In this study, a cryogenic micro-abrasive jet machining (CMAJM) experimental system is designed and built based on the glass transition characteristics of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Fixed processing parameters are then used to evaluate the effectiveness of machining PDMS by micro-abrasive jet machining (MAJM) at room and cryogenic temperatures, and the results show that cryogenic could improves the processing quality of PDMS. Based on this, experiments are conducted into how microchannel processing quality is influenced by the scanning speed and the erosion distance, pressure, and angle. The results show that better PDMS microchannels are processed when the erosion distance is 2.5–3.5 μm, the erosion pressure is 0.4 MPa, the erosion angle is 60–75°, and the scanning speed is 0.25 mm/s.


Migration routes of Na ions towards the surface and into SiNx films of Si cells during the potential-induced degradation (PID) test were analyzed by microscale measurements such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and conductive atomic force microscopy. These measurements showed the appearance of high Na concentrations near the finger electrodes and at the top of texture structures of the SiNx film surface. However, a high current conductivity of SiNx films was observed at halfway between two finger electrodes and at the top of texture structures. These results suggest that focusing of electric fields originating from finger electrodes and the shape of texture structures affected the Na distributions and migration into the SiNx films. The influence of the PID recovery test on the Na ion migration and SiNx films is also discussed in the paper.


Abstract: Recent international reports and a paper published on Science stresses the lack of evidence about the reduction in the rate of biodiversity decline as expected as a consequence of political agreements on global environment. This decline is of particular concern not only with respect to the intrinsic value of the nature as such but also because it involves the reduction or loss of ecosystem services. This issue is distinctively relevant for forest ecosystems. The Ecosystem Approach proposed by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity might be a strategy to reverse the negative trend, promoting a fair conservation and sustainable use of natural resources on an operational level.


Blood is an incompressible and viscoelastic fluid with Non-Newtonian behavior. A mathematical model should include these features and also must have a compromise between the results accuracy and computational resources need to obtain them. This paper presents a summary of Non-Newtonian models frequently used to describe blood flow, an assessment of diferent bloods models chosen in the literature, a summary of parameters used in blood description and some results obteined from a comparison of blood behavior in an artery.


Since 1987 in New Zealand a form of person-centred healthcare has emerged, which was originally loosely  referred to as 'medicine and story' and then developed into a University program titled MindBody Healthcare, but more recently has been described in clinical settings and publications as the Whole Person Approach. This paper emphasises the co-emergence of physicality and subjectivity from conception and the harm that comes from keeping mind and body apart in the treatment of physical illness of all kinds. Symbolic physical diseases provide particularly vivid and glaring examples of the need to attend to patient subjectivity as a part of treatment. Clinicians must learn to deal with whole persons and the patient's story is a practical doorway into the complexity of this whole . Training clinicians over two decades to become whole person-focussed and competent has revealed that clinicians need sustained education to move from the typical Western healthcare dualistic view of patients with physical disease to a unitive, non-dualistic, whole person understanding. It takes time, practice, support and supervision for this to be expressed comfortably in clinical settings. The shift from expert clinician-to-disease focus to a more human-to-human dynamic, underwriting everything that is done, can be very challenging for some clinicians. Specific attitudes are required and some skills in eliciting relevant story can be learned quite easily. There are many sources of resistances to these changes in the health institutions and clinicians are more of a problem than patients. Each clinical discipline within the health sector tends to have unique problems. But the rewards for whole person practice are great for both clinicians and patients.


The designed real-time network video transmission system uses the ARM11(S3-C6410) as hardware processor,the embedded Linux operation system as software platform and the H.264 as video compressing algorithm.The overall program of the system and details of the hardware and software platform of the design process are put forward.The system is tested in the end.


CV. Titian Mandiri is an in-package drinking water manufacturer with brand name "Ciryo" locating in
Karanganyar. The presence of problem indication results in inefficiency of proceeding business process,
particularly in business process flow of production, warehouse, shipment, marketing, and financial
divisions. This makes an analysis and evaluation on business process performance and integrated
business process redesign conducted so that the company performance will be optimum.
This study began with mapping business process in the form of flow diagram for identifying the
company's business activities. Then performance measurement was conducted based on model developed
by Beamon (1999). This model analyzes three measurement variables: resource, process and output for
finding out the factors resulting in inefficiency of the business process. Performance improvement was
conducted by redesigning the business process procedure based on concept Business Process
Reengineering. Basic steps of BPR involves rethink, redesign and retool. Standardization of the resulting
business process based on cross-divisional activities interrelationship involves marketing, production,
logistic, and financial modules. Based on redesign as a proposal for dealing with performance inhibition,
it is used an integrated business process design for each module developed.
Keywords : business process reengineering (BPR), integrated business process, performance
measurement


The problem of jointly determining the product variety decision with inventory control decision for the different brand of a certain product under fuzzy substitution rate and fuzzy inventory holding cost is studied in this paper. The fuzzy total profit and possible service level at the retailer are both given. Based on it, a nonlinear integer programming model to maximize total multi-period profits subject to given stocking space, budgetary and service level constraints is established. Finally, numerical results and conclusions are presented. Computation results show that it may be more profitable to adopt narrower assortment policy versus complete assortment policy for the retailer and the net profit criterion is prior to the conventional gross profit criterion in our scenario.


Introduction From 1999–2002 a nationwide two step Automated Auditory Brainstem Respons(AABR) hearing screening program has been introduced in Dutch NICUs including monitoring until the first diagnostic result. Follow up data of NICU graduates with established bilateral hearing loss (HL) (prevalence 1,9%) become gradually available.Goal to explore the severity and type of bilateral HL as wel as the prognostic value of the first diagnostic BERA.Methods NICU graduates with bilateral HL from one NICU (Zwolle) were included. Severity of HL was established as mild (20–39dB), moderate (40–59dB), severe (60–90 dB) or profound (>90dB). Type of HL was conductive, perceptive, combined, or auditory neuropathy. Improvement of > 20 dB between the first BERA and observation audiometry at > 2 years at follow up was considered as clinically relevant.Results Severity of HL after first diagnostic BERA of 37 newborns with bilateral HL was 6 mild, 7 moderate, 18 severe and 6 profound. 9/37 HL (24%) was due to auditory neuropathy, 3/37 pure conductive, 21/37 perceptive and 4/37 combined hearing losses. At > 2 years follow up information was available in 25 children. 3/25 (12%) had a clinically relevant improvement.Conclusion Hearing loss in NICU graduates is mostly severe to profound and perceptive. A remarkably high percentage of newborns had auditory neuropathy. The prognostic value of the first diagnostic BERA turned out to be high at follow up.


Epoetin delta (Dynepo ® , Shire plc) is the only erythropoietin synthesized in a human cell line. Currently available erythropoietins are all synthesized in Chinese hamster ovary cell (CHO) lines with differences in glycosylation compared with human serum erythropoietin. We report on a trial to assess the safety and efficacy of subcutaneously (s.c.) administered epoetin delta for the treatment of anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) over 1 year of therapy. This was a multicenter trial, including predialysis, hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients in the US and Europe. Eligible patients had baseline hemoglobin levels of 9.6–12.4 g/dL and had been receiving an epoetin s.c. for at least 30 days before entering the study. All patients received epoetin delta 1, 2 or 3-times per week, with the initial dose of study medication identical to the last dose of epoetin received prior to study entry. Dose was then adjusted according to a predefined algorithm to maintain hemoglobin in the range of 10–12 g/dL. Treatments were planned to continue for 52 weeks. Efficacy assessments were based upon weekly evaluation of hematological parameters (hemoglobin, hematocrit, red blood cell [RBC] and reticulocyte count) with the primary objective to assess mean hemoglobin levels over Weeks 12, 16, 20 and 24 in the group of patients who had provided at least one hemoglobin measurement during this period. In total 478 patients were treated, with 86.0% (411/478) entered into the primary efficacy analysis, 76.6% (366/478) completing at least 24 weeks of study and 66.7% (319/478) completing the study. Requirement for a RBC transfusion was the next most common specified reason for withdrawal (27 patients; 5.6%). The group withdrawn for "other" reasons was the largest (38 patients; 7.9%); it included a cohort of 19 patients withdrawn when the study terminated in the UK. This was a precautionary measure taken after a sterility test failure for a batch of study drug, although subsequent investigations discovered no contamination. Average hemoglobin level over Weeks 12, 16, 20 and 24 was 11.31 g/dL and average hematocrit was 36.4%. Hemoglobin levels of > 10.0 g/dL were recorded in 83.9% of patients over this period and 92.3% of hematocrit measurements were over 30%. Mean dose over this period was 43.3 IU/kg (84.3 IU/kg/week) and there was a slight decrease in average dose from baseline (49.6 IU/kg). Control of anemia over 52 weeks was maintained with long term analyses showing maintenance of hemoglobin in the range of 10–12 g/dL and hematocrit above 30%. Adverse events were experienced at the expected levels considering the baseline characteristics of the patient population. Subcutaneously administered epoetin delta was effective for the management of anemia in patients with CKD. Hemoglobin was maintained in the target range of 10–12 g/dL regardless of dialysis requirement and once per week dosing was sufficient to maintain hemoglobin levels. Subcutaneous administration of epoetin delta was well tolerated for up to 1 year and no patient in this study developed neutralizing anti-erythropoietin antibodies.


