ABSTRACT The modified HR3C austenitic heat-resistant steels were aged at 650°C and 700°C for up to 3000 h. The effect of Co on microstructure evolution during long-term ageing was investigated using scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope. The experimental results showed that a large amount of σ phase precipitated within the grain during long-term ageing. The growth and coarsening of the σ phase were greatly influenced by the temperature. The variation of micro-hardness can be well understood in terms of volume fraction of the σ phase. The activation energy of forming σ phase was calculated by the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami equation and Arrhenius equation. It was found that Co addition can suppress the precipitation of the σ phase. The related mechanism of Co effect is discussed.


ABSTRACT The sky view factor (SVF) is a key indicator in urban structures and is used in research in various fields. Recently, a method was developed to compute SVF in complex urban areas using airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR). However, it displays low accuracy in areas with trees and buildings, owing to the limited resolution of airborne LiDAR data. In this study, the accuracy of the SVF calculation using terrestrial LiDAR was verified by comparing the reference data calculated from fisheye photographs at the same positions. Our results indicate that the SVF derived using terrestrial LiDAR has higher accuracy. We also tested whether a higher accuracy could be obtained by increasing the spatial resolution of the LiDAR data. The SVF estimation is more accurate when using terrestrial LiDAR, displaying a 60% reduction in the maximum error compared with the SVF estimated using airborne LiDAR. In addition, according to this research, a voxel size of 2.5 cm is sufficient for estimating SVF in a complex urban area. This resolution can be achieved through mobile LiDAR. Therefore, it is anticipated that the SVF calculation technique used in this study will be more practical when used with mobile LiDAR.


The ability of students to comprehend the subject of Islamic religious education in the material of Shari'a slaughter of animals in Islam has not been well implemented. The teacher provides learning methods through demonstration methods. This method is in the form of theory and practice through audio visual and students conduct demonstrations. Type of classroom action research (CAR) through four main steps, namely planning, action, observation, and reflection. Increasing the class average from the pre-action cycle to cycle I. The increase that occurs from the pre-action cycle to number I 10. 10. From the pre-action cycle to the second cycle there is an increase in value 3. Judging from the graph, the class average in the second cycle project is value of 87. Thus, it can be done class action has been successful. This is because the class average that has reached the upper limit of the product is greater or equal to 73. At the time the action of the number of students who reached the KKM was 9 students or by 30%. Students who have not reached KKM are 21 students or 70%. The number of students who reached KKM were 23 students or 77%. Students who have not reached KKM are 7 students or 23%. The second cycle of students who have reached KKM is 30 students or 100%, the value of all students is above the KKM score.


The invention provides an additive for reducing cholesterol content in aquatic animals body, the additive comprises a composite probiotics formula and a Chinese herbal medicine compound combination, one of additives can be individually used or two of addictives are combined, so that the cholesterol content in the aquatic animals body can be effectively reduced; the additive uses a blocker (Monacolin K) capable of reducing cholesterol in a complex-probiotic group and microbes like antioxidation substances and the like, and a mechanism capable of reducing cholesterol in the Chinese herbal medicine compound combination to reach the efficacy of reducing the cholesterol content in the aquatic animals body. The results of the invention show that the cholesterol content reduction enables no obvious change on nutrition value and property of aquatic animals gonad.


A direct combustion method of automobile shredder residue at high temperature is considered to be an effective process, because the volume of residue can be reduced and many valuable metals can be recovered. However, the fly ash containing large amounts of heavy metals and fluorine are generated inevitably by this process. Therefore, the treatment for detoxification of this fly ash is significantly important. It is found in the present research that cement is effective on the immobilization of harmful elements in the fly ash. The hydrothermal treatment of the solidified mixture of fly ash, cement and water is also superior in the immobilization effect.


Abnormally high concentration of Ca2+ and oxide stress can stimulate the opening of the mitochondriapermeability transition pore (MPTP) and cause the change of mitochondria shape and function. The factorsreleased by mitochondria, such as cytochrome c and AIF (apoptosis-inducing factor) involve in the signalingpathway of caspases and induce cell apoptosis. This article describes the recent progress in the studies of themain components and two different models of the MPTP, the mechanism of the inhibition of CSA and SfA toMPTP and the influence of ischemia /reperfusion and ischaemic preconditioning to the opening of MPTP.


