Ozone has the potential to improve the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by its antimicrobial properties, but the influence on the aroma properties has not been studied comprehensively at the molecular level. Therefore, the impact of ozone on odour-active compounds, total titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, weight loss, and fungal growth during storage is investigated in oranges and bananas. The fruits were stored at room temperature for 11 days either with or without ozone treatment. Interestingly, no significant impact of the ozone treatment on the contents of the selected odour-active compounds in bananas and oranges was observable. Furthermore, no impact on titratable acidity, weight loss, and ascorbic acid content were observable as a consequence of the ozone treatment at the respective ozone concentrations. In addition, the inhibitive effects of the growth and sporulation of moulds were demonstrated in this study. Finally, the data from this research show that ozonation has the potential of improving the shelf life of fruits without compromising their quality.


In the past fifteen years, democratic theory has undergone two parallel and apparently related transformations. First, its prominence within political philosophy or normative political theory has been dramatically enhanced so that it now comprises one of the leading areas of active research, and generates much of the most interesting and important work. Second, the field has come to be dominated by a particular theoretical perspective, the "deliberative" theory of democratic legitimacy, which has assumed a centrality in democratic theory today that rivals the longstanding dominance of Rawlsian egalitarianism in justice theory.


The main content of the study is the development of theoretical concepts and methods for enhancing the interaction between universities and enterprises. On the basis of the revealed signs a classification of forms of cooperation is proposed and criteria are established for different forms. A model of interaction «university-enterprises» has been developed, a mathematical apparatus has been adapted to assess the effectiveness of all forms of interaction between the university and enterprises.


We evaluated the docking accuracy of ArgusLab, which is a freely available software program for computational docking, using experimentally determined protein-ligand complex structures. Investigations of the roles of parameters used for docking calculations in ArgusLab were carried out in addition to evaluation of the software. The results indicate that one docking engine of ArgusLab, GADock, is superior in terms of accuracy, and that another docking engine, ArgusDock, is advantageous in terms of the computational time it provides. In a pose construction step, larger population sizes generated more accurate poses using GADock. The docking poses constructed by GADock were easier to evaluate than those of ArgusDock in the pose-selection step. Reliable docking calculations are expected to be carried out with ArgusLab using results of this study.


The record of fossil beavers from Miocene age strata in the Texas Coastal Plain is sparse. The first occurrence of fossil beavers is in Arikareean age faunas. One fossil beaver specimen was reported from a Hemingfordian fauna near Navasota, TX. Both Monosaulax and Anchitheriomys are described here from multiple early Barstovian faunas including a new taxon, Anchitheriomys buceei. The taxon, A. buceei, was a relatively large beaver, similar to A. fluminis in size, and shares characters with both A. fluminis and A. nanus. The holotype of Anchitheriomys buceei is a partial skull and endocast that preserves key features of the orbital foramina and palatine. Referred specimens include a partial dentary, isolated cheek teeth, and two post-cranial elements. The co-occurrence of this taxon and a small beaver identified as Monosaulax sp. in early Barstovian faunas is coeval with the first occurrence of proboscideans along the Texas Coastal Plain. Beavers are unknown in late Barstovian and Clarendonian faunas, although rodent fossils are uncommon from these faunas in general. Most of the fossil beaver specimens were obtained in the early twentieth century by collectors affiliated with Dr. Mark Francis at Texas A&M University, or with the State-Wide Paleontologic-Mineralogic Survey in Texas and are curated at the Texas Vertebrate Paleontology Collections. Archival materials housed at that facility have been instrumental in unraveling the history of collection, the distribution of localities and the evolving understanding of Miocene vertebrate biostratigraphy on the Texas Coastal Plain. Steven R. May, Jackson School Museum of Earth History, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78758, USA. email@example.com Matthew A. Brown, Jackson School Museum of Earth History, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78758, USA. firstname.lastname@example.com


This study further examines the information content of dividend policy by concentrating on the rationale for the initiation or omission of dividend payments for NASDAQ firms. Cross -sectional weighted least squares regression provides strong support for the dividend signaling hypothesis, and only limited support for the free cash flow argument, in explaining stoc k price reactions to announcements of dividend policy changes. The use of an improved event study methodology that controls for fluctuations in idiosyncratic risk around the announcement, documents significant wealth and variance effects upon the initiatio n or omission of dividends by NASDAQ firms.


Instead of furnishing a normal bromide addition product, bromination of 4-thiatricyclo[5.2.0.02,6]non-8-ene 4-4-dioxide (1) gives 5-bromo-1-oxo-10-oxa-1λ6-thiatetracyclo[4.3.1.03,8.04,7]decan-1-ylium tribromide (3) through intramolecular reaction of the bromonium intermediate with the adjacent weakly nucleophilic sulphone group.


A method for using the ultrasound echo signals reflected from the target object to monitor a change in the state of the lesions and system are disclosed. Lesions state monitoring method, the first step in the ultrasound image reflected from the target object to set the ROI data for the lesion, in the contrast medium is injected state to the target object to generate fundamental image and harmonic images from the ultrasound echo signal with respect to the target object the first to quantify the lesion in the harmonic image on the basis of the third step and the modified ROI data to produce an ROI data corrected by tracking the position of the lesion based on the ROI data in step 2, the fundamental image and a step 4.


Methodological aspects of the theory of precision Assembly operations in the manufacture of engineering products. Substantiated the advantage of probabilistic modeling in engineering. Noted that the primary error of engineering products change over time because of wear and tear, as a result of what is happening in the material details of the physical-mechanical processes, and experimental study of the marked character of changes in parameters of the parts does not give the exhaustive information on which to judge those or other reliable regularities of the phenomena. It is noted that the experimental study is very important, as allows to receive multiple implementations, which can be seen on the character of changes of primary errors in particular cases. The features of the use of probabilistic modeling in solving problems of the nonlinear theory of accuracy.


The present invention relates to a portable automatic liquid sampler serum quantitative suction means, which comprises a liquid dosing pump bottle, preventing liquid leakage and intermediate vacuum bottle, a bottom end portion in the liquid bottle is connected to a quantitative pump liquid outlet and the liquid inlet tube tube, the liquid inlet pipe at the inlet end of the sampling tube is connected in parallel with the disposable pipette, the inlet end of the sampling tube is connected to a sampling head provided with a liquid outlet check valve on the liquid outlet pipe; the intermediate liquid leakage preventing bottle a vacuum pump connected to the vacuum duct by pulling, liquid leakage preventing intermediate bottle with liquid dosing pump bottle through the liquid suction pipe is connected. The present invention is simple in structure, easy to operate; use of the present invention is stable and reliable, low cost; supernatant sample using the present invention, the preprocessor reduced.


The Cygnus Dual Beam Radiographic Facility consists of two identical radiographic sources each with a dose rating of 4-rad at 1 m, and a 1-mm diameter spot size. The development of the rod pinch diode was responsible for the ability to meet these criteria1. The rod pinch diode in a Cygnus machine uses a 0.75-mm diameter, tapered tip, tungsten anode rod extended through a 9-mm diameter, aluminum cathode aperture. When properly configured, the electron beam born off the aperture edge can self-insulate and pinch onto the tip of the rod creating an intense, small x-ray source. The Cygnus sources are utilized as the primary diagnostic on Subcritical Experiments that are single-shot, high-value events. The system timing on Cygnus will be evaluated as related to the following system elements: HV trigger generator, Marx, pulse forming line and rod pinch diode. Spare trigger generators will also be included in this evaluation.


The present invention relates to the technology of network communication, and discloses a system for ensuring communication between intelligent appliances and a cloud platform, in order to solve the problem that communication cannot be ensured as there is only one communication path between the intelligent appliances and the cloud platform in the prior art. The system comprises the cloud platform, the intelligent appliances, a first home gateway, a second home gateway and a gateway switching module; wherein the first home gateway is used as a main gateway, and the second home gateway is used as a standby gateway; in normal conditions, the intelligent appliances are connected to the cloud platform through the main gateway; when a connection between the main gateway and the cloud platform is lost, the gateway switching module is triggered to achieve switching between the main gateway and the standby gateway, the intelligent appliances are connected to the cloud platform through the standby gateway. The system of the present invention is suitable for an intelligent home system.


The voltage dependence of magnetoresistance (MR) and the low-frequency voltage fluctuation were studied in magnetic tunnel junctions with an AlN or an Al2O3 barrier formed by plasma nitridation or oxidation. The junctions consist of free and pinned NiFe layers by a FeMn antiferromagnetic layer. For the Al2O3 junction, the variation of half-reduction voltage of MR is about 50 mV from 401.3 mV in maximum to 351.4 mV in minimum depending upon the oxidation time. For the AlN junction, the less nitrided junction with a nitridation time of 120 s shows the higher-half-reduction voltage by about 100 mV than for optimally nitrided or oxidized ones. From the low-frequency voltage noise data, the less nitrided AlN junction shows larger 1/f noise magnitude compared with other junctions with an optimal condition, implying more defect states in the barrier due to unnitrided Al metals. In order to investigate the influence of nitrogen on ferromagnetic layer, another junction with an Al2O3 barrier was made after the pinn...