You and I have two eyes. They are located in the front of our face, point outward, and are slightly recessed into the skull. Each of our eyes has one lens and one retina. We do not have eyes like a fruit fly (Drosophila)—large, multilensed, bulbous structures protruding far outside the head and occupying almost a quarter of the head's space. In many ways, we would be better off having the eyes of a fly. Except for the obstruction imposed by the head and body, we would have a completely unencumbered, 360-degree view of the world. We would not have to move out heads around—or, for that matter, our whole bodies—to see what was behind us, and there would be no need to turn our heads to look both ways before crossing a street.


The relief of pain in patients suffering from terminal malignancy continues to be a vexing problem. Roentgenological and chemotherapeutic methods take time to effect pain relief, and are not invariably successful. Neurosurgical approaches may not be acceptable, applicable, or effective. Non-narcotic analgesics may offer a modicum of relief, but usually fail early in the course of treatment. Narcotics are the only drugs that will relieve pain reliably, but these potent analgesics cause constipation, addiction, and other undesirable side effects. Considerable interest was attracted when F. H. SHAW and G. A. BENTLEY (1952)* reported the use of a combination of morphine and amiphenazole (DaptazoleB) for relief of pain in terminal carcinoma. Amiphenazole was introduced as an opiate antagonist allegedly as effective as nalorphine in counteracting the respiratory depressant effects of morphine (F.H. SHAW and A. SHULMAN (1955)s). Later, it was reported that in contrast to nalorphine, amiphenazole did not provoke withdrawal symptoms in patients receiving morphine, and when given simultaneously with morphine did not counteract the analgesic effects of morphine. Further claims have included failure of addiction to the narcotic to appear if the narcotic was given in combination with amiphenazole (F. H. SIXAW and A. SHULMAN (1955) 5). Respiratory depression, narcosis, and other undesirable side effects of narcotics were stated to have been absent when the combination was given (MCKEOGH and F.H.SHAW (1956y). Alone, amiphenazole was believed to be harmless (F. H. SHAW and A. SHULMAN ( 1955)5). Case reports have described patients who obtained effective pain


This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary Acanthopanax senticosus polysaccharide(ASPS) on growth performance and blood physiology and biochemistry indexes of weaner piglets challenged with lipopolysaccharide(LPS).The experiment was a 2×2 factorial design with two factors: diet(supplementation with ASPS or not) and immunological challenge(LPS or normal saline injection).A total of 64 crossbred barrows(Duroc×Large White×Landrace),aged(28±3) days,with an initial weight of(7.22±0.46) kg were randomly allotted to 4 treatments,treatments 1 and 2 were fed a basal diet with 0 mg/kg ASPS,and treatments 3 and 4 were fed the basal diet with 800 mg/kg ASPS.On days 14 and 21,pigs in treatments 2 and 4 were given an intraperitoneal injection with 100 μg/kg BW of LPS,and pigs in the other treatments were given equivalent amount of normal saline.Blood samples were obtained at 3 h after injection to analyze blood physiology and biochemistry parameters.The experiment lasted for 21 days.The results showed as follows: on days 1 to 14,ASPS supplementation had no significant effect on growth performance of piglets without LPS challenge(P0.05).On days 15 to 21,ASPS supplementation significantly increased average daily gain(ADG) and average daily feed intake(ADFI) of piglets(P0.05),and there was a significant interaction between ASPS supplementation and LPS challenge on the effect of ADG(P0.05).ASPS supplementation significantly increased ADG and ADFI in LPS challenged piglets(P0.05),but did not in normal saline-injected piglets(P0.05).On day 14,ASPS supplementation significantly increased the number of peripheral blood lymphocytes(P0.05),and it had significant interaction with LPS challenge(P0.05).ASPS supplementation significantly increased the number of peripheral blood lymphocytes in LPS challenged piglets(P0.05),but did not in normal saline-injected piglets(P0.05).On days 14 and 21,ASPS supplementation significantly reduced the plasma contents of α-acid glycoprotein(α-AGP),glucose and prostaglandin(PGE2)(P0.05) as well as significantly increased the content of interleukin-2(IL-2) of piglets(P0.05).ASPS supplementation significantly reduced the plasma contents of α-AGP,glucose and PGE2 in LPS challenged piglets(P0.05),but did not in normal saline-injected piglets(P0.05).The results indicate that ASPS supplementation can alleviate growth-depression of immunological challenge weaner piglets by depressed contents of α-AGP,PGE2 as well as increase IL-2 content in plasma and the number of peripheral blood lymphocytes,but has no effect on growth performance in normal weaner piglets.


Abstract The present study investigated the differential effects of pitched and unpitched musicianship on tone identification and word learning. We recruited 44 Cantonese-pitched musicians, unpitched musicians, and non-musicians. They completed a Thai tone identification task and seven sessions of Thai tone word learning. In the tone identification task, the pitched musicians outperformed the non-musicians but the unpitched musicians did not. In session 1 of the tone word learning task, the three groups showed similar accuracies. In session 7, the pitched musicians outperformed the non-musicians but the unpitched musicians did not. The results indicate that the musical advantage in tone identification and word learning hinges on pitched musicianship. From a theoretical perspective, these findings support the precision element of the OPERA hypothesis. Broadly, they reflect the need to consider the heterogeneity of musicianship when studying music-to-language transfer. Practically, the findings highlight the potential of pitched music training in enhancing tone word learning proficiency. Furthermore, the choice of musical instrument may matter to music-to-language transfer.


Based on FSM model, a distributed signaling scheme is designed, which enables multichannel voice communications in a non-central switching system with shared media. It also enables point-to-point and group calling and considers priority. Simulation in TI CCS is done and it can also be embedded in DSP for further use.


Composite systems are systems that encompass multiple agents involved in ongoing, interactive activities. The authors study requirements acquisition, specification and design of such systems. The research objective is a model that encompasses this entire design activity, and thereafter, techniques and tools called for by the model, which will serve to provide automated assistance to a skilled designer of composite systems. The authors outline the proposed model that they have established so far, together with the experimental pieces of technology that they are assembling.<<ETX>>


The workers, males and females of 2 new species of thief ants, Solenopsis abdita and S. tonsa, are described. The female of S. nickersoni Thompson is described for the first time, and the 1945 discovery and 1980 rediscovery of S. corticalis Forel in Florida are reported. The workers of all 8 Florida species are figured and placed in a taxonomic key.


Summary The microbiological quality of Kilishi, a traditional Cameroonian dried meat, produced in the Northern part of the country, was studied over one-year period. 79 Kilishi samples collected at various selling points were used for microbiological evaluation. The results on the microbiological analyses were then subjected to a statistical analysis using the General Linear Model (GLM) approach to assess environmental factors that affect quality. Final results indicated that the quality of Kilishi was greatly affected (P< 0.001) by the season and location of production though the total bacterial, mould and yeast counts (cfu/g) were lower than the recommended acceptability limit for the total viable bacterial counts of micro-organisms in meat at the point of consumption.


This study examined the extent of smartphone addiction among students at the Islamia University of Bahawalpur in Pakistan. The study was conducted during an event, specifically the 2nd Entrepreneur Festival, which was organised by the IT Department and used event sampling to collect data. Students from a variety of fields, including the arts, education, management sciences, pharmacy, and science, took part in this research project. The Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version was used to assess the participants' levels of smartphone addiction. The t-test was used to check the validity of the assumptions that were developed. According to the findings of the study, male students were found to be more involved in smartphone addiction, as compared to female students. Furthermore, the findings found that students who live in metropolitan areas and those who attend arts-related faculty have significant levels of smartphone addiction. The study has various implications for counsellors, parents, and educators to keep an eye out for indicators of smartphone addiction in their children and to offer them the required support. At the end of the study, the limits of the study were looked at, as well as ideas for future research.


We study global gravitational anomalies in type IIB string theory with nontrivial middle cohomology. This requires the study of the action of diffeomorphisms on this group. Several results and constructions, including some recent vanishing results via elliptic genera, make it possible to consider this problem. Along the way, we describe in detail the intersection pairing and the action of diffeomorphisms, and highlight the appearance of various structures, including the Rochlin invariant and its variants on the mapping torus.