Nitriding treatments were conducted on tool steel (SKD 61) at a temperature of 500°C for 5 hr using high vacuum direct current (DC) plasma, with ammonia and argon as source gases. The structural and com-positional changes produced in the nitrided layers by applying different ratios of Ar to NH₃ (n Ar /n NH3 ) were investigated using glancing x-ray diffraction (GXRD), optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), micro-Vickers hardness testing, and pin-on-disc type tribometer. Nitriding case depths of around of 50 ㎛ were produced, varying slightly with different ratios of n Ar /n NH3 . It was found that the specimen surface hardness was 1150 Hv with n Ar /n NH3 =1, increasing to a maximum value of 1500 Hv with n Ar /n NH3 =5. With a further increase in ratio to nAr/nNH3=10, the surface hardness of the specimen reduced slightly to a value of 1370 Hv. These phenomena were caused by changes of the crystallographic structure of the nitride layers, i.e the γ'-Fe₄N phase only was observed in the sample treated with n Ar /n NH3 =1, and the intensity of the γ'-Fe₄N phase were reduced but new phase of e'-Fe₃N, which was known as a high hardness, with increasing n Ar /n NH3 . Also, the relative weight loss of counterface of the pin-an-disc with unnitrided steel was 0.2. And that of nitrided steel at a gas mixture (n Ar /n NH3 ) of 1, 5, 7, and 10 was 0.4, 0.7, 0.6, and 0.5 ㎎, respectively. This means that the wear resistance of the nitrided samples could be increased by a factor of 2 at least than that of unnitrided steel.


Abstract Corn occupies third place in importance among the world's crop.Along with wheat and barley, is the food of most world population, directly or processed animal products. Corn hybrids grown in Romania have been classified as the vegetation period of maturity in 9 groups (as-FAO), presenting six important groups. After we obtain simple hybrid model (HS), double (HD) and Trilinear (HT). Key words


Anisotype, p+-GaAs/n-In0.15Ga0.85As heterojunction field-effect transistors, grown by molecular beam epitaxy and fabricated by a self-aligned process, have been investigated for digital logic applications. Peak transconductance of 411 mS/mm and a K-value of 292 mA/V2/mm were obtained for an enhancement-mode device with gate length of 1 μm. Preliminary analysis of a nonisolated device leads to a cut off frequency of 17.5 GHz.


The last two decades have witnessed an increasing and extensive application of taskbased language teaching (TBLT) in the EFL classes around the Asian countries. Despite its popularity, however, there are a variety of studies exploring and displaying the challenges and problems in its implementation in Asian classes. This paper reviews research addressing the problems in the implementation of TBLT in Asian EFL classes and their according solutions. More importantly, the paper attempts to investigate the mismatches between the pedagogic concepts underlying TBLT and the sociocultural contexts in Asia. This will help educators and language teachers in Asia to attach more importance to the contextual differences when applying TBLT to the local educational settings, both in Asia and the other regions around the world.


The late Sir Donald Bradman, Australia's cricketing, all time hero, is undoubtedly one of Australia's most loved icons. Yet controversy has dogged his memory in recent years. In 2003, writer Christine Wallace discovered a collection of letters in the National archives written between Donald Bradman and former Murdoch journalist Rohan Rivett. The letters, opened for the first time to researchers after Wallace discovered them, cover the years beyond Bradman's life as cricketing great. They reveal a private Bradman most had never heard of. On Tuesday, 30 November 2004 Christine Wallace addressed The Sydney Institute to discuss all this and to explain what encouraged her to write the book The Private Don (Allen & Unwin, 2004)