: This paper presents the technical validation of a novel, low-complexity alternative based on the inclusion of a patented (IEPI-MU-2016-185) packed bed for improving the performance of remote, small-scale gasification facilities. This study was carried out in an updraft, atmospheric-pressure gasifier, outfitted with a syngas reflux line, air and oxygen feed


INTRODUCTION I have been offering follicular unit excision (FUE) to my patients for the past 8 years. During this time, I have used several FUE devices but the extraction of healthy, chubby grafts has always been one of my challenges. Two years ago, I was introduced to Trivellini's Mamba device at the Latin-American FUE workshop and it has changed my practice. Excision of the grafts is no longer the most challenging portion of the procedure and my graft quality has improved as my overall procedure time has decreased.


broader anti-Arab and anti-Islamic sentiments, that is nowhere stated more emphatically than in Baladhuri; has Baladhuri suddenly ceased to be a "classical" source? In this case, what is stated with such smug certainty really turns out to be the product of fuzzy thinking, an inadequate reading of the source material, or a distortion of the historical record. These disagreements over interpretation notwithstanding, both the books reviewed here represent well-written, competent, and generally accurate works. There are, however, two broader criticisms which apply, unfortunately, to both books. Behind their air of scholarly objectivity, both books have a tendentiousness all their own. For Sharon, it is the conviction that from the days of the Umayyads to the present, all political formations among Muslims have rested on military power alone, and that therefore political change among Muslims is invariably the work of small military elites, never of popular or mass movements. It is this presupposition, rather than the evidence, that seems to underlie his insistence on the decisive role of Arab muqatila in the Abbasid revolution. For Lassner, it is what often comes across as a mocking contempt for the people and societies he is examining. This is especially evident in his penchant for dredging up and dwelling at length on exotic or bizarre material, such as the story of Lubaba and Caliph Abd al-Malik's bad breath, which is really quite peripheral to his argument and seems to be included more as an excuse to put his own wit on display than anything else. This detracts considerably from the scholarly tone of his work. Second, both books are so extremely specialized and limited in vision that they border on mere antiquarianism. They leave the distinct impression that Abbasid history is little more than the story of the clash of personalities and the incessant bickering of petty cliques for power and legitimacy, in which case it hardly seems worth studying. They do little to make their findings meaningful and significant even in the limited context of Islamic studies, not to mention some broader framework of historical knowledge, theory, and issues. As a result, they are likely to be of interest to only the most dedicated students of Abbasid politics.


The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has since reached pandemic status, with over 93 million cumulative confirmed cases as of January 17th 2021 (1). Vascular complications, including thrombotic microangiopathy, vasculopathy, and intravascular coagulopathy, are of growing concern in patients with COVID-19 as they can lead to devastating vital organ injury at various stages of the disease course (2). Despite the growing concern, there is still limited research on the downstream effects of endothelial cell infection with severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Considering the potential for virally-driven vascular injury, there is a utility in studying the characteristics that influence the pro-inflammatory hypercoagulability seen among some proportion of patients with COVID-19. Investigating the consequences and long-term disease processes of COVID-19 patients with damage to vasculature will be crucial for informing future avenues of clinical care.


This study aims to analyze the background, type of behavior of bullying practices and analyze the actions of the Integrated Islamic Boarding School of Lhokseumawe city towards bullying perpetrators. Next, analyze the actions carried out by the Integrated Islamic Boarding School of Lhokseumawe city against bullying victims. The study was conducted in the Integrated Islamic Boarding School of Lhokseumawe City, namely the Integrated Islamic Boarding School of Ulumuddin Uteun Kot Cunda, Misbahul Ulum Paloh, and Darul Ulum Lhok Mon Puteh. This research uses qualitative research with a phenomenological and psychological approach. Data collection techniques were carried out through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation with the data source of the perpetrators of bullying, victims of bullying, and the Ustadz. There are four findings from this study: First; Factors underlying the occurrence of bullying behavior in integrated Islamic Boarding School Ulumuddin, Misbahul Ulum, and Darul Ulum consisted of factors of revenge, family / parenting parents, Islamic Boarding School situation, peer group, and mass media. Second; the forms of bullying that occur are physical bullying which consists of hitting, pushing, throwing, jerking the head, and fighting. Verbal bullying consists of mocking, insulting, calling by nicknames, and berating. Relational bullying consists of opposing, defaming, isolating and alienating. Third; the action taken by the Islamic Boarding School towards the perpetrators of bullying is through the punishment and advice approach, while the psychological approach cannot be implemented optimally due to the unavailability of counseling guidance teachers in the Islamic Boarding School. Fourth, Islamic Boarding School's actions against victims of bullying include coaching and giving advice. Keywords: Bullying behavior of Student, Integrated Islamic Boarding School


: This article aims to reflect, through a qualitative analysis, on the role of the current school which, inserted in a society undergoing constant transformations caused by globalization and advances in technology, is still one of the only sectors of society not belonging to digital culture and paradoxically sees itself in the demand to provide the development and preparation of students for work and exercise of citizenship. With regard to teaching Portuguese, the objective is a more effective and critical participation in contemporary language practices, considering the new multiliteracies and practices of digital culture. The research is oriented towards the challenges that correlate curriculum and learning, involving culture, language and identity - as an important basis for establishing orality. It is considered that the points highlighted in this work are fundamental for reflection on an education that is more coherent with the complete formation of the student.


Compositions and methods for combating plant pests is disclosed. Specifically, the novel nucleic acid sequence encoding a modified Cry3A toxin toxicity is enhanced against corn rootworm is provided. Protease recognition site recognized by a gut protease of a target insect, for example, cathepsin G, by inserting in at least one position of the Cry3A toxin, particularly significant toxicity to western corn rootworm and northern corn rootworm modified Cry3A toxin elevated constitute. Furthermore, a method of forming a modified Cry3A toxins, and, for example in microorganisms for insect control, or by a transgenic plant for protection against damage insects, methods of using the modified Cry3A nucleic acid sequences, and modified Cry3A a method of using the compositions and formulations containing toxins and modified Cry3A toxins, for example, a method of using the modified Cry3A toxins or compositions or formulations, in a region where the insect is spread, or sensitive to insect to protect against pests by treating an area or plant prophylactically, a method of using the modified Cry3A toxins, and compositions comprising the modified Cry3A toxins and formulation are disclosed.


We explore the collision of two cylindrical bubbles in classical general relativity with a scalar field stress-energy tensor. Inside each bubble the field rests at a local minimum of the potential with non-negative energy density. Outside the field rests at zero potential, the global minimum. The calculation resolves the connection from the inner de-Sitter region to the asymptotically flat Minkowski spacetime. We choose initial conditions such that the two bubbles collide and study the full nonlinear evolution by means of a two-dimensional numerical simulation of Einstein's equations. The collision generates a strongly interacting region with spatially varying fields and potentials. These circumstances promote dynamical exploration of the potential's landscape. No horizon is present and the scalar curvature invariants eventually diverge. We speculate that Schwarzschild-like horizons will encompass only part of the complicated, interesting regions of spacetime in the analogous case of colliding spherical bubbles.


Cloud and IPv6 make sense together For public administrations engaged in building future-proof infrastructures, IPv6 and cloud systems managed in-house are worth to consider together. Both cloud infrastructures and IPv6 are technologies of the present and it is time to make them part of the future. Why? IPv6 itself enables addressability and thus helps endto-end connectivity, when it comes to many heterogeneous computing resources (for example, mobile devices and Internet of Things). Cloud systems help reduce spending on infrastructure, improve accessibility, and enable scaling. Cloud software to deploy and manage fleets of virtual resources is already available, either proprietary or opensource; this technology is already offering management features that network administrators were only dreaming about before. Together, cloud and IPv6 make sense together be-cause the resources that IPv6 can access, can be virtualised in the cloud and controlled remotely.


Due to various applications in the areas of pattern recognition,image processing,computer vision,cognitive science etc.,face recognition has drawn much attention in recent years.This paper presents an up-to-date survey on the history and state-of-the-art face recognition research, systematically classifying face recognition methods into several categories.Furthermore,this paper expatiates on the evolution of the recent algorithms which are used to deal with the illumination variation problem and the pose variation problem.In addition,several major issues for further exploration are also pointed out at the end of this paper.


Uterine sarcomas are rare malignant tumors characterized by a great clinical and histopathological diversity. The aim of this work is to analyze the difficulties of diagnosis, therapeutic and prognosis posed by these tumors. Thirty-seven patients with uterine sarcoma, collected in the service Radiotherapy and Oncology, University Ibn Rochd of Casablanca between January 2000 and December 2007 were included in this study retrospective. The average patient age was 50 years (17-76). The bleeding was present in all patients, isolated in 54% of cases associated with pelvic pain in 24.6% and a mass abdomino-pelvic in seven patients. The average time of evolution was 10 months. The main histological type was found leiomyosarcoma. Twenty four patients in our series underwent total hysterectomy without annexial conservation. The surgery R0 was obtained in 43% of cases. The sarcomas were classified as stage IV in 51.4%. Adjuvant radiotherapy was indicated in 13 patients. After a mean of 20 months, half of patients evaluable presented a local relapse and/or metastatic, the third of cases were tumor progression while complete remission was maintained in 18.5% of cases. Uterine sarcomas are rare malignant mesenchymal tumor, which often occur in women after menopause. The main prognostic factors are hormonal status of the patient, stage clinical, histological type, histological grade and quality surgical excision. The management of uterine sarcomas is multidisciplinary, based mainly on surgery remains the only means of cure. Adjuvant radiotherapy allows decreased risk of local recurrence, with no impact on survival achieved at best 30% at 5 years. The role of chemotherapy remains confirm.