The internal-wave (IW) continuum of a regional ocean model is studied in terms of the vertical spectral kinetic-energy (KE) fluxes and transfers at high vertical wavenumbers. Previous work has shown that this model permits a partial representation of the IW cascade. In this work, vertical spectral KE flux is decomposed into catalyst, source, and destination vertical modes and frequency bands of nonlinear scattering, a framework that allows for the discernment of different types of nonlinear interactions involving both waves and eddies. Energy transfer within the supertidal IW continuum is found to be strongly dependent on resolution. Specifically, at a horizontal grid spacing of 1/48°, most KE in the supertidal continuum arrives there from lower frequency modes through a single nonlinear interaction, while at 1/384° and with sufficient vertical resolution KE transfers within the supertidal IW continuum are comparable in size to KE transfer from lower-frequency modes. Additionally, comparisons are made with existing theoretical and observational work on energy pathways in the IW continuum. Induced diffusion (ID) is found to be associated with a weak forward frequency transfer within the supertidal IW continuum. ID is also limited to the highest vertical wavenumbers and is more sensitive to resolution relative to spectrally local interactions (LI). At the same time, ID-like processes involving high vertical-wavenumber near-inertial and tidal waves as well as low-vertical-wavenumber eddy fields are substantial, suggesting that the processes giving rise to a Garrett-Munk-like spectra in the present numerical simulation and perhaps the real ocean may be more varied than in idealized or wave-only frameworks.


From the articulated slab girder theory and fundamental of mechanics of structures, loading a unit-load onto a girder, three analytical models must be taken to set up the theory that one is rabbet on the left of the girder, one on the right and the rest on the girder. General equations and method of calculation of transverse load distribution influence lines are given for the articulated slab girder bridge system, which can be generated to two side girders correctly. With those, it is convenient to design and calculate an articulated slab -girder bridge with different section forms or the different numbers of slab girder so as to make the aticulated slab theory more perfect.


Resistance Spot Welding (RSW) is a process in which contacting metal surfaces are joined by the heat obtained from resistance to electric current. Inconsistent welds and insufficient nugget size are some of the problems in RSW. As a remedy to these problems a novel RSW control approach is proposed in this paper. The RSW control design is based on a thermal dynamical model. The proposed controller utilizes the principle of adaptive one step ahead control. The designed controller forces the nugget temperature profile to track a desired reference temperature profile as well as reduce the energy needed to make a weld. The design steps are discussed in details. Also, results of some simulation studies are presented.


The arsenic crisis that affects at least thirty million water consumers in Bangladesh has been called the world's greatest ever environmental health disaster. Although the problem and the potential solutions have been presented confidently in the media, the argument of this paper is that, ironically, very little of the science or the technology is certain. From the spatial and depth variabilities of contamination, through safety thresholds, to the accuracy of field testing kits, we find indeterminacy. We argue that rather than shying away from such uncertainty, however, mitigation policies must acknowledge and embrace it if any real progress is to be made.


This paper proposes a Publish-Subscribe framework for the design of Desktop Grid (DG) middleware. This work focuses on a modeling and a verification of a DG protocol based on the Publish-Subscribe paradigm and introduces a prototype that we are currently developing. Our prototype implementation is based on Redis, a key-value no-SQL Web 2.0 tool with Publish-Subscribe functionality. Whereas most previous approaches required to build a number of layers before the layer of the DG middleware, we have only one layer in our system. In addition, our system is characterized to be light in terms of coding lines and used resources. It is therefore very convenient to implement DGs on resource constrained systems, e.g. tablets and smartphones.


The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the corrosion and wear protection of a steel substrate by epoxy vinyl ester nanocomposite coatings with Zn and TiO2 nanoparticle fillers. Steel substrates were coated with epoxy vinyl ester nanocomposites, varying Zn and TiO2 nanofiller concentrations and combinations of both nanoparticles. Corrosion resistance was evaluated by salt spray fog test during 480h, according to ASTM B-117. The degree of damage was obtained quantitatively by measuring the enhancement in corroded area compared to the scribe mark. Tribological evaluation was performed with a ball-on-disk tribotester, according to ASTM G-99. Results showed that the combination of Zn and TiO2 nanofillers in an epoxy vinyl ester coating provide a synergistic effect, enhancing corrosion protection due to their combined corrosion and tribological reducing mechanisms.


This paper describes an advance in understanding the semantics of concepts and features in domain modeling for software reuse, incorporated into Organization Domain Modeling (ODM) Version 2. Previous approaches to feature modeling, such as FODA, use a single model with a particular semantics (AND/OR linkages, constraints) and a specific feature typology. ODM V2 utilizes a multi-modeling approach based on Sigma, a mathematical formalism (developed at Synquiry) for reasoning about how multiple abstractions of sets of instances interrelate and combine to give a unified understanding of a subject. Sigma defines a number of semantic relationships that can hold between separate conceptual models linked into a larger model web. One of these inter-model relationships captures the needed semantics for a flexible and general notion of features within a domain modeling context. The paper describes previous approaches to feature modeling in domain engineering, ODM's goals of general applicability which created requirements for a different approach, and key elements of the Sigma approach and its application to domain concept and feature modeling.


Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by hypereosinophilia and organ damage which affects men more commonly than women (9∶1). The disease can be detected incidentally, but more often presents either insidiously or acutely with cardiac, neurological, cutaneous, pulmonary or gastro-intestinal manifestations, with cardiac involvement being a major cause of morbidity and morality in patients. 1,2 Although a major mechanism of tissue damage in HES is due to thromboembolism,3 full-blown disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is apparently rare. This paper describes a man who presented acutely with life-threatening DIC complicating HES and its management, the first Chinese case reported in the literature. CASE REPORT A 62-year-old gentleman with history of hypertension followed up in the primary care clinic was admitted into the medical ward with left leg swelling, haemoptysis and exertional dyspnoea for four days. There was no chest pain or fever. On admission, he was not in respiratory distress. Blood pressure was 140/80 mmHg. The left calf was swollen with a circumference of 40 cm versus 36 cm on the right side. There were crepitations at the left lung base.


In Gideon v. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel included a right to state-provided counsel for indigent defendants. The Court did not, however, define what "indigent�? means. As a result, states have adopted varying definitions of indigent, many of them factoring in a defendant's ability to post bond. The inclusion of the defendant's ability to post bond in the definition of indigent often imposes an impossible choice on defendants: post bond and lose your court-appointed attorney or stay in jail and keep your attorney. Not only does the application of this standard vary from state to state, it is often applied differently within the same state. Ideally, states should revise indigency statutes to remove the ability to post bond as a factor in determining indigency status. Short of removal, however, states can take several steps to ensure that a defendant's choice to stay in jail does not disqualify them from keeping a court-appointed attorney, namely standardizing the application of indigency definitions through an independent, state-wide indigency commission, and excluding bond payments made by persons other than the individual defendant.


Understanding the underlying mechanisms in the evolution of new protein functions is key to better directing enzyme engineering efforts. Intragenic epistasis (the non-additive interaction of mutations affecting function) is a key feature of protein evolution. For example, in TEM-1 ß-lactamase, the mutations E104K and G238S show positive epistasis in that their combination show a greater than expected increase in antibiotic resistance1. Here, we aim to understand the impact of protein dynamics at slow timescales on epistasis. Large conformational rearrangements associated with ligand-binding, turnover of substrate or allostery occur at this timescale2. The readily evolvable antibiotic-resistant TEM-1 ß-lactamase and two of its variants that are more dynamic at slow timescales serve as models for this study. Our models show similar catalytic activity and substrate recognition, thermal stability, as well as conserved motions in fast (ps-ns) and intermediate (ns-s) timescales but different motions at slow timescales (s-ms)123.


A C$1.2 billion (US$997 million) mass transit development project for the city of Montreal which will involve the construction of another subway line to serve the northeast section of Montreal as well as upgrading of the existing bus fleet of 1800 is presented along with a brief history of the Montreal transit system with its emphasis on being attractive to and well-lighted for people.


A thermostable carboxypeptidase, which we named carboxypeptidase 11ig, was purified from 11kermus aeuaticus YT-1 and characterized. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be about 56,OOO and 58,OOO on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel filtration, respectiyely, indicating that the enzyme has a monomeric structure. The optimum pH of the enzyme was 8.0, and the eptimum temperature for the reaction was 800C. The enzyme actiyity was dependent on cobalt ien and was inhibited by metal¢helatingreagents,indicatingthattheenzymeisametalloenzyme.Theenzymehadhighthermostability independent ef cobalt ion; abeut 90% ef its actiyity remained eyen after treatment at 800C for 5h. The enzyme showed broad substrate specificity, although proline at the C-terminus of peptides was not cleaved. The enzyme released amino acids sequentially from the C-terminus.