A romantic evening at home surrounded by candlelight may pose a not-so-romantic health hazard. Some candles made with metal wicks emit lead into the air when burned, finds a study by environmental chemist Jerome Nriagu of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, scheduled for publication in an upcom-ing issue of Science ofthe Total Environment. The dark, shiny metal wick cores are used to make the wick more rigid and to slow burning, and are thus more common in large, poured candles (such as pillar candles and those in glass containers) and those where a longer burning time may be especially desirable (such as scented candles). Aroma-hazard. Candles with metal wicks may emit large amounts of lead. Nriagu tested 15 different brands of candles with metal wicks that were purchased in Michigan stores. The candles were made in the United States, Mexico, or China, and they ranged in size from 3.5 to 7.0 centimeters in diameter and from 5.0 to 15.0 centimeters in height. The candles were burned in a combustion chamber for 2-4 hours, and the fumes were captured in a trap containing nitric acid, which dissolved the lead aerosols. The amount oflead in solution was measured using an atomic absorption spectrometer. The six candles made in the United States released 1.1-66.0 micrograms (.g) of lead per hour, the five Mexican candles released 0.5-5.9 pg per hour, and the four Chinese candles released 1.8-327.0 pg per hour. The amount oflead that would accumulate in a dosed bedroom measuring about 12 feet by 15 feet by 10 feet, or 50 cubic meters (m3) in volume, after burning each candle for 2 hours was calculated. Lead concentrations in the room after 2 hours of burning were estimated at 0.04-13.1 pg/m3, in some cases far exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ambient air quality standard of 1.5 pg/mn3. An earlier Australian study found that several large Chinese candles released lead amounts averaging 779.0 pg per hour. Those results, published in the December 1999 issue of Science ofthe Total Environment, resulted in lead wicks being banned in Australia. Lead aerosols released by burning candles may be deposited on walls, furniture, and floors. This deposition increases the likelihood that children may be contaminated through hand-to-mouth activities. The central nervous system of children is particularly sensitive to lead poisoning. Chronic low levels of lead exposure cause learning disabilities, incoordina-tion, and behavioral disorders. Lead also …


The article is devoted to the characterization of a fire as an event, the information potential of historical sources associated with fires in Russian cities and villages of the 18th century, the causes of fires, fire-fighting household measures, compensatory measures in the city and in the countryside, by both the state and landowners, the specifics of fixing information in legislative acts, clerical sources and sources of personal origin. These documents make it possible to clarify the details of urban and rural everyday life, poorly expressed or poorly preserved in sources of a different nature.


Glass substrate has advantages of lower cost and lower RF loss compared with high resistivity Si substrate, but there is a challenge within process fabrication by the conventional CMOS fabrication system because of wafer transparency. Temporary bonding and de-bonding technology was used within process development. Transmission line was designed and fabricated on the glass substrate after process optimization.


This paper presents the results of research activities that CESI and, from 2006 onwards, CESI RICERCA, have been conducting to get a general picture of wind conditions all over Italy as well as an estimate of the actually exploitable wind energy potential for electricity generation. Results are also described of scenario studies carried out by models to analyze the possible role of wind energy in the Italian electricity system up to the year 2030 under given assumptions and to assess the impact of envisaged wind deployment scenarios on the development of the electricity grid.


R. P. Adak, A. K. Dubey, J. Saini, V. Jain, S. Chattopadhyay, S. Das, U.Frankefeld, J.Henner, W. Niebur, I. Sorokin, T. Blog, F. uhlig, V. Friese, P. Ghosh, and J. Heuser Bose Institute, Centre for Astroparticle Physics And Space Sciences, Kolkata-91, INDIA Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata-64, INDIA GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH (GSI), Darmstadt, Germany Introduction Operation of CBM-MUCH at high interaction rate requires a detector with large acceptance, high granularity and high rate capability. In this direction, we have conducted a beam test of triple GEM detectors at COSY using 2.36 GeV/c proton beams. Our goal was to study the response of the detector with high intensity beam using nXYTER based self-triggered readout electronics and also to test for the first time the performance of a large size triple GEM detector. In this study, we compare the results at different peak intensities in a typical spill in a run. The highest intensity as calculated from spill structure is ∼565kHz/cm2 which is close to the peak intensity expected by the 1st MUCH detector station. Here we report preliminary results of the beam test. Experimental Setup


Abstract Visual function loss has been documented in diabetes mellitus in relation to flicker and contrast. However, no direct correlation between the degree of loss in sensitivity and the level of retinopathy has been established. It has been suggested that such non‐invasive psychophysical procedures actually reflect metabolic disturbances within the diabetic retina. This study investigates the possibility of whether early nephropathy demonstrated by microalbuminuria, is an indicator of micro‐angiopathy which may be a cause of retinal disturbance leading to a loss of visual function. The visual function of a group of diabetics showing microalbuminuria was studied. Contrast and flicker threshold were measured and the results compared with those obtained with an age‐matched control diabetic group. The procedures used effectively separated the two groups and raises the issue of incorporating psychophysics in retinal screening programmes.


Application of differential fiber in spunbond nonwovens is introduced.It is explained that its application will improve spunbond nonwovens performance and increase application fields.