Introduction: In health professions programs, early clinical placements are often in aged care settings, however these residents often have complex care needs and some students may feel underprepared to work with older people. Unexplored assumptions or stereotypes about older people can constrain person-centred approaches to care. The Depth of Field: Exploring Ageing © (DOF) resource (Brand, Miller, et al., 2016) was trialled and evaluated with novice nursing students as preparation for their first placement, in aged care settings. Methods: A mixed methods, cluster randomised control trial. First semester undergraduate nursing students were randomised to receive the intervention (DOF) in addition to usual clinical preparation or usual clinical preparation alone. The 45 minute workshop used photo-elicitation techniques, older adult narratives and collaborative small group work designed to prompt reflection to surface students' unconscious bias or perceptions towards older adults. The study comprised three phases: pre/post intervention survey (T1 /T2); post clinical survey (T3); and post clinical focus groups. The survey included: the Geriatrics Attitude Scale (GAS) (Reuben et al., 1998); demographics and questions about experience. Semi-structured questions were used for the focus groups. Results: There were nine classes in the control (n=161 students) and eight classes in the intervention cluster (n= 141 students) with a response rate of 74.83% (226/302). The majority of students were female and in their early twenties (range 17 – 50 years) and groups were equivalent at baseline. For the intervention group, statistically significant improvements (p< 0.05) were demonstrated at T2 in nine of the 13 GAS survey items, with small to moderate effect size (Cohen's d: 0.35 0.56). For post clinical surveys (T3) approximately 1.5 months following the intervention, group sizes were smaller but equivalent: intervention cluster 28 (28.28%), control cluster 26 (24.07%).Post clinical (T3) mean GAS scores remained the same or changed slightly (+/0.44 to 0.47). Themes from qualitative data included: preconceptions; translating context to practice; stigma; and applicability to more specific aspects of ageing. Discussion: Significant, positive changes between T1 and T2 in the GAS survey questions indicated the intervention had impact in changing students' perceptions towards older adults. Focus group participants gave several examples of having translated the intervention into their practice. In particular, they identified the benefits of knowing the life history of residents as a means of developing a therapeutic relationship. Students' willingness to engage with residents, and, in a number of cases, to overcome potential barriers to communication arising from memory and language deficits, demonstrates an awareness of these aspects of practice as crucial in working effectively with older adults. Some nursing students were able to draw on their clinical experience and critically reflect on and reconstruct previous stereotypes and attitudes towards older people and aged care. Supporting students to have a more positive opinion about older people is critical considering the greater health care challenges and future care requirements globally for a rapidly ageing population. Reconstructing stereotypes about older people is critical for all health students and equally beneficial for clinicians. Conclusion: The DoF program is an effective intervention as preparation for nursing students in caring for older adults. Surfacing and reconstructing stereotypes about ageing was achieved and beneficial for students in their subsequent clinical practice. The DOF intervention is ideally suited to other health curricula either within discipline or as an interprofessional learning experience.


The present article presents a series of reflections upon participatory research, focusing on the relationships established between children, young people and adults. Based on the different researches the authors have taken part in two universalisms often present in studies with children and young people are problematized. On the one hand, developmental psychology's universalism objectifies children and young people as individuals who are less capable than, and in the process of acquiring rationality and identity. On the other hand, recent studies conducted mainly in the global North project the newer generations as autonomous beings that can clearly enunciate their voices and state their points of view, as long as the proper conditions to do so are guaranteed. In opposition to such universalisms, it is defended that the interdependent relationship between the researcher and the researchee produces both subjects, and that it is through this relationship that the research can be made participatory and relevant to those taking part in it.


This paper, written as a collaborative venture between Aerospace Systems and Technologies, DLR Braunschweig and SAAB decribes two separate but complementary flight tests, carried out within the European HYLTEC programme, that have the objective of widening the knowledge and experience relating to systems and in-service aspects of Hybrid Laminar Flow. The first part of the paper describes a flight experience trial on a SAS Commuter SAAB 2000 aircraft aimed at gathering data and experience relating to materials for porous suction surfaces and the way that these will behave under in-service conditions. The second test, on a Dornier 228 aircraft, investigates combinations of systems that potentially provide to the requirements for a production Hybrid Laminar Flow aircraft. Both experiments are on-going at the time of writing this paper, which describes the preparation, experience and results, available at the time of compilation (March 2000).


American Psychological Association (2017). The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/about/publications/caregivers/practicesettings/assess ment/tools/trait-state.aspx Cho, M. Y., Min, E. S., Hur, M. H., & Lee, M. S. (2013). Effects of Aromatherapy on the Anxiety, Vital Signs, and Sleep Quality of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Patients in Intensive Care Units. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine :eCAM, 2013, 381381. http://doi.org/10.1155/2013/381381 Healthy People 2020 (2014). Older Adults. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/older-adults Tang, S. K., & Tse, M. M. (2014). Aromatherapy: does it help to relieve pain, depression, anxiety, and stress in community-dwelling older persons?. Biomed Research International, 2014430195. doi:2014/43019 Watson, J. (2015). Caring science theory and research. Retrieved from http://watsoncaringscience.org/about-us/caring-science-definitionsprocesses-theory • Design: descriptive, correlational study • Setting: 30-bed Medical Telemetry Unit at St. Joseph Hospital, Orange • Sample: • Inclusion criteria: 65 years and older; awake, alert, and oriented x4; Able to verbally understand the study consent • Exclusion criteria: Cognitive impairment; language barrier; allergy/sensitivity to essential oils; olfactory dysfunction; respiratory disorders


Recent technological advancements have made strides in shifting clinical diagnostics from large centralized laboratories to the point of care, thus widely increasing the accessibility to such diagnostic procedures worldwide. For sickle cell disease diagnostics, many current technologies require costly equipment and specialized training while others rely on subjective interpretation of results and can be vulnerable to user error. In contrast, the self‐contained, user‐friendly, and low‐cost platform proposed here uses magnetic focusing to separate, image, and analyze blood cells based on their densities. Here, the applicability of this approach is demonstrated to provide a quantitative diagnosis of sickle cell disease. Further, in low‐resource settings such as sub‐Saharan Africa (where the disease is common but no ubiquitous testing and monitoring procedures are in place), this technology can enable simple, rapid, and accessible sickle cell disease diagnostics and monitoring.


In this paper, glass fibers were prepared by centrifugal-spinneret-blow(CSB)process. The diameter and microstructure of glass fibers have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and vertical optical microscope(VOM).The thermal conductivity and the thickness of glass fiber samples were determined by heat flow meter thermal conductivity instrumentation.The results indicated that the diameter of glass fibers prepared by CSB process can reach the ultrafine grade by adjusting the ratio of raw materials and process parameters.The thermal conductivity of glass fiber sample was 0.0298W/(m·K)when the diameter was 3μm and the density was 62kg/m3.The thermal conductivity of glass fiber sample decreased with the reduction of fiber diameter when the density of glass fiber sample is constant.


Approximation order without quasi-interpolants, C. de Bloor wavelets and signal analysis, C.K. Chui wavelet bases, approximation theory and subdivision schemes, A. Cohen approximation with convex rational functions, B. Gao, et al block structure and recursiveness in rational interpolation, M. Gutnecht multivariate approximation from the cardinal interpolation point of view, K. Jetter ridge functions, sugmoidal functions and neural networks, W. Light knot removal for spline curves and surfaces, T. Lyche approximation by algebraic polynomials, V. Totik.


In lower‐montane ecosystems of Ecuador, Setaria sphacelata (foxtail grass), the predominant introduced pasture species, forms a tussock grassland that reduces soil nitrogen and resists recolonization of forest vegetation. We compared the influence of individual trees or small clusters of nitrogen‐fixing (Inga sp., Fabaceae) and non‐nitrogen‐fixing trees (Psidium guajava L., guava) on the soil and abiotic conditions that affect further regeneration of forest vegetation within pastures. Pasture trees ameliorated air temperature and light intensity to levels similar to those in adjacent intact forest. Beneath Inga, soil NO3−‐N was four times higher than in open pasture. Nitrification was five times higher under Inga canopies than in open pastures for both field and laboratory incubations. This suggests that the increased soil N transformations under Inga are derived mainly from improved soil rather than microenvironmental conditions. Psidium canopies slightly increased field nitrification but had no effect under laboratory conditions. We also compared the natural abundance 13C signature and the carbon and nitrogen content of subcanopy soil with adjacent open pasture soil. Inga increased the C and N content of the upper 5 cm of soil and increased by 7% the fraction of soil organic matter derived from C3 plants. The improved soil and abiotic conditions beneath the canopies of N‐fixing pasture trees favor the establishment and growth of woody montane species, suggesting that these trees could be used to accelerate forest regeneration within abandoned pastures.


A simple, rapid, and specific spectrophotometric method was developed and validated for the determination of Tolperisone HCL in bulk and its dosage form. The drug was estimated by using methanol as solvent for this study, which is determined by spectrophotometrically at 254nm. The Beer-lamberts law was obeyed in a concentration range of 3-15 ig /ml with correlation coefficient of 0.9991. The precision and accuracy of the developed method was confirmed by repeatability and recovery studies validated statistically. The LOD and LOQ of Tolperisone HCL were found to be 0.007 ig/ml and 0.021ig/ml respectively. The percentage recovery study of the drug for the proposed method was found in the range of 99.75 - 100.24 % w/v for Tolperisone HCL. The proposed method is recommended for routine analysis since it is rapid, simple, precise and accurate. Tolperisone HCL was subjected to stress conditions (acid hydrolysis, alkali hydrolysis, oxidation, thermal stress and photolytic degradation) and the stressed samples were analysed by use of the method. Degradation was observed in alkali, oxidation, and Thermal stress condition. The drug was stable under the other stress conditions investigated.


This paper proposes a novel measure of stock-level margin constraints to study the impact of funding risk on the cross-section of stock returns. More specifically, we use daily cash collateral information collected from the short selling market to construct the measure, and decompose it into two components reflecting either co-movements in margin requirements (co-collateral risk) or idiosyncratic variations. Since co-collateral risk tightens margin constraints faced by major traders, it is expected to be associated with positive return premium. We test this implication for available U.S. stocks, and indeed find a significantly positive relationship between co-collateral risk and out-of-sample stock returns. The strategy of buying/shorting stocks with top/bottom 10% co-collateral betas can deliver an annualized DGTW-adjusted return of 6%. Additional tests further confirm that co-collateral beta imposes constraints on short-selling activities and that our results are not explained by a list of asset pricing anomalies.