According to Boeke the aim of this study is to investigate the cosmological context of Pindar's victory odes, and its importance for their encomiastic purpose, from two angles. Firstly, the gnomai which punctuate the epinicia at regular intervals are used as the basis for an overview of the main ideas about the gods and man's relationship to the divine, the human condition and man in society. Secondly, three epinicia, Olympian 12, Isthmian 4 and Olympian 13 are analysed to obtain a closer view of how certain aspects of the cosmology are applied to the sometimes complex circumstances of a specific victor. These analyses are complemented by an investigation into the role of the poet in mediating cosmological promises (p. 1).


The construction of affine lower bound functions for multivariate polynomials based on Bernstein polynomials is presented. These bound functions are guaranteed also in the presence of rounding errors and (interval) data uncertainties. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Defining the distribution and flow of shallow groundwater beneath the Shinnecock Nation tribal lands in Suffolk County, New York, is a crucial first step in identifying sources of potential contamination to the surficial aquifer and coastal ecosystems. The surficial or watertable aquifer beneath tribal lands is the primary source of potable water supply for at least 6 percent of the households on tribal lands. Oyster fisheries and other marine ecosystems are critical to the livelihood of many residents living on tribal lands, but are susceptible to contamination from groundwater entering the embayment from the surficial aquifer. Contamination of the surficial aquifer from flooding during intense coastal storms, nutrient loading from fertilizers, and septic effluent have been identified as potential sources of human and ecological health concerns on tribal lands. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) facilitated the installation of 17 water-table wells on and adjacent to tribal lands during March 2014. These wells were combined with other existing wells to create a 32-well water-table monitoring network that was used to assess local hydrologic conditions. Survey-grade, global-navigation-satellite systems provided centimeter-level accuracy for wellhead-positioning surveys. Water levels were measured by the USGS during May (spring) and November (fall) 2014 to evaluate seasonal effects on the water table. Waterlevel measurements were made at high and low tide during May 2014 to identify potential effects on the water table caused by changes in tidal stage (tidal flux) in Shinnecock Bay. Water-level contour maps indicate that the surficial aquifer is recharged by precipitation and upgradient groundwater flow which moves from the recharge zone located generally beneath Sunrise Highway, to the discharge zone beneath tribal lands, and eventually discharges into the embayment, and tidal creeks and estuaries that bound the tribal lands to the east, south, and west. Water levels in many of the wells in the network fluctuated in response to precipitation, upgradient groundwater flow, and tidal flux in Shinnecock Bay. Water-level altitudes ranged from 6.66 to 0.50 feet (ft) above the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) during the spring measurement period, and from 5.25 to -0.24 ft (NAVD 88) during the fall 2014. Historically, water levels in well S-8836, a long-term-index well located in the Town of Southampton, increased during years when annual precipitation exceeded the average-annual precipitation, and water levels decreased during years of below-average precipitation. To place the study period in perspective, calendar year 2014 was the 32 nd wettest year on record with annual precipitation totaling 48.1 inches (in.), a 2.6 percent increase from the annual average (46.9 in.), based on 81 years of complete record at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service cooperative meteorological station at Bridgehampton, New York. Tidal flux caused water-levels in wells to fluctuate from 0.30 to -0.24 ft during May 2014. Water levels in wells located north of Old Fort Pond and beneath the southernmost extent of the tribal lands were most influenced by tidal flux. During June 2014, hydrographs indicate that tidal flux influenced water levels by 0.48 ft in a well located near the southernmost extent of the tribal lands approximately 0.3 mi north of Shinnecock Bay, and was zero at a well located approximately 0.5 mi south of Montauk Highway, and 0.4 mi west of Heady Creek, near the geographic center of the tribal lands. Tidal-influence-delay time (time interval between peak high-tide stage and corresponding peak high-water level) ranged from 1.75 hours at the well located near the southernmost extent of the tribal lands, to more than four hours at a well located north of Old Fort Pond, near the northwest part of the tribal lands. Estimated hydraulic conductivity values derived from the results of specific capacity tests that were performed at 9 observation wells during March 2015 were used to calculate average linear velocity (Darcy). Darcy velocity along conceptualized flow-path segments of the upper glacial aquifer located beneath tribal lands were estimated using an assumed effective porosity value, and hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic head values that were interpolated from measured values. Groundwater-travel times were estimated by dividing the length of the flowpath segment by the average linear velocity along the flow-path segment. Total estimated groundwater travel time along a conceptualized flow path, beginning near Sunrise Highway and terminating at Shinnecock Bay, is approximately 46 years using a porosity value of 30 percent. A surficial-silty unit was identified from approximately 0 to 10 ft below land surface at multiple locations beneath tribal lands. The lithology of the surficial unit was verified by interpreted gamma log results obtained from select wells, and auger-rig drill cuttings from an observation well located near the geographic center of the tribal lands. The altitude of the unit varies with topography and was delineated along a cross section line that trends north-south along the approximate centerline (spine) of the tribal lands. The altitude of the hydrogeologic contact between the upper glacial and the Magothy aquifers generally decreases from northwest to southeast, occurs at a depth ranging from about 150 to 200 ft beneath tribal lands, and was identified at 2 locations north of the tribal lands, near Sunrise Highway and Sebonac Road. Results of electrical geophysical surveys indicate that the depth to the freshwater-saltwater interface decreases from north to south with decreasing water-level altitude, and the Magothy and upper glacial aquifers contain saltwater at varying depths along the north-south trending section. Results of the surveys also indicate that the Magothy aquifer beneath tribal lands contains brackish and salty water and is not considered a source of potable water supply. In general, depth to the interface increases with increasing geographic distance from the coastline. Low water-table altitudes can result in increased saltwater encroachment into the surficial aquifer beneath tribal lands. This upward movement and shallow depth of the freshwater-saltwater interface can jeopardize water quality in wells that supply water for domestic use.


Car share is a scheme whereby its fee-paying members can have access to vehicles through a booking system and pay for the usage of vehicles according to how much they have actually travelled by time and by distance. Car sharing differs from ride-sharing or carpooling in that it is not designed to transport a group of individuals to a common destination at the same time. Car sharing may be thought of as short-term car rental, although the shared vehicle tends to be in the users' neighbourhood within walking distance. Conceivably, car share will also increase safety in travel and reduce the road toll through lower VKT, less exposure, more public transport usage, and better serviced vehicles offered by car share organizations. But does car share have a potential market in Australian cities - specifically, in Melbourne? To answer this question, a research project was carried out by the Transport Research Centre, RMIT University. The study first reviewed the overseas car share programs and existing Australian studies, and examined the socio-demographic features of residents living in the local government area (LGA) of Melbourne, then proceeded to investigate their travel and activity patterns. The analysis draws upon data collected as part of the Victorian Activity and Travel Survey (VATS), which at the time of the analysis has accumulated information for over 30,000 households in Metropolitan Melbourne. The conclusion of this study is that the Melbourne LGA has a significant potential market suitable for car share schemes. The study also recognised that our general dependency on cars, some corporate practices and many other established ways of doing things need to be changed before this innovative program can take off in Australia. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E205861.


The subject of body frames and their singularities for three-particle systems is important not only for large-amplitude rovibrational coupling in molecular spectroscopy, but also for reactive scattering calculations. This paper presents a geometrical analysis of the meaning of body frame conventions and their singularities in three-particle systems. Special attention is devoted to the principal axis frame, a certain version of the Eckart frame, and the topological inevitability of frame singularities. The emphasis is on a geometrical picture, which is intended as a preliminary study for the more difficult case of four-particle systems, where one must work in higher-dimensional spaces. The analysis makes extensive use of kinematic rotations. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}


Cervical uterine cancer is the second most frequent female cancer worldwide and a substantial burden for low-income societies and the patients themselves. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of metastasis permits the development of therapies that limit tumor progression, as well as providing health and social benefits. Pathomorphology is still the basis of research and a reference standard for molecular analysis. The aim of our study was to research and critically evaluate clinical trials that use new oncological approaches for node-positive cervical cancer to gain an insight into the molecular mechanisms of tumor metastasis.

INCLUSION CRITERIA
node-positive disease at baseline; at least a first phase clinical study comprising adult female patients; novel clinical approach (e.g., radiotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, vaccines, radiosurgery); histologic measurement of treatment efficacy (preferably lymph node ultrastaging); and publications in English language only.

INFORMATION SOURCES
US Clinical trials registry, EU Clinical trials register, ISRCTN registry, and Ovid, EBSCO and Cochrane Collaboration databases. Access dates: from January 2010 to April 2018.

EXCLUSIONS
Abstracts that did not meet the inclusion criteria or with unreliable data. We collected complete data (e.g., the entire publication associated with included abstracts, heterogeneity examination of individual studies, and validity measurement of the statistical methods used). Results were analyzed in relation to the most recent understanding of the pathogenesis of cervical cancer metastasis. We proposed a possible direction for drug treatment of epithelial tumors based on the mechanisms of metastasis.


ABSTRACT For fire rescue difficulties in tunnels, and some other types of buildings, a review of key technologies and research into tunnel firefighting robots is given in this paper. Specifically, the key technical issues such as: the mechanical design; drive system design; control systems; and the anti-jamming system of tunnel firefighting robots are discussed. Also, the future development of the tunnel firefighting robots is discussed in this paper.


A new species of Thismia (Thismiaceae), T. kinabaluensis, is described from Mt. Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo. Thismia kinabaluensis is clearly placed in section Thismia subsect. Odoardoa, in having its creeping vermiform roots and free and equal perianth lobes, and it is distinguished from the other members of this subsection by three anther appendages (one filiform appendage between two club shaped ones) and a pale-blue perianth tube with transverse bars inside. A key to the Malaysian Thismia is provided for easy identification of these mycoheterotrophic plants.


Digital high-precision models and surface materials are used in drawing large and complex architectural sites, topographic maps, architectural, engineering, and ceramic design, production and quality control, geological investigation, film special effects, and post-production. It is an important part of digital imaging and calculation. At present, the artificial and 3D model scanning technology does not meet the rapid development requirements of ceramic digital model development, aided design, and manufacturing. Thus, a new photogrammetric method based on digital high-precision ceramic modeling and the original 3D model imaging technology is developed and improved. The original 3D model imaging is tested and analyzed in the actual production. The new technology can shorten the product development cycle and improve production efficiency. The quality of digital imaging is enhanced to make it more scientific and accurate, and so is the artistic expression. Photogrammetry is in three development stages: analog, analytical, and digital.


PracticePlanner(r) Series Preface. Introduction. Academic Achievement. Adoption. Anger Management. Anxiety. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Blended Family. Conduct Disorder. Depression. Disruptive Behavior. Divorce. Enuresis. Fire Setting. Grief/Loss. Medical Illness. Mental Retardation. Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Peer Conflict. Physical and Emotional Abuse. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. School Refusal. Self-Esteem. Separation Anxiety. Sexual Abuse. Sleep Disturbance. Social Phobia. Specific Phobia. About the CD-ROM.


Almost all of the net new jobs created in the United States since World War II have been in the service-producing industries. Growth of service sector jobs has been particularly important in Seventh District states. With increases in productivity, the number of manufacturing jobs has grown very little since World War II. Since 1979, as industries in our northern states have restructured, the number of manufacturing jobs in each of the Seventh Federal Reserve District states—Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin—has actually declined. An increased recognition of the importance of the service-producing industries has been accompanied by several concerns. Service-producing industries may not generate a flow of income into a region from outside because services may be primarily produced and consumed within an area. Consequently their ability to promote growth in an area may be limited. Furthermore, some service sector jobs are low-paying, and the growing number of service jobs may mean that the quality of jobs and the level of incomes is declining. In addition, research on employment growth in the service-producing industries has been hampered by a weakness in government statistics, particularly on the rapidly growing information-processing services and on an apparent trend toward the use of independent companies for business services that had been previously performed in-house. This article looks at the major service industries nationally and in Seventh District states and discusses some of the concerns that have accompanied the growth in employment in the service-producing industries.


The plant materials were chosen as representative of the various families of flowering plants. More detailed work was done on spinach, mung bean, pea, wheat germ, and corn since these plants are being widely used in current studies of plant metabolism. DIRECT ASSAYS: Seeds, dried plant parts, or materials. high in Co A may be directly assayed for Co A: by the methods listed below: Weighed samples were homogenized with an equal weight of water at 800 C. After two minutes in the Waring blendor, the material was transferred to a beaker and boiled for five minutes. Occasionally more water had to be added at this point. The material was filtered through cheesecloth and clarified by centrifuging at 4600 x g. The sediment was re-extracted in a similar manner and the filtrates combined. It was found that a third extract did not contain a measurable amount of Co A. The combined filtrates were directly assayed for Co A. CONCENTRATION OF Co A: Since the extracts must contain five units of Co A per ml for the methods used here, the extracts of many plants cannot be directly assayed. In such cases extracts prepared as above were concentrated at reduced pressure below the freezing point to one-fourth of their original volume. The concentrated solutions were used for Co A assay. In some experiments the plant tissues were dried and defatted with cold acetone. After the acetone treatment the tissue was dried in vacuo over P205; and these powders were then extracted and assayed by the direct method. The acetone powders were useful for the preparation of enzymes active with Co


come at the expense of the play's environmental context. This "flattened commentary", Rankin Russell argues, "neatly divides nature and culture, which Friel instead perceives as always connected" (156). He looks at the agrarian existence eked out by Ballybeg's residents and their intimate connection with the topographical landscape that is about to be undone by the incoming Ordnance Survey Project. Rankin Russell argues that this dislocation from place and disruption of traditional patterns of naming is as much a result of encroaching modernity as any English empiricism. "Dancing at Lughnasa: Placing and Creating Memory", Rankin Russell's final chapter, is devoted to the ritualistic aspect of the dance. The strength of this section lies in the use of Edward Casey's assertion that the people who live in a landscape are as marked by their environment as they, in turn, have marked it. The mix of encroaching modernity, primitive paganism and spiralling bodies countering stringent Catholicism converts the Mundy Cottage into something "numinous, sacralized, memorable" (220). Richard Rankin Russell seems correct when he states in his conclusion that "Brian Friel's drama seeks to return place to its centrality in our lives" (242), and he goes some way to documenting the centrality of place in the five plays concerned. He persuasively acknowledges that "criticism on Friel's rich theory of place usually has not kept pace with its dynamism and evolution" (242) and that place-centred study must emerge from the cosh of postcolonial readings. Research into place needs to extend beyond the geographical metaphors and postcolonial frameworks into emerging discourses that examine the impact of modernity on place and community. This book is most exciting when it moves from the general spatial turn in theatre (and more broadly Irish studies) and towards a more radical engagement with place. The author does, on occasion, focus on the postcolonial rhetoric of language and politics, which jars, given his criticism of postcolonial rhetoric in other spatial explorations of Irish theatre. Overall, however, this is an in-depth and extensive exploration of place in some of the most important plays in the Irish theatrical canon and as such provides an important contribution to Friel studies.


The invention relates to the field of accessory equipment used for conducting posttreatment or postprocessing on cast blanks on site during metal continuous casting, in particular to a heavy reduction sector section used for overcoming the plate blank looseness and shrinkage defects and an application method thereof. The heavy reduction sector section used for overcoming the plate blank looseness and shrinkage defects comprises an upper frame (11) and a lower frame (12) and is characterized by further comprising a pair of big loose rolls (21), a pair of driving rolls (22), at least three pairs of small loose rolls (23), big loose roll reduction oil cylinders (31), horizontal oil cylinders (32), a driving roll reduction oil cylinder (33) and a water pipe (4). The application method of the heavy reduction sector section used for overcoming the plate blank looseness and shrinkage defects is characterized in that the method is implemented in the following steps that a casting blank is pulled into the sector section; extrusion is conducted, specifically, the rolling reduction no less than 10 mm is applied to the casting blank; and the casting blank is pulled out of the sector section. According to the heavy reduction sector section used for overcoming the plate blank looseness and shrinkage defects and the application method thereof, the quality of the casting blank is high, and the looseness and shrinkage defects barely occur.


Treatment of 3a–e with GRIGNARD reagent does not effect hetero-ring opening, but the double of the lateral chain enters into reaction yielding the products 4a–n. Treatment of 3b with ethereal diazomethane gave 6a. By further methylation of the alkylmercapto derivatives 6a–e with diazomethane, the cyclopropane products 9a–e were obtained. When the highly coloured benzene solutions of 3b, c and 6b were treated with piperidine, colourless products 10a, b, 11 were separated.


The shergottites are basaltic meteorites from Mars, many of which have igneous crystallization ages of about 180 million years [1]. The existence of young volcanism implies that adiabatic decompression melting and hence mantle convection has remained an important process on Mars up to the present day. In previous work, I examined the magma production expected due to adiabatic decompression melting on Mars [2]. The convection simulations in that work considered as variables the Rayleigh number, the amount of radioactive heating in the mantle, and the thickness of the highviscosity surface layer. In those models, radioactive heating was assumed to occur at a uniform rate from the surface of Mars to the base of the mantle. The radioactive elements uranium, thorium, and potassium all behave geochemically as incompatible elements and thus strongly partition into the melt phase. As a result, these elements will be preferentially concentrated in the crust rather than in the mantle. In this study, I investigate how this enhancement in crustal radioactivity affects magma production, the thickness of the mechanical lithosphere, and the heat flux out of the core on Mars.