Automated warfare including aerial drones that are extensively used in ongoing armed conflicts is now an established part of military technology worldwide. It is only logical to assume that the next step of progression for military technology would be to strengthen the autonomy of weapon systems to the extent that the human is completely removed from the loop. Ongoing discussions at different multilateral fora on the definition of 'Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems' (LAWS), mainly focus on a preemptive ban on LAWS on one hand and the justification of the dual use of technology on the other. Those who advocate for a pre-emptive ban on LAWS argue that such weapon systems are not able to or at least highly unlikely to comply with the fundamental principles of proportionality, distinction and precaution in the International Humanitarian Law (IHL).The issue of accountability and criminal responsibility of individuals and States for serious violations of IHL and IHRL in the use of LAWS is also matter of fundamental importance. Considering the dual use of robot technology and already existing degree of autonomy in current warfare, what is essential is to engage in meaningful deliberations to arrive at common understandings on compliance of LAWS with the principles of IHL and IHRL in their use as an essential prerequisite ahead of their deployment in future conflicts.


FIELD: agricultural machinery; garden tractors. SUBSTANCE: tractor has front-mounted control and instrument unit. Seat is arranged between rear wheel fenders and is secured on support device. The latter can be displaced between lower operating position and upper position. Thanks to it access to longitudinal shaft of tractor transmission is provided. EFFECT: facilitated servicing. 3 cl, 5 dwg


Gravitational effects on tree frogs flown on Russian space station MIR were studied with an index of protein metabolism. CoIIagen in skin was found to be Iess for space flown frogs. Total proteins, DNA, and RNA in skin and liver were also measured. Leaf of Tochu, an oriental medicine, known as "elixir of life", was examined whether it could be a countermeasure against loss of calcium and proteins from bone and muscle in space. From ground based experiment, content and structure of rough endoplasmic reticulum in liver was found to be influenced by Tochu leaf.


The Italian migration to Australia is one of the largest migrations to occur in the postwar period anywhere in the world. Australia. in spite of a romantic mythology (held more generally by those in other lands than by Australians) which sees Australia as a rough. pioneering rural community, is the most urbanized rountry in the world. The Italians known to most Anglo-Australians. and most commonly studied by sociologists, generalh lin' in large, visible and colorful nll1("('ntrations in several inner and outer suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney. It is in this context that the issues of migrant settlemrnt and integration are usually discussed. From Pusta 10 Pall/ova takes a broad look at these issues by basing its investigation on the differences between metropolitan and semi-rural communities. This perspective provides a t imelv balance to the urban bias of Aust ralian sociology and pol icy development and a neat conceptual locus. It also touches on. without explicating it, 011(' of the ('On' themes in mainstream sociology. Ove-r s('n'l'al years Rina Huber studied two gl'Oups of Italians [rom Treviso, a region in Northern Italy. The first group settled in (;riflith. a town in rural New South Wail'S in ih« 1920s starting a chain migration of relatives and friends to the area. From the hardships of rural laboring and vegetabl(' growing, most progressed to brcom« prosperous farmers enjoying a lively social lil«. The second group settled in a crowded inner suburb of the large capital city of Svdney in the early I950s. The men camr alone, worked, saved, and then brought their bride. After marriage their aim was to payoff their house and then to visit their [ami lv in Italy. From a detailed examination of the lifestyle of these families and dose attention to their own comments Huber draws a key conclusion: "Immigrants in a new country find it easier to settle if core institutions can be adapted or reconstituted to dovetai] with new ones". (;rilfith. a small, open, country town, permitted this. It offered the best of both worlds. Trevisani were able to continue their traditional lives on the land, but in more prosperous and less culturally conlined circumstances. Old values and customs could be retained but with less rigidity and mellowed by contact with the freer Australian lifestyle. The Trevisani enjoyed the privacy of a nuclear Iamily household but had many kin dose at hand. Italian clubs, drawing on Australian affluence and Trevisani social links. became important and


BACKGROUND. Most cutaneous hemangiomas involute spontaneously. However, the lesion existing on the face poses a cosmetic problem during the waiting period for involution. METHODS. Hemangioma showing late involution was treated by local injection of monoethanolamine oleate solution. RESULTS. The lesion flattened and was excised serially. CONCLUSION. Sclerotherapy with monoethanolamine oleate can shorten the waiting period for involution and can decrease the risk of psychosocial trauma. Moreover, it provides good preparation for further surgery. Such sclerotherapy is effective in the treatment of hemangioma with late involution.