We propose photonic schemes for the distribution and reconstruction of a two-qubit entangled state using a hybrid entangled state under a noisy quantum channel. First, to generate a hybrid entangled state correlated with polarizations and time-bins, we employ a quantum dot (QD)-cavity system (nonlinear optical gate) and linear optical devices to implement controlled operation. These schemes can achieve the distribution and reconstruction of a two-qubit entangled state from hybrid entanglement by utilizing only linear optical devices without a QD-cavity system (i.e., a nonlinear optical device) for users who want to share an entangled state under a noisy quantum channel. For a feasible realization of the proposed schemes, we analyze the interaction between the photons and QD-cavity system and demonstrate the experimental conditions under which the reliable performance of the QD-cavity system is achieved.


INTRODUCTION Preschool education covers the period from the birth of the child to the 1st day of primary education. Its importance is increasing day-by-day. During this period, preschool education institutions aims to shape the personality of children and to prepare them for life by considering their physical, social, emotional, and mental development in the most healthy way of children to spend and aims to prepare them for life (Kandır, 2001). Therefore, preschool education has long-term effects on the development of the child. As Evans and Weikart stated in their studies, the quality of this education is of great importance for the child (Yavuzer, 2004).


Abstract: The upheaval that has swept the Arab world, beginning in December 2010, reached Egypt on January 25, 2011. The article argues that capitalist globalization and ultimately the 2008 global financial crisis were main causesof the uprising. The Mubarak regime's privatization schemes exacerbated poverty and widened the already huge gap between rich and poor. Mubarak employed repression to ensure that no effective political opposition would materialize to challenge his authoritarian rule and crony capitalism. Strikes and demonstrations beginning in 2006 and the lead up to the uprising demonstrated that the fight for democracy and economic justice had been intertwined. The ouster of Mubarak has not improved the economic situation for the majority of the population and authoritarian rule remained under the military and since the election of the Islamist President Morsi. Popular resistance continues against the Islamists in power to bring about a secular regime that would establish democracy and economic justice.Keywords: Muslim Brothers, trajectories of resistance, Infitah, privatization, Arab upheaval, global capitalismIntroductionSince December 2010 the Arab world has entered an unprecedented period of political change. The Egyptian uprising remains one of the most significant political developments of the twenty-first century. Was the uprising part of a global process of resistance to a capitalist world system that culminated in a general financial and economic crisis? Was it merely a consequence of repression and authoritarian rule under Mubarak? Was it a combination of internal and external factors in the context of global capitalism?Global Capitalism and CrisisGlobal capitalism is in a state of crisis and decline (Amin 2011b). The end of the nineteenth century is when the decline began. That was when "the destructive dimensions of accumulation now won out, at a growing rate, over its progressive, constructive dimension" (ibid.: 3). The decline was expressed "in the first wave of wars and revolutions" of the twentieth century (ibid.). The reconstruction of the capitalist system after World War II ended the crisis. However, the 1970s saw the beginning of "a second, long structural crisis of the system" (ibid.). The recovery that ensued lasted from 1990 to 2008 (ibid.: 5).Wallerstein (2003) contends that chaos in the global capitalist system is pervasive and resistance to the domination of the Triad (the US, Europe and Japan) has spread and is more visible. So has been the capitalist system's decline (29). Witness, for instance, the current economic and financial crisis of the European Union, on the one hand, and the resistance to NATO's military interventions, on the other. The "third wave of devastation of the world imperialist expansion" right after the demise of the Soviet Union is readily observable in the military interventions of NATO and the US and its allies. Those military interventions have occurred to put a stop to the decline through the control of markets, super-exploitation of labor power, and "looting" natural resources (ibid.). Foster (2006) observed that in the Clinton presidency, "neoliberal globalization and geopolitics governed foreign policy, but the former often took precedence" (11). However, in the George W. Bush presidency the reverse held true (ibid.). Feffer (2003) stresses the same point as he lays out neo-conservative ideology and unilateral strategy in pursuit of US geopolitical strategy, which focused on "Full Spectrum Dominance" (Mahajan, 2003). The war on terror was essentially a war to maintain control over or capture additional resources in the global South (Rogers, 2004). Amin (2001) also shows the relationship between the imperial project and globalization led by the US to secure its dominance of global capitalism.Furthermore, Wallerstein (2011) argues that by the 1990s the attacks on the welfare state intensified compared to the 1970s when those attacks began (35). …


This paper presents a new S-parameter matrix calculation based de-embedding methodology. In this method, a noval even-odd mode measurement is proposed to correct the error in traditional through line de-embedding methodology. The influence of the asymmetric input and output stub is canceled. A comparison of the different de-embedding methods for active device (0.7 μm InP DHBT) are performed up to 66 GHz, the results showed that the proposed method has good accuracy and suitable for millimeter-wave (mmWave).


Common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L., is one of the most important legumes for worldwide human consumption. It"s grown typically by smallholder farmers who face many biotic and abiotic constraints for its production. The abiotic constraints –including drought stress, high temperature stress, low phosphorus, and aluminum toxicity– affect between 30 and 73% of the world crop production area, and their negative effect will be increased by climate change. The general objective of this research was to select common bean lines for their tolerance to abiotic stress by drought, high temperature, low phosphorus, and aluminum toxicity, and that these lines could respond better to the effects of climate change and the conditions of small farmers in tropical countries. To that end, promising common bean germplasm and commercial cultivars were physiologically and agronomically characterized in terminal drought and irrigated conditions during 2012 and 2013. This group of germplasm includes RCB 593, ALB 74 and INB 841, parents of SEF lines, originated from the cross (ALB 74 x INB 841)F1 x RCB 593. ALB 74 provides genes of P. coccineus L. and INB 841 genes of P. acutifolius A. Gray. SEF lines were evaluated and characterized from 2012 to 2014 in non-stressed condition and for their tolerance to terminal drought at Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) in Palmira, Valle; for their tolerance to high temperature stress in Armero, Tolima, and for their performance in low phosphorus and aluminum toxicity in Quilichao, Cauca. Promising germplasm such as SEN 56, BFS 29, NCB 226 and SER 16 showed higher grain yield than EAP 9510-77, DOR 390, Bribrí, Carioca and Calima, the commercial checks, in irrigated and terminal drought condition, respectively. Among interspecific lines, SEF 10, SEF 16, SEF 42 and SEF 56 yielded more than EAP 9510-77 under terminal drought. The highest grain yield in terminal drought was based on lower drought susceptibility index, higher biomass production, earlier maturity, higher number of grains/m2, superior geometric mean, and greater ability to mobilize photosynthate to reproductive organs, expressed through higher harvest index, pod harvest index, pod partitioning index and grain filling index. Lines SEF 14, SEF 15, SEF 16 and SEF 60 were able to tolerate 3.8°C above the limit of crop mean night-time temperature (21°C), which would allow to mitigate the rise of 2 to 5°C in mean annual temperature expected for 2100 as a consequence of climate change, and to increase current crop areas in more than 50%. Their tolerance was based on higher pollen viability, inherited from P. acutifolius through the parent INB 841. For their part, lines SEF 42, SEF 44, SEF 45, SEF 49, SEF 52 and SEF 55 showed a good performance in high aluminum stress and without stress, while SEF 42, SEF 49, SEF 60, SEF 62 and RCB 593 were the best genotypes in low phosphorus condition and without stress. Finally, it was determined that the more stable genotypes in yield throughout environments were SEF 15, SEF 42 and SEF 60, which showed tolerance to two or more types of abiotic stress individually and an excellent yield in no stress condition. By combining and complementing the valuable characteristics of three Phaseolus species, it was possible to identify a group of genotypes with yield superior to the mean under both stress and non-stress environments. This represents the possibility of mitigating the negative effects of abiotic stress and of climate change for the small common-bean farmers. At the same time, these genotypes may serve as potential parents for abiotic stress plant-breeding programs.


In the newspapers "The Soviet Patriot" (1945) in Paris and "The Literary Newspaper" (1955) in Moscow, Antonin Ladinsky published two articles dedicated to the 75th and the 85th anniversaries of Ivan Bunin. Bunin´s 85th anniversary Ladinsky celebrated with a lecture at a special event at the State Museum of Literature in Moscow, in which he described his personal relationship with the Nobel Prize winner between the two World Wars in Paris. In the next anniversary lecture in 1960, Ladinsky spoke about the French press reviews of Bunin's books published in France. This paper is based on Ladinsky's unpublished Paris diaries from the 1930s, Moscow diaries from the later 1950s and also manuscripts of memoires, articles and lectures.


Newspapers, broadcast agencies, and social media outlets frequently feature stories about higher education administrators who are terminated, forced to resign, or otherwise removed from their posts. While the events are based in reality, many across the nation, especially the public, faculty and students, might develop a very negative view of what it means to be a leader in higher education administration. Yet, higher education administration could be one of the most rewarding and growth-contributing careers for many. This panel consists of faculty from various universities who made the selfless choice to serve in challenging administrative roles. They will share their experiences; good, bad, and in-between. Discussions will include lessons learned and how to prepare for these positions, with applications to those with academic experience and those who may come from government or industry occupations that afford a degree skills and knowledge transfer to academia. Information will be provided about work-life balance as well.


Chemokines and their receptors have important roles on immune, inflammation, hematopoiesis and HIV infection, etc . Close attention has been paid to chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1 ) and its receptor CXCR4 owing to their roles on migration and homing of hematopoietic stem cells and on HIV infection. The mechanisms have also been probed. This paper reviews the relevant contents with SDF-1/CXCR4.


The last three years have continued to witness extraordinary change in the fortunes of the Japanese economy and system. This new edition of Katz's groundbreaking book brings new insights to a perceptive and compelling argument.


Recent studies have furthered our understanding of how dying and living cells interact in different physiological contexts, however the signaling that initiates and mediates apoptosis and apoptosis-induced proliferation are more complex than previously thought. One increasingly important area of study is the biophysical control of apoptosis. In addition to biochemical regulation, biophysical signals (including redox chemistry, bioelectric gradients, acoustic and magnetic stimuli) are also known yet understudied regulators of both cell death and apoptosis-induced proliferation. Mounting evidence suggests biophysical signals may be key targets for therapeutic interventions. This review highlights what is known about the role of biophysical signals in controlling cell death mechanisms during development, regeneration, and carcinogenesis. Since biophysical signals can be controlled spatiotemporally, bypassing the need for genetic manipulation, further investigation may lead to fine-tuned modulation of apoptotic pathways to direct desired therapeutic outcomes.


Along with the technical of computer hardware perfect increasingly and users' requirement for image quality enhanced, or- dinary virtual images can' t satisfy some extremity users' requirement. HDR technical has the function of advanced image quality and third dimension in some detail aspects. But it costs a lot of hardware resources by applying HDR technical. The article starts with the HDR technical elements, combining with the analysis of the realization of HDR technical, bring forward the HDR realization technical which reduce the costs of computers' recourse exhaust and advance the outputting image quality.


In this Thesis, the potential use of vegetable oil-based monomers to prepare polyurethanes is highlighted. With a worldwide market of 14 millions tons/year, polyurethanes (PU)s are extremely versatile materials allowing a huge variety of applications in automotive, building and construction, flooring and packaging or in the medical field. They are synthesized from polyol and poly(isocyanate) reactants producing carbamate (urethane) bonds. It is worth noting that most of PUs come from the petroleum-based feedstocks, therefore, there is a growing interest in the use of natural reagents to replace petroleum based PUs. The preparation of PUs from renewable feedstock is currently receiving increasing attention in the industry and academia. In point of fact, there are more than 20 different polyols which are currently available commercially, and all of them coming from vegetable oils. For many high-tech applications PU materials should bear functionalities enabling tuning final material properties. The functionalization of PUs can be accomplished by introducing functional groups into oligodiols and further polymerization, post-polymerization modification, or by combining both strategies. Although the former approach is more experimentally feasible for the ease of incorporating functional groups into low or medium molecular weight oligodiol, in practice the functionalization is achieved by a variety of methods including the synthesis of polyols bearing reactive pendant groups to prepare novel comb-type, grafted structural functional polymers through post-modification. So far, there have been a few reports focusing on the preparation of novel functional bio-based PUs bearing reactive pendant groups.Over the past few years, several approaches have been used to enhance the properties of PUs, in this way the synthesis of supramolecular PUs (SPUs) can receive relevant attention. These reversible behaviours endow supramolecular systems with versatile functions, such as facile processing/recycling, self-healing, shape memory and high stimuli-response. Several features make supramolecular chemistry particularly attractive when comes to self-healing: reversibility and speed, directionality, and sensitivity. In contrast to covalent bonding, these networks can be remodelled rapidly and reversibly form from fluid-like to solid-like states. The possibility to repeatedly conduct the healing process even after multiple damages have occurred is the most important benefit of supramolecular self-healing materials. Supramolecular shape-memory PUs based on thermal-reversible non-covalent bonding recently have been another new kind of shape-memory polymers. In these systems, the reversible non-covalent interactions are used to stabilize mechanically strain stated in polymer elastomers; and shape recovery is achieved upon heating due to the dissociation of non-covalent bonds. After observed the previous work reported, the specific objectives of this Thesis are: - To prepare renewable monomers from castor oil derivatives containing different side-chain functional groups inert in front to diisocyanate group. - To develop new side-chain functionalized PUs with isophorone (IPDI) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) respectively. - To carry out the post-polymerization modification in mild conditions by using thiol-ene/yne coupling reactions. - To prepare a family of side-chain SPUs using a PU which contains tertiary amine as pendant group and carboxylic acids. - To combine the post-polymerization modification by photoinitiation thiol-ene/yne coupling reactions and supramolecular chemistry to synthetize SPU networks - To analyse the new acquired properties of the modified PUs. This Thesis is addressed to the development of side-chain functionalized polyurethanes (FPUs), with enhanced properties, made from fatty acid-based functional diols and two different diisocyanates; isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). The novel FPUs present tertiary amine and alkyl, allyl, propargyl moieties or the combination of these, as side-chain positions groups. The FPUs were further modified via two post-polymerization mechanisms based on covalent or non-covalent bonds. In the first case, photoinitiated thiol-ene/yne coupling reaction between allyl, propargyl-functionalized PUs (based on IPDI) and thioglycerol was carried out. Obtained hydroxyl-PUs exhibit different thermal and mechanical properties in comparison with precursor PUs. Moreover, the incorporation of hydroxyl groups leads to PUs with enhanced hydrophilicity. Alternatively, the FPU (based on IPDI) containing only tertiary amine pendant group was mixed with different carboxylic acids in an acid-base reaction. Supramolecular ionic PUs were characterized by spectroscopic tools to verify the presence of ionic hydrogen bond as ionic interaction. Correlation between structure and thermal and mechanical properties was demonstrated. Samples show rapid thermal reversibility and recyclability thanks to the reversible bonds.In addition, elastomeric supramolecular PUs networks were prepared from HDI and aminodiol. The resulting materials exhibit some promising adaptive material properties such as effective energy dissipation upon deformation through unzipping the ionic hydrogen bonding network, combined with good shape-regeneration property and recycling/reshaping capability arising from their recoverable nature. More importantly, the resulting biobased elastomers possess the inherent self-healing ability, which can be seen as an upgrade of their sustainability.Finally, a novel thermo-reversible network is constructed by the thiol-ene functionalized polyurethane via dynamic ionic hydrogen bonds and covalent cross-links. By varying the covalent cross-linking density, the mechanical properties and the stimuli-responsive behaviour can be systematically tuned. This synthesis demonstrates a simple and effective pathway to fabricate multifunctional polyurethanes with desired functions, and the strategy can also be extended to exploring other types of dynamic non-covalent or covalent interactions to access a new range of multi-responsive properties. In this Thesis has been demonstrated that fatty acids derived from castor oil are efficient raw materials for the preparation of side-chain FPUs with improved properties. Moreover, the use of click chemistry thiol-ene/yne coupling and acid-base reactions were successful methodologies to modify these FPUs with a wide range of compositions and displaying diverse behaviour. The conclusions of this research are summarized as follows: • Ring-opening reaction of fatty acid-derived epoxide with secondary amines allows the straightforward preparation of tertiary amine-, alkene- and/or alkyne-containing diols. • The polymerization of functional diols with isophorone diisocyanate or hexamethylene diisocyanate leads to allyl- and propargyl-FPUs. • Photoinitiated thiol-ene/yne coupling reaction is an efficient process to post-polymerization modification of alkene/yne side-chain PUs with thioglycerol to obtain PUs with enhanced hydrophilicity. • Acid-base reaction is a simple approach to synthesize supramolecular PUs by interaction between tertiary amino-side chain PU and carboxylic acids. • Supramolecular PUs have been characterized to determine their chemical structure and their thermal and mechanical properties, concluding that SPUs exhibit tuneable properties depending on the acid functionality and the chain length of carboxylic acid. • Supramolecular PUs networks display good energy dissipation mechanism, shape-regeneration property, recycling/reshaping capability and inherent self-healing ability , which can be seen as upgrade of their sustainability.


Objective To optimize the preparing technology by means of orthogonal test.Methods With the extracting rate of polysaccharides as the index,L9(34) orthogonal test was adopted.The temperature,water multiple,time and degree were reviewed to confirm the best preparating technology.Results The best process is under the conditions of temperature 60℃,water capacity 20 multiple,time 30 minutes,extracting 4 times.Conclusion This method of extracting polysaccharides has many characteristics.It is very easy to extend.


CHEMISTRY
Two routes are being pursued for creating chiral microporous materials from metal-organic frameworks for isomer-selective separations or catalysis. One is to use ligands that are already chiral. The other is to use less expensive achiral ligands and to induce chirality, typically as


The main features of the magnetic, magnetoelastic and record magnetoelectric properties of a HoAl3(BO3)4 alumoborate single crystal have been studied experimentally and theoretically. ForB||awe have observed a giant polarization ΔPba(Ba) ≈ –5240 µС/m2 induced by field of 9 T at T = 5 K. We have calculated the magnetic characteristics of HoAl3(BO3)4 in the framework of a crystal-field model. The parameters of the crystal-field in HoAl3(BO3)4 have been determined. Good agreement of experimental and calculational magnetization curves Mc,^с(В) and the temperature dependences of magnetization Mс,^с(T) was achieved. For interpretation of magnetostriction in HoAl3(BO3)4 the field and temperature dependences of the multipole moments have been calculated.


2‐Oxoamides based on long chain β‐amino acids were synthesized. 1‐Benzyl substituted long chain amines, needed for such synthesis, were synthesized starting from Boc‐phenylalaninol. The oxidative conversion of a phenyl group to a carboxyl group was used as the key transformation synthetic step. The compounds synthesized were studied for their activity against GIVA PLA2, and were proven to be weak inhibitors. Copyright © 2004 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Tillage and crop rotation system effects on corn (Zea mays L.) growth and development have been studied extensively over the past 30 years, but most studies have principally focused on the effects of tillage and crop rotation on mean corn response parameters such as plant height, grain moisture content, and grain yield. As a result, many agronomists and growers have concluded that instances of lower corn yields in no-till versus conventional tillage systems are due to reduced mean plant heights at critical developmental stages in the growing season. However, mean plant heights may not be accurate morphometric indicators of decreased yields in no-till corn. This study, involving portions of a 30 year long-term tillage and rotation experiment, attempted to determine the effects of early-season plant height variability (expressed as coefficient of variation (CV)) versus mean plant heights on yields of a single corn hybrid planted over a 14 year period. The experiment was conducted from 1981-1994 in north-central Indiana on a Chalmers silty clay loam (i.e., a dark prairie soil). The effects of no-till and moldboard plow tillage systems on mean plant height 8 weeks after planting, plant height variability 8 weeks after planting, and grain yield were examined in both continuous corn and corn-soybean rotations. For 10 of the 14 years, the continuous corn, no-till treatment resulted in significantly lower yields relative to the other 3 treatments. The continuous corn, no-till treatment had lower mean plant heights for 11 out of the 12 years when height data at the 8 week stage were available. Plant height variability was numerically greatest for the continuous corn, no-till treatment in 7 out of 12 years of the study; but only significantly higher than one or all other treatments in 5 of those years. Annual yield decreased approximately 122 kg ha for each 1% increase in height variability for the no-till plus plow treatment combination in continuous corn. Examination of cumulative precipitation effects revealed that height CV in no-till continuous corn was independent of rainfall quantity accumulated 4 weeks preto 4 weeks postplanting, but decreased by 0.30% for each 1 cm increase in rainfall for all other treatments. Weather and other non-treatment factors may also have influenced the degree to which final yields were affected by height CV relative to mean height earlier in the growing season. Nevertheless, our results suggest that increased plant height variability is at least as plausible a factor as lower mean plant heights in being associated with grain yield declines that are common in continuous corn and no-till production systems.


The hereditary disease Retinitis pigmentosa results in severe vision loss due to photoreceptor degeneration by unclear mechanisms. In several disease models, the second messenger cGMP accumulates in the degenerating photoreceptors, where it may over‐activate specific cGMP‐interacting proteins, like cGMP‐dependent protein kinase. Moreover, interventions that counteract the activity of these proteins lead to reduced photoreceptor cell death. Yet there is little or no information whether other than such regular cGMP‐interactors are present in the retina, which we, therefore, investigated in wild‐type and retinal degeneration (rd1, rd10, and rd2) mouse models. An affinity chromatography based proteomics approach that utilized immobilized cGMP analogs was applied to enrich and select for regular and potentially new cGMP‐interacting proteins as identified by mass spectrometry. This approach revealed 12 regular and 10 potentially new retinal cGMP‐interacting proteins (e.g., EPAC2 and CaMKIIα). Several of the latter were found to be expressed in the photoreceptors and to have proximity to cGMP and may thus be of interest when defining prospective therapeutic targets or biomarkers for retinal degeneration.


Overview of the studies and works in the Po river (Italy) in the years 1919 to 1941. The object of the work is the arrangement of the river Po with "free flowing water"system for the navigation profit and for the hydraulic protection, projectation and execution of the works. Moreover there is described an economic an special system adopted for the construction of dams in the stream of the rivers which have a vagrant channel.


BACKGROUND
We examined whether dedifferentiation is necessary for cell division of proximal tubule (PT) cells after acute PT injury.

METHODS
Rats were injected with a low (0.2 mg/kg) or high (4 mg/kg) dose of uranyl acetate (UA) to induce acute PT injury. Proliferating PT cells were labelled with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) before sacrifice. Renal tissues were examined by double labelling of BrdU and megalin, aquaporin 1 (AQP1), Na(+)-K(+)ATPase or vimentin, and by immunoelectron microscopy for BrdU+ cells.

RESULTS
Under normal conditions, BrdU+ PT cells were positive for the PT phenotype (megalin-, AQP1- and Na(+)-K(+)ATPase positive and vimentine negative, a mesenchymal marker). Low-dose UA induced focal PT injury, and BrdU+ initially proliferating PT cells were found in the proximal three quarters of the S3 segment of nephron as early as 12 h, which maintained the PT phenotype and were vimentin negative. Proliferating PT cells showed low expression of the PT cell protein phenotype from Day 2 to Day 5 with vimentin expression from Day 2. High-dose UA induced severe PT injury in the proximal three quarters of the S3 segment by Day 5. BrdU+ initially proliferating PT cells, which were found in distal areas of the S3 segment as early as Day 2, showed low expression of the PT protein phenotype but were vimentin positive. Immunoelectron microscopy showed mature PT morphology for BrdU+ PT cells in control rats. BrdU+ initially proliferating PT cells showed a relatively mature phenotype after low-dose UA in- sult but an immature phenotype after high-dose UA insult.

CONCLUSIONS
PT cells can initiate cell division without de- differentiation after mild PT injury by low-dose UA insult.


New policies at the local, state, and federal level seek to address the problem of food deserts because living far from a supermarket is thought to be related to food hardship and unhealthy eating patterns. In new research, Katie Fitzpatrick and co-authors find little evidence that living in a food desert affects food-related distress among the elderly. Rather, transportation difficulties are more important than limited access to a grocery store. Elderly individuals residing in a food desert without a vehicle are 12 percentage points more likely to report experiencing food insufficiency than food desert residents with a vehicle. Additionally, SNAP recipients living in food deserts are 11 percentage points more likely to receive Meals on Wheels.


Health Education: Theoretical Concepts, Effective Strategies and Core Competencies is a document published by the World Health Organization. This document provides overviews of core health education theory, emphasizes evidence-based health education, and highlights core competencies to facilitate a common understanding of the health education profession. Although the document results from a situation analysis of assessing health education capacity in Member States of the World Health Organization's Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, it provides universal foundation elements important to all professionals in health education and related fields in any part of the world. In addition, it defines the role and responsibilities, sets the standards of health education, as well as emphasizes its critical contributions in health promotion. Health promotion practitioners can read quick updates and an overview on key roles, skills, and useful tools to be effective health educators.


ERIS is the new AO instrument for VLT-UT4 led by a Consortium of Max-Planck Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik, UK-ATC, ETH-Zurich, ESO and INAF. The ERIS AO system provides NGS mode to deliver high contrast correction and LGS mode to extend high Strehl performance to large sky coverage. The AO module includes NGS and LGS wavefront sensors and, with VLT-AOF Deformable Secondary Mirror and Laser Facility, will provide AO correction to the high resolution imager NIX (1–5um) and the IFU spectrograph SPIFFIER (1–2.5um). In this paper we present the preliminary design of the ERIS AO system and the estimated correction performance.


This paper presents methods for the evaluation of pavement condition, and measures for the evaluation and classification of pavement damages. It indicates the need to use a uniform procedure for the evaluation of pavement condition of the international level. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 827547.


Many integrated water catchment management projects are now underway in Australia. However, there is still a gap between the top-down Commonwealth and state policies and bottom-up local government practices relating to making decision based on water catchment land use. For example, the Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) pracice for managing water requires land use change to be considered in relation to runoff volume and related quality depletion, yet many local government jurisdictions cannot adequately quanitify these. In spite of this all Local Government Authorities (LGA) have their own spatial databases yet are unable to capitalise on the integration of spatial data for their decision support when it comes to water catchment land use planning. This paper presents a local government case study that endeavours to incorporate spatial analysis within the decision making processes for land use change within a water catchment. Bass Coast Shire demonstrates increased levels of urbanisation. For the Bass Coast LGA study area over-using of a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived from LiDAR. This study showed deficiencies in pit location and selection for gathering overland flow. Current catchment boundaries were refined for further analysis in the design stage for development.


Objective: The Bartonella bacilliformis 43-kDa lipoprotein was obtained from its recombinant form (rBbLppB) and then, purifiedtoevaluatesero-reactivitythroughELISA.�Material and methods: IgG and IgM humanantibodies levels in the seraofpatientswithconfirmedBartonellosisandseraofpatientswithotherdiseases�(salmonellosis,�Brucellosisand� Leptospirosis), when contrasted with rBbLppB were evaluated by ELISA. Sera from some healthy people were used for controls. Results:�SensitivityandspecificityoftheIgGELISAwere�70,4%�and�90%�respectively.�Also,�sensitivity� andspecificityoftheIgMELISAwere�85,2%�and�90%,�respectively.� Conclusions: These results show that ELISA usingrBbLppBishighlysensitiveandspecificandmaybeconsideredagoodantigenforthediagnosisofBartonellosis� caused by B. bacilliformis.


Abstract Ultra-short laser radiation is used in manifold industrial applications today. Although state-of-the-art laser sources are providing an average power of 10–100 W with repetition rates of up to several megahertz, most applications do not benefit from it. On the one hand, the processing speed is limited to some hundred millimeters per second by the dynamics of mechanical axes or galvanometric scanners. On the other hand, high repetition rates require consideration of new physical effects such as heat accumulation and shielding that might reduce the process efficiency. For ablation processes, process efficiency can be expressed by the specific removal rate, ablated volume per time, and average power. The analysis of the specific removal rate for different laser parameters, like average power, repetition rate or pulse duration, and process parameters, like scanning speed or material, can be used to find the best operation point for microprocessing applications. Analytical models and molecular dynamics simulations based on the so-called two-temperature model reveal the causes for the appearance of limiting physical effects. The findings of models and simulations can be used to take advantage and optimize processing strategies.


Synonymous codon usage bias (SCUB) analysis is an effective method to explore species specificity, evolutionary relationships and mRNA translation, as well as to discover novel genes, which are important for understanding gene function and molecular phylogeny. Cherries (Prunus subg. Cerasus) are flowering plant germplasm resources for edible and ornamental purposes. In this study, we analyzed the codon usage patterns of the 36 chloroplast genomes to provide a scientific basis for elucidating the evolution of subg. Cerasus. The results showed that the average GC content was 0.377, the average GC3 was 0.298, and the average ENC value was 49.69. Neutral-plot analysis, ENC-plot analysis, and PR2-plot analysis all indicated that natural selection was the main factor of codon usage bias in subg. Cerasus, whereas correlation analysis showed that gene expression level and GC1 also affect the codon usage pattern. The codon usage pattern was consistent across 36 species, and 30 high-frequency codons were identified, with preference for A/T endings; there were 23 optimal codons, and only GAU was identified in all individuals; structural differences existed between the clustering tree based on RSCU values and the phylogenetic tree based on CDS, elucidating the importance of locus mutations and no-preference codons in phylogenetic reconstruction. This study describes for the first time the SCUB pattern and characterization of subg. Cerasus chloroplast genomes and provides a new insight to explore the phylogeny of this subgenus.


1. Introduction 2. Categorical preliminaries 3. Partiality 4. Order-enriched categories of partial maps 5. Data types 6. Recursive types 7. Recursive types in Cpo-categories 8. FPC 9. Computational soundness and adequacy 10. Summary and future research Appendices References Indices.


Participants evaluated pairs of hypothetical hybrid products varying in the percentage of American workers employed in manufacturing each product (50% vs. 80%) and the company nationality (American vs. Japanese, German, or Taiwanese). For each pair, participants indicated a preference and reasons for their preference. Employing American workers was an important factor in the preferences of all participants across all products (automobiles, personal computers, and clothing). However, preference for American companies was significant in most cases only for those scoring high on a scale of nationalism, as mediated by greater concern for supporting America and the American economy and lesser concern for perceived quality differences. Results are discussed in terms of theories of consumer ethnocentrism and ways of marketing multinational products.


Various weak acids produce citrus fruit abscission in Florida. Erythorbic (ascorbic) acid (1-2%) or hexamic acid (1-2%), alone or combined with citric acid (total concn 1-2%), produced acceptable abscission but only of early and midseason oranges for cannery use. Phosphoric acid (1/2%) and ferric chloride (0.5-2.5%) produced erratic loosening, phytotoxicity, severe peel injury, and sometimes damaged spray equipment. The type of peel injury resulting from weak acid sprays may cause extensive rotting (40% or more) if extended periods of wet weather occur prior to picking. As weather forecasting is not sufficiently accurate to predict conditions more than 48 hr in advance, and fruit abscission normally occurs from 3-7 days following spraying, the periodic economic losses that could be expected under these conditions preclude their use in Florida.


The identities of the larvae of Cucullia dorsalis Smith and Cucullia speyeri Linter have remained in question for some time. In his cuculliine monograph, Poole (1995) stated that "the larva of dorsalis has not been described" even though he considered the possibility that Crumb's (1956:61) "Cucullia #8"may be this species. The uncertainty concerning the identity of this larva is complicated up by the description made by Crumb of another larva, under the name of C. speyeri race dorsalis. The unique adult obtained from this larva was a female preventing identification by genitalic examination. Concerning C. speyeri, Poole (1995) stated: "the larva has not been unequivocally described.... There are larvae from Illinois that have been reared from Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronq. (Asteraceae)". Poole then offered a short description of these larvae. However, Poole's description is not completely consistent with that given by Crumb under the name C. speyeri race dorsalis. Handfield (1995), citing Crumb, states the food-plant of C. speyeri is C. canadensis, implicitly recognizing, that the species described as C. speyeri race dorsalis is C. speyeri. Here we present rearing data to help clarify this situation. In August 1992, near Cedar City, Utah, we found four brightly colored mature cuculliine larvae on a flowering blue-violet aster which we later identified as Machaeranthera canescens (Pursh) Gray (Asteraceae). Our larvae strongly differed from those described by Crumb (1956) as C. speyeri race dorsalis, and more closely resembled larvae of the three taxa "Cucullia sp. No. 8," C. laetifica (Linter) and C. alfarata (Strecker). These latter three taxa all have a last instar with red/orange (sometimes yellow) middorsal and subventral stripes, and variable black markings on a white or green ground color. The subventral stripes appear continuous in all three taxa. The middorsal stripe is continuous only in C. alfarata, being broken into separate spots by black transverse stripes in "Cucullia sp. No 8," and C. laetifica, as well as in our Cedar City larvae (a photo of a C. alfarata larva is available at http://troyb.com/photo/gallery/). We exclude C. alfarata as a possibility for our larvae because that species is south-eastern in distribution (Poole1995). We felt our larvae were not C. laetifica because they had a white rather than green ground color, a different shape of the black markings surrounding the middorsal stripe, and fed mainly on M. canescens (the foodplant reported by Crumb for his Cucullia No. 8 collected near Tieton, central Washington) rather than on C. laetifica food plants. C. laetifica is recorded, according to Crumb 1956, on Chrysothamnus (Asteraceae), Boherhavia (Verbenaceae), and Hedera (Araliaceae) and according to Poole 1995 on Baccharis neglecta Britton (Asteraceae). We obtained two adults in late August and early September 1992 from the four larvae, showing that our species was double brooded. However, at the time, we were unable to identify the adult moths with certainty using the figures in Hampson (1906) and Seitz (1919-1944). We returned in August 1993 to search again for more larvae. We found them in abundance in four northwestern states, including: Utah (Brighton; Cedar City; Dixie National Forest; Rte. 211 nr. fork leading to Canyon Land National Park), Colorado (Dove Creek; Clear Creek River nr. Idaho Springs; Estes Park), Wyoming (Rte. 187 N of Rock Springs; Landers; Roverton), and Montana (20 km. SW of Missoula). At low elevation the larvae were feeding on M. canescens and similar asters. At higher elevations (2500–3000 m) in Utah they were feeding on low growing plants tentatively determined by us as Erigeron asperugineus (D. C. Eat.) Gray (Asteraceae) (the online USDA Plants Database at http://plants.usda.gov only reports E. asperugineus from Nevada, Idaho, and Montana). Similarly, M. canescens is not reported from Washington in this database but is cited by Crumb (1956) as occurring at Tieton, Washington. It is interesting to note that Poole (1995) lists the following food plants for C. dorsalis: Helianthus sp.(Asteraceae) and M. shastensis Gray, a synonym of M. canescens according to the USDA plants database. All these food plants are similar in the sticky properties of their flower buds. In Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, the only other lepidopteran species we found on M. canescens included a species of Cucullia in the asteris group and an unidentified heliothine, neither of which were common.


Introduction: Fitness classes are of great interest among women as well as men. The fitness club client perceives an instructor as having irrefutable knowledge and having great sense of exercise selection. Actually, many coaches don't have adequate qualifications to teach health-related fitness. Aim: evaluate various fitness and gym classes in terms of their potential harm to the movement system. Materials and methods: The 50 fitness classes including ABT (13), TBC (4), Body-Ball (10), Yoga (5), Step (4), Aqua-Fitness (10) and gym exercise conducted in Olsztyn were taken into account. Gym exercises were run independently by the client (3) and with a personal trainer (3). Specially designed three-part questionnaire including warm-up, main body and end of classes, with sample errors that can occur was used to accomplish study objective. Number of classes, which were carried out improperly were shown in percentages. Results and conclusions: Exercises, which were properly conducted were Aqua-Fitness, Body-Ball, and Yoga (the percentage of error were as follows: 20%, 17%, 20%). The classes which could cause much harm were ABT. In the 13 studied units none was hundred percent compatible with the assumptions of health-related fitness. The main errors were: working on a long lever, lack of knowledge about strengthening, no functional exercises, a large amount of exercise in the open kinematic chains and lack of control and individualization of training. ABT units instructors should pay attention to the proper selection of exercises following current knowledge and to proper client exercise technique.


Tabula rasa is no longer secure. The assumptions that stand watch at the frontiers of that perspective are no longer sufficient to turn are the foreign elements that threaten its purity. Proponents of the tabula rasa judging philosophy have erected a fortress around the dialectic of academic debate, where only competitors are offered asylum. Judges are beggars who cannot find work in that dialectic and are turned out at the city gates. They are marginalized by the assumption that they have no role to play in the competitor's deliberation. The judges are able to infiltrate the castle by day amidst the mob of traders and towns-people who move through its gates. But very evening when the crowd thins and the gates are locked for the night, the beggars are driven back into the countryside where they chronicle the day's events. Though alienated from debate's dialectic, tabula rasa judges have found their niche beyond its confines as historians. The subjects of this history understand that there is no such thing as an objective rendering of the facts, and at night steal away to ;Appeal for a more prominent place in the hermits' accounts. This dialogue has opened up under the nose of the night watch, and it is bringing down the walls as surely as any siege. Tabula rasa is the Latin term for a cleaned tablet, one that has been erased and is ready for new marks. Academic debate borrows the term from empiricist philosophers who hold that, prior to sense perception, the mind is as blank as a tabula rasa. There are no innate ideas. To guess from its name, then, the tabula rasa judging philosophy is one in which the judge "enters the debate tabula rasa; to determine the outcome solely on the basis of argumentation in the round (Ulrich 1979, p. 2). The tabula rasa judge defers to the competitors, not only on substantive issues, but on procedural issues and standards for argument evaluation. The competitors distinguish between good and bad arguments, and even determine what constitutes an argument at all. In this way tabula rasa is not a judging paradigm in the traditional sense. Whereas traditional paradigms impose standards upon competitors which are beyond appeal, the tabula rasa perspective allow,; new standards to be developed in every round.(1) In practice as well as in literature, tabula rasa is not the purist conception that Ulrich articulates; Ill the preceding account of tabula rasa, all standards are generated by the competitor s dialectical exchange. The judge looks to that dialectic, and not to her own predispositions, to decide which team has won the debate. In fact, "decide" is the wrong word. Ideally, the judge merely "records" the winning team on the ballot. But this ideal has been attacked by critics who argue that the dialectic cannot function absent the judge's imposition of standards for argument evaluation.(2) Argument over the nature of argument is a circular endeavor because the warrant always presupposes the claim. Meaningful progress can only occur in a dialectical situation when the disputants are bound to rules of argumentation that are themselves beyond argument. This criticism, fatal to the purist conception of tabula rasa, has been conceded. Even advocates of tabula rasa acknowledge that judges must impose, some standards for argument evaluation, upon competitors.(3) This concession manifests the disparity between the tabula rasa philosophy as it is put into practice and the tabula rasa ideal that often parades in its place. The tabula rasa ideal asks the judge to arrive at a decision that does not contribute to the competitor's exchange. Remember, however, that the ideal is unattainable; judges must in fact contribute to the dialectic, if only by supplying foundational standards for argumentation. The tabula rasa judge confesses the need to impose standards of some kind upon competitors, but the judging philosophy she adheres to tells her only that it would be best if she could impose no standards at all. …


This article presents a algorithm for rapid and accurate face-detection. The algorithm detects human faces by the geometric correlations between locations of faces and hairs. Ranges of skin color are used to figure out possible face regions so as to initially localize the faces; furthermore, probable hair blocks in an image are determined by means of hair color spectrums. Grouped skin and hair blocks decide candidate face areas in light of the geometric relation. The accuracy of the single-face detection is higher than 92% with the frame-rate of 10 fps, if tested with a simple background and sufficient light source. The algorithm can be transferred from a PC to embedded devices, such as a DSP platform. This system-level implementing ability brings great potential to customized and reusable applications as well as miniature systems.


Objective: To investigate the clinical features,treatment and prognosis of COPD(Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) combine with spontaneous pneumothorax.Methods:Analysis of 48 cases of spontaneous pneumothorax with COPD between Jan 2001 to Dec 2008.Results: 48 cases of spontaneous pneumothorax with COPD have diverse clinical manifestations,the first confirmed incidence was less than 80%,and the mortality was 8.25%,10 cases were treated with simple suction,22 cases.with closed thoracic drainage,15 cases with closed thoracic drainage added suction,and one case with surgical treatment.The average days of lung reexpansion: 10 in suction group,9 in closed thoracic drainage group,7 in chest drainage suction added suction group and 15 in surgery group.Conclusion:Treatment of COPD with spontaneous pneumothorax required exhaust pressure operation.The expansion time of lung was long.the treatment method of closed thoracic drainage added suction was better than the others.


Summary

In this paper we consider a sequence of experimental units {un} which are t o be treated according to some random scheme. A general randomized design is suggested for the purpose. Asymptotic tests, optimal in some sense, are derived for testing the absence of the effects of the treatment. These tests are applicable in various situations, for example, when the treatment effects are additive or when they are multiplicative. Based on the asymptotic power of the tests obtained, optimality of various designs is discussed. The randomized designs discussed here have a wide range of applicability, e.g. in weather modification experiments and bio-assay.


ObjectiveTo report the range of normal values for impedance-derived cardiac output, stroke volume, and the baseline transthoracic impedance in the healthy preterm and term neonate over the weight range generally found in the intensive care nursery. DesignProspective, case-referent study. SettingUniversity medical center special care and term nurseries. PatientsTwenty-seven preterm and 25 term newborns with no evidence of cardiovascular problems. InterventionsWe determined the values for impedance cardiac output and stroke volume to be used as reference values. Also measured was the baseline transthoracic impedance, a number that reflects the air/fluid ratio of the thorax. Measurements and Main ResultsStroke volume and stroke volume index were, respectively, 2.0 ± 0.8 (SD) mL and 1.4 ± 0.5 mL/kg for preterm infants, and 5.0 ± 2.0 mL and 1.6 ± 0.7 mL/kg for term neonates. Cardiac output and cardiac index were, respectively, 304 ±114 mL/ min and 214 ± 68 mL/min-kg for preterm newborns, and 648 ± 244 mL/min and 205 ± 78 mL/min-kg in term newborns. These values compared favorably with published values utilizing other techniques for these populations. Both cardiac output and stroke volume were linearly correlated to body weight, being largest in the heavier neonates. Transthoracic impedance values were 42.7 ± 9.0 ohms and 6.7 ± 1.7 ohms/cm for preterm infants and 32.3 ± 4.3 ohms and 3.9 ± 0.6 ohms/cm for term infants.Transthoracic impedance and transthoracic impedance/cm values were correlated negatively to body weight and were curvilinearly related to body weight. ConclusionsThese values for transthoracic impedance and transthoracic impedance/cm are the first reported using the standard electrode lead configuration in neonates.


Anthropometry is an important branch of ergonomics that deals with body measurements, particularly measurements of body size, shape, strength, mobility, flexibility, and work capacity. Reliable anthropometric data and technical procedures of ergonomics can be powerful tools to optimize the design of products to fit human dimensions. However, in Mexico, there is a scarcity of this type of data, particularly in the state of Campeche. This study aims to characterize the anthropometry of the economically active population in the northern part of the state of Campeche by creating an anthropometric chart for the design of adequate workstations and workspaces. The study was conducted with a sample of 382 subjects aged between 15 and 65 years, and 46 structural anthropometric dimensions and weights were taken and collected following the protocols most commonly used among experts in anthropometric and ergonomics. Data were analyzed to determine mean and standard deviation for all anthropometric dimensions. In conclusion, an anthropometric chart was developed to describe the characteristics of the economically active population as a priority for the manufacturing and service industries.


In this report, we summarize the results obtained from comparing the performance of 3 map-making codes for PACS: JScanam, MADmap and Unimap. The 3 softwares are all publicly available and designed to correct for noise in the data, while preserving emission on all angular scales. To test the performance of the codes, we considered only real PACS observations and a set of 3 different metrics, namely: 1. power spectrum estimation; 2. difference matrix; 3. point source photometry (both bright and faint sources). The analysis reveals that the 3 codes preserve emission on large angular scales in a similar fashion and provide very accurate photometric measurements, both in the bright and faint flux domain. However, the comparison exercise has also allowed evidencing the appearance of artifacts (e.g. stripes) in maps rich in bright, extended emission, such as M16, when these are processed by either Unimap or MADmap. The current explanation is that this effect is somehow connected to the pixel size of the projected map: the smaller the pixel size, the lower the artifact level. Noteworthy, by setting the pixel size to 1.6"/3.2" for the blue/red band respectively, the artifacts in the Unimap maps are largely mitigated. The issue is being further investigated.


The high-temperature magnetic and magnetotransport properties of melt-spun Au 100-x Fe x alloys (x = 20 and 30 at%) have been studied. As-cast Au 80 Fe 20 ribbons are paramagnetic at room temperature, and exhibit a cluster-glass phase below 290 K. As-cast Au 70 Fe 30 ribbons display similar features, with a higher paramagnetic temperature T C (415 K), which is reduced by low-temperature annealing. Both alloys exhibit an isotropic magneto-resistance (GMR) at room temperature; in Au 80 Fe 20 , the GMR arises from spin-dependent scattering of conduction electrons by atomic-size clusters of correlated, adjacent Fe spins. In Au 70 Fe 30 , the GMR is related to the effect of the external magnetic field, acting to destroy the locally canted arrangement of magnetic spins in the ordered phase.


Aim: This report seeks to draw attention to, summarise, and make inferences from the "Good Health at Low Cost" studies for the area of disability and rehabilitation service delivery. Methods: Key findings from this series of important studies are identified. Based on reflection, potential implications for CBR and inclusive development systems in low and middle income countries are identified. Conclusions: These studies underscore the importance of organisational, political and systems thinking to improve service systems in low and middle income countries. They reinforce the importance of sustained and visionary political action and lobbying. They show that substantial improvements can be made to service systems despite limited resources. Implications: The advancement of CBR and disability-inclusive development is dependent on effective systems in low and middle income countries. Participatory research to inform such system strengthening is vital.


Energy efficiency has been a major topic of discussions on natural resources preservation estimates of energy resources reduction at medium and long terms, Air conditioning of a vehicle can be done by Vapour Compression Refrigeration System (hereinafter VCRS) and Vapour Absorption Refrigeration System (hereinafter VARS .Presently, in the vehicles VCRS is in use in most of the cases. Additional of conventional air conditioner in car also decreases the life of engine and increases the fuel consumption. For very small cars compressor needs 3 to 4 bhp, a significant ratio of the power output. Keeping these problems in mind, a car air conditioning system is proposed from recovery of engine waste heat using radiator water as source / generator for VARS. Only 1/3rd of the energy used. Rest of the energy is wasted. We can recover that waste heat from the exhaust gas. That recovered heat we can used in the refrigeration system. For that we used vapour absorption system for the refrigeration system. In the vapour absorption system less amount of energy are required to run the RAC system instead of VCRS.The 3-type of HE will be tested by FEA/CFD for heat enhancement along with VARS for automotive air conditioning system. In the C.I engine device which converts chemical energy of fuel into the heat and the again heat is converted into the mechanical energy. In the main fact the fuel approximately only 30-40% heat supplied for the engine converted into the mechanical work and remaining will be the released from fuel due to the combustion.


A series of reinforced concrete columns with construction joints were tested under cyclic loading.The damage characteristic and force transfer mechanism of critical regions were investigated.The results show that construction joints may cause stress concentration,shortening of the length of plastic hinge,and change of shear transfer mechanism.Factors influencing hysteretic shear curves were analyzed and found the shear strength and ductility increased with the increase of axial load ratio,while the shear distortion increased with the decrease of shear span ratio.A hysteretic shear model was proposed for nonlinear shear response of columns with construction joints subjected to cyclic loading.The model consisted of a primary shear force-shear distortion curve with unloading and reloading branches under cyclic loading.The primary curve was the envelop of shear hysteretic loops obtained from test data.The rules for unloading and reloading branches were established by available acceptable experimental and experiential procedure.To verify the validity of the proposed model,correlation studies of analytical results with experimental results of the load-displacement response of columns with construction joints under static load reversals were conducted.The analytical results generally show very good agreement with experimental results.


In this paper, we propose a simple extension to the spanning tree based coverage (STC) algorithm for a mobile robot. The proposed extended spanning tree based coverage (X-STC) algorithm attempts to cover even the partially occupied cells, unlike the spiral-STC, the basic STC algorithm. The properties of the X-STC algorithms are discussed and illustrated with examples. We compare the coverage performance of the proposed X-STC algorithm with two existing STC based algorithms, namely spiral-STC and full-STC. The results show that the proposed algorithm substantially improves the amount of coverage compared to that with the existing STC based algorithms.