In the UK, the chemical industry is the second largest in the country and worth nearly 56 billion GBP. It contributes around 28 billion GBP of 'value add' – the value gained by transforming relatively worthless starting materials into highvalue products. Across the whole of Europe, there are 565 billion Euros of sales each year. However, this economic productivity and utility come at a cost. The chemical industries are incredibly energy intensive, and many of the waste streams from chemical manufacture are complicated to deal with and potentially very hazardous to the environment. These hazards and the volume of waste that needs dealing with mean considerable expenses for chemical manufacturers. There are now focused efforts, such as the European Green Deal, that are trying to improve the sustainability of the chemical industry. Further to this, in April 2022 the UK introduced the Plastic Packaging Tax, which applies to plastic packaging components containing less than 30% recycled plastic. All of these legislative changes and environmental concerns mean there is now a great demand for methods for recycling post-consumer waste. Currently, a huge amount of polymer waste goes to landfill or is incinerated – landfill is an unattractive option for long-lived plastic waste that can take many, many years to break down, while incineration destroys the valuable polymers and produces climate-damaging and toxic waste products. There is strong demand for ways to turn plastic rubbish into high-value plastic products that can be reused for manufacturing. However, a real problem in doing this is finding ways to create plastics that have the same material properties as newly prepared (virgin) polymers.


This paper analyses the CNC lathe's copying cutting rotate instruction(G73),finds the law of the cutter's feeding route.According to the tool path and the excess cut,the paper gives the techniques for choosing the distance of relief(Δi,Δk) and the allowance of finish machining(Δu,Δw).


The (α, β)-k Feature Set Problem is a mathematical model proposed for multivariate feature selection. Unfortunately, addressing this problem requires a combinatorial search in a space that grows exponentially with the number of features. In this paper, we propose a novel index-based Memetic Algorithm for the Multi-objective (α, β)-k Feature Set Problem. The method is able to speed-up the search during the exploration of the neighborhood on the local search procedure. We evaluate our algorithm using six well-known microarray datasets. Our results show that exploiting the natural feature hierarchies of the data can have, in practice, a significant positive impact on both the solutions' quality and the algorithm's execution time.


Objective To analyze the characteristics and coronary angiography of acute myocardial infarction(AMI) in younger adults,and investigate the rist factors and effects of emergency percutaneous coronary interventional technique.Methods Clinical data was analyzed in 32 patients under 40 years old with AMI.Results There were 30 patients who had severe coronary stenosis by angiography and accepted percutaneous coronary intervention.Conclusion Smoking,alcohol drinking made up major risk factors of coronary heart disease in younger adults in this study.The disease come on attack and symptom typification in majority patient of acute myocardial infarction in younger adults.Tianstradial coronary angiography the proportion of high infarct-related vessal was single,the data suggested that emergency percutaneous coronary interventional had definficant effects in younger patients with AMI.


Introduction: Dysmenorrhea is a prevalent problem, which adversely affect the day to day activities of students. Heart rate variability is a noninvasive tool to assess the sympathovagal balance. Music therapy being a easy approach can be used to alleviate the severity of dysmenorrhea.Methods : 30 young adolescent girls suffering from primary dysmenorrhea was included in the study. Day 1 of menstrual cycle, Premenstrual Syndrome- Dysmenorrhea Questionnaire was administered. HRV was tested for all subjects. Music therapy was administered for one week prior to the next expected date of menstruation. Raga malakauns and yaman by flute was used for music therapy. Day1 of next cycle HRV was repeated and a PMS-Dysmenorrhea questionnaire was readministered.Statistics : The intragroup data was analyzed using Paired t test using SPSS16 software. P value <0.05 was taken statistically significant.Results: In the present study, mean dysmenorrhea score before administering music therapy was 63.4 5.3 compared to post music therapy (MT) dysmenorrhea score i.e., 57.68.49. High frequency domain showed significant difference between pre MT (42.313) and post MT (50.14 15.7) with a p- value of 0.04. Consequently, the LF-to-HF (LF/HF) ratio represents the sympathovagal balance 2. LF/HF ratio showed a significant difference from pre MT (1.720.9) to post MT (1.250.48) with a p-value of 0.0005. This significant difference indicates the shift of sympathovagal balance after music therapy towards parasympathetic activity.


In this article I will analyze the transfer of fitness during the major
 transitions in evolution and its place in the multilevel selection models.
 The aim of the analysis is to show how social evolution can explain the
 evolutionary transitions in individuality.


Marine silicate weathering (MSiW) in anoxic sediments has been recently shown to be a significant sink for CO2 generated by methanogenesis. Independently, the roles of clay dehydration (illitization) in producing water and driving upward fluid advection have been well established in deep marine sediments, but to date the K+ source required for the reaction has not been established. Here we present chemical and strontium isotope properties of pore fluids from seven cores in the Ulleung Basin, which show radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr values (up to ∼0.71045), very high alkalinity values (maximum ∼130 mM), and enrichment in H4SiO4, Na+, K+, and Mg2+, consistent with MSiW. This reaction consumes CO2, generates alkalinity, and acts as a K+ source for illitization; water released from MSiW‐supported illitization drives upward fluid flow. Our results highlight the importance of MSiW along continental margins and its underappreciated role in carbon cycling, silicate diagenesis, and hydrogeology of marine systems.


Cutaneous fungal infection often poses challenges for clinicians for it is not readily distinguishable from other skin diseases with similar clinical features. In such cases, mycological tests such as KOH smear examination or culture test, provide relatively easy and accurate tools for diagnosing cutaneous fungal infection. However, these tests show significant disparity in sensitivity and specificity according to the level of experience and precision of the operator, as well as the anatomic site of collection of the scales and the methods of sampling. Furthermore, with lower-level residents performing most of these procedures in each of the training hospitals, detection errors due to lack of standardized guidelines are expected. Therefore, thorough understanding and studying of mycological examination are needed, and insights into superficial cutaneous mycosis and its differential diagnosis is called for, in order to facilitate more precise and standardized mycological detection test and accurate diagnosis of cutaneous mycoses. Hence, the authors seek to address the issues regarding mycological tests including KOH smear and culture tests and the differential diagnosis of various cutaneous mycoses, in an attempt of better understanding and insight into the fungal diseases.


Moisture damage–related distress is a primary concern limiting the application of cold-mix asphalt (CMA) as an alternative to hot-mix asphalt in the field. Thus, a simple and effective method is needed in the materials selection process to identify moisture susceptible materials. This study presents a modification to the boiling test procedure specified in ASTM D3625 based on the concept that a mix designer can limit moisture damage by controlling coating quality. The test was modified to present CMA-specific sample preparation guidelines and to remove subjectivity from the test by quantifying coating according to image analysis. Coating quality was evaluated with the coating loss ratio, defined as an index to compare coating before and after the boiling of cured loose mixtures. The relationship between coating quality and moisture resistance was verified with two separate tests: the AASHTO TP-91 binder bond strength test and the AASHTO T-283 tensile strength ratio test. The binder bond strength test provided a direct measure of the bond between binder and aggregate and how it was influenced by moisture. The effect of coating quality on bulk mixture performance was evaluated through comparison with the tensile strength ratio test. All compacted mixtures were produced with a newly developed CMA mix design method to maintain air void levels between samples. Results show that image analysis can be effectively applied to quantify the results of the boiling test, and rankings from all three tests are consistent; this efficacy suggests that the evaluation of coating quality with the modified boiling test can be used as an effective initial evaluation of the potential for CMA moisture susceptibility.


Objective: To evaluate the surface roughness and hardness of high and low consistency bulk-fill resin-composites and to compare them with other conventional resin-composites.Materials and Methods: The study was divided into five groups according to type of resin-composite as follows: group I: Low consistency bulk-fill SureFil SDR Flow (SF), group II: Low consistency bulk-fill Venus Bulk Fill (VB), group III: High viscosity bulk-fill Tetric EvoCeram, group IV: Conventional Beautifil Flow Plus F03 (BF) and group V: Conventional GrandioSo (GS). A total of 10 disc-shaped specimens (15 mm diameter × 2 mm thickness) were prepared from each material for both surface roughness and hardness testing. Specimens were stored in distilled water for 24 hours before testing. For the determination of surface roughness values, Surface Profile Gage (Positector, SPG, Deflesko Corporation, New York, USA) was used. Hardness testing was carried out using Digital Microhardness Tester (Zwick/Roell, IDENTEC, ZHVµ-S, West Midlands, England). Data were analyzed using a One-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Considering different filler loading, monomer system and consistency of the material, the hardness values ranged between 49.8 and 97.3 (VHN) and the surface roughness ranged between 5.6 and 17.1 (µm). One way ANOVA revealed a significant differences between the studied materials for surface roughness (P = 0.000) and microhardness (P = 0.000). Bonferroni post-hoc test revealed significant differences between surface roughness results of all studied resin-composites (p < 0.05). There was also significant differences between hardness values of all investigated resin-composites (P = 0.000) except between SF and VB (P = 0.701). Significantly greater hardness and surface roughness were recorded for materials with higher filler loading than those with lower filler loading.Conclusions: Within the range of studied resin-composites, the values of surface roughness and hardness were principally dependent on the extent of filler loading, the type of resin system and the material consistency.