Abstract. A procedure requiring only n 3 /3 flops for factorizing a given totally nonnegative (TN) n x n matrix A= [ a ij ] is proposed as against existing procedures requiring n 3 /2 flops. In this procedure, at the i th step, the i th non-unit bidiagonal factor of A -1 is generated. Product of such previous i- factors of A -1 are multiplied with the ( i+1) th column of A . This strategy replaces the usual expensive row operations with more economical triangular matrix – vector multiplications. Another attraction with the procedure is its simple non-unit bidiagonal factors which can be constructed without any computations at all. These features contribute to reduce number of flops as claimed. The procedure exposes that it is the non-negativity of 2 X 2 minors of factors with non-negative entries that makes A , a totally positive (TP) matrix. It is proved that entries of A are constituted by partial sums of the entries of the factors. This in turn contributes to the extension of positivity of 2 X 2 minors from factors to their products as a chained process which culminates in the total positivity of A . This way the total positivity of A is explained independent of earlier results.


Objective:To explore the clinical efficacy of Ebastine combined with Tranilast in treating chronic urticaria.Methods:86 cases were divided into two groups.The patients in study group were treated with ebastine and tranilast,and the control group with ebastine only.Results:The efficacy rates of study group and the control group were 84.4% and 70.0% respectively.There was significant difference of severity scores between two groups after 4 weeks' treatment(P0.001).Conclusion: Ebastine combined with tranilast is an effective and safe method in treating chronic urticaria.


Abstract The transition from student to social worker is a process which social work educators cannot control but can facilitate. Through classroom and field instruction faculty assumer responsibility of preparing students' professional knowledge, skills, and values; however, our responsibilities should extend beyond curriculum delivery. Drawing on Schlossberg's (1984) model of transitions, this article discusses two primary factors which affect the younger student in transition—developmental needs and the external environment—and strategies for assisting in the transition through intervention in academic advising and teaching roles.


File type: 600 DPI TIFF, File Dimensions: 18826 x 13665 pixels, File size: 405 KB. File created by Document Warehouse. Original document = handsketched plans.


PURPOSE: A non-volatile memory device and a memory system including the same reduce erasure disturbance by varying a program pulse period according to temperature change, the physical position of a word line, a program voltage, and/or a program-erasure cycle. CONSTITUTION: A program voltage (Vpgm) is supplied to a selected word line (Selected WL). A pass voltage is supplied to unselected word lines (Unselected WL). A program pulse period where the program voltage is constantly maintained is controlled by temperature change. The program pulse period is increased when the temperature is decreased, and the program pulse period is decreased when the temperature is increased. The program pulse period determined by the temperature change is additionally changed by the physical position of the selected word line.


The authors investigate the use of a rotating force field applied to a stationary rotor to investigate the critical speeds, amplification factor, rubs and other rotor dynamic phenomena while the shaft remains stationary. A laboratory rotor is supported by magnetic bearings and the rotating force field is implemented using the magnetic bearing coils. This approach could easily be employed for diagnostic work on either new machines or machines with field problems without high-speed operation. By using various input perturbation signals, such as white noise, sine wave, or step function, and a rotating force field, knowledge of the characteristics of the magnetic bearing properties and of the overall system is obtained. Optimal setting of proportional and derivative gains, which control the stiffness and damping, critical speeds, amplitude response, clearance magnitudes, amplification factor, log decrement, damping factor and mode shapes, can all be experimentally obtained from the magnetic bearing system before the rotor is run up in speed. Diagnostic data are shown to be very similar to data obtained from actual run-up information.<<ETX>>


Abstract Let 𝒯(k)n denote the set of k-Stirling permutations having n distinct letters. Here, we consider the number of steps required (i.e., pushes) to rearrange the letters of a member of 𝒯(k)n so that they occur in non-decreasing order. We find recurrences for the joint distribution on 𝒯(k)n for the statistics recording the number of levels (i.e., occurrences of equal adjacent letters) and pushes. When k = 2, an explicit formula for the ordinary generating function of this distribution is also found. In order to do so, we determine the LU-decomposition of a certain infinite matrix having polynomial entries which enables one to compute explicitly the inverse matrix.


a modern approach to the design of industrial and public buildings requires the use of the latest technology. The most promising area in this industry is Building Information Modeling (BIM). