/annum can be observed. It appears that a displacement of 10-12 cm could be detected.


The aim of the study was to compare the profile of COVID-19 (CoV)-infected patients with non-COVID-19 (non-CoV) patients who presented with a multidrug-resistant urinary tract infection (MDR UTI) associated with gut microbiota, as well as analyze the risk factors for their occurrence, the types of bacteria involved, and their spectrum of sensitivity. Methods: We conducted a case–control study on patients admitted to the urology clinic of the "Parhon" Teaching Hospital in Iasi, Romania, between March 2020 and August 2022. The study group consisted of 22 CoV patients with MDR urinary infections associated with gut microbiota. For the control group, 66 non-CoV patients who developed MDR urinary infections associated with gut microbiota were selected. Electronic medical records were analyzed to determine demographics, characteristics, and risk factors. The types of urinary tract bacteria involved in the occurrence of MDR urinary infections and their sensitivity spectrum were also analyzed. Results: Patients in both groups studied were over 60 years of age, with no differences in gender, environment of origin, and rate of comorbidities. Patients in the CoV group had a higher percentage of urosepsis (54.5% versus 21.2%, p < 0.05) and more hospitalization days (9.27 versus 6.09, p < 0.05). Regarding risk factors, the two groups had similar percentages of previous urologic interventions (95.45% versus 96.97%, p > 0.05), antibiotic therapy (77.3% versus 87.9%, p > 0.05), and the presence of permanent urinary catheters (77.27% versus 84.85%, p > 0.05). Escherichia coli (31.8% versus 42.4%, p > 0.05), Klebsiella spp. (22.7% versus 34.8%, p > 0.05), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (27.3% versus 9.1%, p > 0.05) were the most common urinary tract bacteria found in the etiology of MDR urinary infections in CoV and non-CoV patients. A high percentage of the involved MDR urinary tract bacteria were resistant to quinolones (71.4–76.2% versus 80.3–82%, p > 0.05) and cephalosporins (61.9–81% versus 63.9–83.6%, p > 0.05), both in CoV and non-CoV patients. Conclusions: Patients with urological interventions who remain on indwelling urinary catheters are at an increased risk of developing MDR urinary infections associated with gut microbiota resistant to quinolones and cephalosporins. Patients with MDR UTIs who have CoV-associated symptoms seem to have a higher rate of urosepsis and a longer hospitalization length.


Contents: Introduction: Introduction to the Research Handbook of Entrepreneurial Exit Dawn R. DeTienne and Karl Wennberg 1. Perpetually on the Eve of Destruction? Understanding Exits in Capitalist Societies at Multiple Levels of Analysis Howard E. Aldrich 2. Re-evaluating Business Exit from a Gendered Perspective Susan Marlow and Janine Swail 3. When Silos Collapse, what Happens to the Seeds?: A Case Study of the Diffusion of People and Ideas when a Firm's Research Programs are Cancelled Kelley Packalen 4. Survey about Venture Capital Financing Exit Stage Saloua el Bouzaidi 5. Event History Analysis using the Kauffman Firm Survey Joseph Farhat and Alicia Robb 6. An Entrepreneur's Perspective--Beginning and Exit Gary Salomon 7. The Role of Retirement Intention in Entrepreneurial Exit Sohrab Soleimanof, Michael H. Morris and Imran Syed 8. Psychological Barriers and Coping Strategies in Business Transfers Explored: Towards a Conceptual Model Edwin Weesie and Lex van Teeffelen 9. The Entrepreneurial Break-up: Disengaging from the Start-up Phase Christina Wicker and Per Davidsson 10. Social ventures: Exploring Entrepreneurial Exit Strategies with a Structuation Lens Yolanda Sarason and Grace Hanley 11. For the Greater Good: Why and how Social Entrepreneurs Exit Social Ventures Jason Lortie 12. Entrepreneurial Exit: Who, What or to Where? Regional Relocation as a Form of Exit Anna Jenkins, John Steen and Martie-Louise Verreynne Index


As part of a two years collaborative RD the geomodels are not simply conditioned to seismic attributes by seismic-guided mapping but reproduce prestack seismic measurements (Bornard et al., 2005). A key component of the inversion methodology is a Petro-Elastic Model (PEM) that links the reservoir properties stored in the geomodel (e.g., porosity, rock types and fluid saturations) to the elastic response. The new technique is illustrated using a direct porosity inversion case study involving a large North Sea reservoir.


Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase was purified partially and characterized from cell free extract of Saccharomyces cerevisiae AH 22. The procedure includes ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-cellulose column chromatography, and gelfiltration on Sephades G-100. The overall purification fold was 120 and...


Owing to the interaction between lead borosilicate glass and AlN, the commercial resistor pastes which were developed for Al2O3 substrates are not applicable to AlN substrates. The conventional solution is to develop alternate glass compositions such as alkaline earth borosilicate glass to optimize compatibility with the AlN substrates. In this study, an additive-doping method was adopted to solve the problem of incompatibility between AlN substrates and resistor pastes. The Al2O3 and MnO2 powders were deliberately introduced into the as-received resistor pastes, and the interaction between AlN and glass was thus reduced or avoided. With the optimal control of sintering conditions, it is possible to produce stable thick film resistors on AlN substrates with the temperature coefficient of resistance values of less than ±100 ppm/°C.


Work-related helping and family functioning: A work–home resources perspective Sherry S. Y. Aw, Remus Ilies, Xinxin Li* , Arnold B. Bakker and Xiao-Yu Liu* National University of Singapore, Singapore Antai College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China


In order to confirm the calculating method of FRP confined concrete circular columns in engineering practice and based on relevant results of studies,authors analyzed the representational FRP confined concrete strength models and compared the value of these models with the data of relevant experiments,and then proposed an improved simplified model for calculating axial compressive strength of FRP confined columns.The value of this model could tally with the experimental results and could show the actual property of FRP confined concrete.The proposed model may be a reference for practical engineering.