Segmental vitiligo is the most frequent cause of acquired unilateral poliosis in children. However, at this age poliosis can be a distinct skin marker in some genetic syndromes as Alezzandrini syndrome, Marfan syndrome, NF1, prolidase deficiency, Tietze syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, Waardenburg syndrome, piebaldism; poliosis is also found in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (3). Exceptionally, eyelash poliosis was associated to retinal detachment (1) and congenital ectopia lentis et papillae (2). Most of these disorders were ruled out by genetic counselling and ophthalmological examination, leading to the probable diagnosis of segmental vitiligo. However, strangely enough eyelash poliosis was not associated with skin involvement and there was not a family history of autoimmune disorders leading to recommend close follow up.


Polyaniline was synthesized in the presence of lignosulfonic acid to yield a product (LIGNO-PANI) that is water-dispersible. Several samples ranging from 0 to 70% lignosulfonate (LS) were prepared. These samples were then evaluated for differences in dispersibility and conductivity. As the percent of LS in the samples was increased, the water-dispersibility of the LIGNO-PANI also increased. The particle size of the samples as well as the conductivity of the samples decreased with increasing percentages of LS in the samples. After extensive washings, however, the conductivity remained fairly constant (∼ 0.4 S/cm) regardless of the amount of LS in the samples. Additionally, elemental analysis, TGA, and IR data were used to demonstrate that the LS is grafted to polyaniline during the synthesis of LIGNO-PANI. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008


Estimation of different software parameters based on measured attributes from previous similar products is an active field of research for developers as well as managers. Such estimation models must inevitably handle imprecision and uncertainty and hence soft computing techniques are gaining popularity. Fuzzy logic integrated with data mining techniques becomes one of the key constituents of soft computing in handling the challenges posed by massive collections of natural data. In this paper Fuzzy C-Means algorithm is applied to a set of Software Usability data and clusters are generated. These clusters centroids are used to generate the initial set of fuzzy rules which can be refined with the help of train data. These fuzzy rules can be used to label the clusters with the software usability values. With these labeled clusters, new unlabeled data can be allocated to clusters with fuzzy membership values. The advantage of fuzzy clustering is that even though we can allocate an absolute cluster membership to a data point, at a finer granularity level we can provide the percentage usability.


Learning at all levels have emphasized on the devel opment of logical-mathematical intelligence and verbal-linguistic intelligence mai nly through reading and writing activities. However, Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intell igences argues that students will be better served by a broader vision of education, in which teachers use different methodologies, instructional materials and activities to reach all students. This paper attempts to provide a brief overview of the implications of Howard Gardne r's theory of multiple intelligences and learning styles based on sensory modalities for tea ching and learning. Multiple intelligences theory helps teachers determine their instructional str tegies for effective teaching and visual, auditory, reading-writing, and kinaesthetic, or col lectively known as VARK learning model helps students identify their most effective learni ng approach. This article also provides an overview of gender differences in intelligence and learning style to facilitate effective teaching and learning approach. Eight undergraduate students (four females, four males) were International Review of Social Sciences and Humanit ies, Vol. 5, No. 2(2013), 28-35 29 interviewed and their learning strategies were reco rded. Findings showed that female students favour learning styles of visual, auditory, and kin aesthetic, which involved verbal-linguistic intelligence, visual-spatial intelligence, and bodi ly-kinaesthetic intelligence whereas male students prefer learning style of auditory, which i nvolved interpersonal intelligence. The results also indicated that students with different intelligences and genders perceive or learn new information in different ways. These learning s tyles should be identified and employed by the students so as to maximize their learning.


In this paper we consider germs of smooth families of symmetric matrices. Using the natural notion of equivalence, that is smooth change of parameters and parameterised conjugation, we obtain a list of all simple germs and investigate their geometry.


During sequencing of an 11.5 kb genomic region of a serotype M49 group A streptococcal (GAS) strain, a series of genes were identified including nra (negative regulator of GAS). Transcriptional analysis of the region revealed that nra was primarily monocistronically transcribed. Polycistronic expression was found for the three open reading frames (ORFs) downstream and for the four ORFs upstream of nra. The deduced Nra protein sequence exhibited 62% homology to the GAS RofA positive regulator. In contrast to RofA, Nra was found to be a negative regulator of its own expression and that of the two adjacent operons by analysis of insertional inactivation mutants. By polymerase chain reaction and hybridization assays of 10 different GAS serotypes, the genomic presence of nra, rofA or both was demonstrated. Nra‐regulated genes include the fibronectin‐binding protein F2 gene (prtF2) and a novel collagen‐binding protein (cpa). The Cpa polypeptide was purified as a recombinant maltose‐binding protein fusion and shown to bind type I collagen but not fibronectin. In accordance with nra acting as a negative regulator of prtF2 and cpa, levels of attachment of the nra mutant strain to immobilized collagen and fibronectin was increased above wild‐type levels. In addition, nra was also found to regulate negatively (four‐ to 16‐fold) the global positive regulator gene, mga. Using a strain carrying a chromosomally integrated duplication of the nra 3′ end and an nra–luciferase reporter gene transcriptional fusion, nra expression was observed to reach its maximum during late logarithmic growth phase, while no significant influence of atmospheric conditions could be distinguished clearly.


The effect of two recycled waste rock wools (Nobasyp and Agrodrap) on the yield parameters of spring barley and some agrochemical soil parameters has been studied in a pot trial conducted in a vegetation cage located at the SAU in Nitra (4818 N, 1805 E) on the Haplic Luvisol (25 kg soil per pot). Achieved results have shown that the application of both kinds of rock wool had a positive but not statistically significant effect on the grain and straw yield of spring barley. The Nobasyp effect on the yield was more positive than the one of Agrodrap. Combined application of Nobasyp (20 Mg ha) and NPK fertilizers resulted in the highest grain and straw yields. On the other hand, combined application of Agrodrap and NPK fertilizers (under the use of both doses – 10 and 20 Mg ha) was not well-founded, because the yields achieved by interactive effect of NPK fertilizers and Agrodrap were lower than the ones achieved by solely use of NPK fertilizers. The rock wool + NPK fertilizers application inhibited the negative effect of nitrogen on increase of crude protein content and the decrease of starch in the barley grain. Both kinds of rock wool significantly increased the cation exchange capacity, made the soil lighter, moderately increased pH of the soil and have had a positive effect on the total carbon content and the organic matter quality. The positive effect of Nobasyp on quantitative and qualitative parameters of spring barley and some soil parameters enables Nobasyp to be accepted not as a waste product but as a soil remediate substance, or an indirect fertilizer.


Relative to solar water heaters, solar air heaters have received relatively little investigation and have resulted in few commercial products. However, in the context of a Humidification-Dehumidification (HDH) Desalination cycle, air heating accounts for advantages in cycle performance. Solar collectors can be over 40% of an air-heated HDH system's cost, thus design optimization is crucial. Best design practices and sensitivity to material properties for solar air heaters are investigated, and absorber solar absorptivity and glazing transmissivity are found to have the strongest effect on performance. Wind speed is also found to have an impact on performance. Additionally a well designed, and likely low cost, collector includes a double glazing and roughened absorber plates for superior heat transfer to the airstream. A collector in this configuration performs better than current collectors with an efficiency of 58% at a normalized gain of 0.06 K m2 /W.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


The invention discloses a bidirectional isolation DC-DC converter. The bidirectional isolation DC-DC converter comprises two ports, two voltage and current isolation acquisition units, a processing module, two filter circuit units and a bidirectional power transformation module. One of the two ports selectively serves as an input end of the bidirectional isolation DC-DC converter, and the other serves as an output end. The two voltage and current isolation acquisition units are respectively connected with the two ports to collect voltages and currents of the two ports and generate corresponding feedback signals. The processing module receives the feedback signals generated by the two voltage and current isolation acquisition units and outputs corresponding control signals according to the feedback signals. The bidirectional power transformation module is connected with the two ports respectively through the two voltage and current isolation acquisition units so as to carrying out conversion of different voltages between the two ports according to the control signals output by the processing module. The bidirectional isolation DC-DC converter is simple in structure, wider in application, higher in practicality, higher in anti-interference performance and higher in reliability.


The article demonstrates the benefi ts of combined therapy with immunonomodulyat «Neovir» of lichen planus of the oral mucosa. The positive dynamics of the regression of clinical signs at the background of reducing elevated levels of TNF-α and IFN-γ. It refl ectis the local cytokine status of the oral cavity by the end of treatment in all patients of the group receiving additional «Neovir» compared with the group subjected to conventional therapies only.


_______________________ Early response to therapy has consistently shown independent prognostic significance in pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and can be attributed primarily to the intrinsic resistance/sensitivity of leukemic lymphoblasts to chemotherapy. In this study, our objective was to determine the metabolic profile after L-asparaginase


The stability theory for hyperbolic initial boundary value problems relies most of the time on the Laplace transform with respect to the time variable. For technical reasons, this usually restricts the validity of stability estimates to the case of zero initial data. In this article, we consider the class of non-glancing finite difference approximations to the hyperbolic operator. We show that the maximal stability estimates that are known for zero initial data and nonzero boundary source term extend to the case of nonzero initial data in \^a 2 . The main novelty of our approach is to cover finite difference schemes with an arbitrary number of time levels. As an easy corollary of our main trace estimate, we recover former stability results in the semigroup sense by Kreiss [Kre68] and Osher [Osh69b].


In his usual characteristic manner, the author of this book Barth N. Ekwueme, erudite Professor of Mineralogy and Petrology, has written yet another though-provoking literary piece. This current book is a compendium of highlights of homilies he listened to over a period of time as a committed Catholic faithful. The book consists of seven broad lessons viz:

Lessons from Advent (4)
Lessons from the season of Christmas (4)
Lesson from the season of Lent (12)
Lesson from the season of Easter (11)
Lessons from ordinary Time (16)
Lessons from Special Feasts (19)
Lessons from Important Events (6)


Taking the composite mating parts as example,the paper introduced the cutting process by WEDM-LS,and analyzed the problems in the machining process,and proposed the relevant solutions.


This paper aims at setting up the system of tissue culture and rapid propagation technique of Lonicera nitida'Maigrun'.The MS media containing different concentration of 6-BA and the MS media with major element concentration changed without plant hormone were used respectively for the micro shut multiplicatioa The micro shuts multiplied best with the multiple coefficient of 3.8 on the 1/4 MS medium without plant hormones.The micro stem sections of Lonicera nitida'Maigrun' were cultured in soil supporting medium and 98.3%of them rooted,the root number of which was no significant difference comparing with that of cultured in medium supported by agar,the root hairs of the plantlet from soil supporting medium were longer than that from agar supporting medium.After acclimatized in opened bottles for three weeks the rooted plantlets in soil supporting medium were transplanted into soil with lump and under the conditions of no-spraying,no-covering and low air humidity of 55%in afternoon their survival rate was 93.3%which was significantly higher than that of the plantlet transplanted by normal method,the latter survival rate was 53.3%.


The final output of the Islands Bearings project showcasing the breadth of postcards created during the workshop phases and the outcomes and insights of the project.


In a classical paper, Cahn derived expressions for the kinetics of transformations nucleated on random planes and lines. He used those as a model for nucleation on the boundaries, edges and vertices of a polycrystal consisting of equiaxed grains. In this paper it is demonstrated that Cahn's expression for random planes may be used in situations beyond the scope envisaged in Cahn's original paper. For instance, we derived an expression for the kinetics of transformations nucleated on random parallel planes that is identical to that formerly obtained by Cahn considering random planes. Computer simulation of transformations nucleated on random parallel planes is carried out. It is shown that there is excellent agreement between simulated results and analytical solutions. Such an agreement is to be expected if both the simulation and the analytical solution are correct.


The author has considered the congenital anomalies occasionally found in the newborn. Every effort must be made, through surgery and nursing care, to provide as normal a life as possible.


Aiming at dense sintering of silicon carbide ceramic, magnesium alloy powder was taken as additive, and silicon carbide powders with two different particle size were sintered by the same hot pressure sintering process. Result shows that ceramic sintered by the powder with larger particle size is denser. Magnesium and carbon segregation is observed in the sample prepared by powder with smaller particle size, in which silicon carbide particles cannot be uniformly dispersed by sintering additives. However, sintering additives distribute homogeneously among silicon carbide particles in the sample prepared by powder with larger particle size, which can effectively play a bonding role. In the selection of liquid phase sintering additives, particle size matching of raw material and sintering additives should be emphasized.


When I saw the call to review this volume, my eyes leapt to SURF, bypassing 'Critical studies reader'. This was naive on my part. This is a collection of 'Critical theory' contributions, where critical is used with its ideological meaning. That is, it aims to 'question power, domination, and the status quo', in order to change society as well as studying it. I should alert readers that whilst I am indeed a surfer, I am not a critical theorist. I also fall into many categories whose views, historically, have been privileged: old, white, male, heterosexual, Anglophone, academic, scientist. I have, however, argued that individual opportunities and choices for leisure and recreation, as well as attitudes to nature and the outdoors, are all embedded in human cultures. So that is a point of contact with this compilation, which compares current and historical surfing experiences of individuals of different genders, ethnicities, languages, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds.


Purpose: The study was aimed to determine the correlations of tissue-based biomarker expressions between primary and metastatic specimens of renal cell carcinoma and with several well-known prognostic clinicopathological parameters. Materials and Methods: The immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to determine the expression levels of 9 tissue-based markers calculated in H-score expressed by percentage of expression multiplied by the intensity score (0, 1, 2, and 3 points). Using 17 patients' 38 specimens paired with primary renal lesion and its metastatic lesions collected between 2004 and 2015, Tissue microarray with IHC was performed with BAP1, PBRM1, pS6, PTEN, TGase2, PD-L1, CA9, PSMA, and Ki-67 on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections. Pearson correlation and accuracy test were performed to analyze the correlation between primary and metastatic tissues. Results: The 17 patients' mean age was 56.9 years old, mean tumor size was 7.9 cm, and the male to female ratio was 13:4 (76.5%:23.5%), respectively. Three patients had 2, 3, and 3 metastatic tissues, and the rest of 14 patients had only one metastatic tissue. The H-score (PSMA and Ki67) and intensity score (pS6 and PSMA) showed that some differential significant markers were identified which had statistical correlations of expression levels between primary and metastatic lesions among 9 markers. However, no real correlation of PSMA, Ki67, and pS6 markers were found their expressions of between primary and metastatic tissues because of their skewed expressions. Conclusions: Tissue markers failed to correlate their expression levels in primary lesions with those of metastatic lesions.


While the desirability of development is universall y recognised, there are growing concerns over whether environmental constraints wil l limit development and whether development will in turn cause serious environmenta l damage, worsening thereby the quality of life of future generations. The negativ e impacts of development are now becoming evident in the increasing degradation of t he environment and scarcity of natural resources reserves. This paper considers t h i sue of environmentally sound and sustainable socio-economic development and poin ts to the need for clarifying this new development concept and for developing met hodologies for its assessment and implementation through a discussion of the link s between environmental accounting and the System of National Accounts (SNA ) based on the conceptual framework of SEEA described in the new version of t he United Nations' SNA for 1993. The paper also presents the Indonesian exper i nc in building an institutional framework for natural resources and environmental m nagement through a joint effort in a project entitled Natural Resources and Environmental Accounting where concepts and methods of Natural Resources Accountin g have been developed and applied in compiling the resource account for oil, gas and forest.


An investigation was made of the influence of weak semiconductor laser radiation on the spectrum of stimulated Raman scattering in a single-mode optical waveguide pumped by a YAG:Nd3+ laser emitting at 1.06 μm. The scattered radiation power increased by a factor exceeding 10 at the semiconductor laser wavelength. A small-signal dynamic gain reached 47 dB. Simultaneous amplification was observed of several modes of multimode semiconductor laser radiation with an intermode spectral interval of 1.3 nm.


The invention discloses a grabbing device for a movable grating trash cleaning machine, and belongs to the technical field of grating trash cleaning. The technical key points are that: the grabbing device comprises a grabbing lifting beam, a grabbing crossbeam, a plurality of fixed rake teeth and movable rake teeth, wherein the grabbing crossbeam is fixed below the grabbing lifting beam; the plurality of fixed rake teeth are distributed on the grabbing crossbeam; the movable rake teeth are movably connected with the grabbing lifting beam and correspond to the fixed rake teeth; a hydraulic oil cylinder is connected between the movable rake teeth and the fixed rake teeth; the grabbing device is characterized in that the grabbing crossbeam is provided with a seal driving box; a main control unit, an electric control box, a battery supply and a hydraulic station are arranged in the seal driving box; the electric control box is connected with the main control unit; the battery supply and the hydraulic station are connected with the electric control box; and the hydraulic station is connected with the hydraulic oil cylinder through a pipeline. The invention aims to provide the grabbing device for the movable grating trash cleaning machine, which is convenient to operate, does not need an external driving device and is used for trash cleaning of water intakes of hydraulic power plants, water treatment factories, waterworks, electric drainage stations, pump stations and the like.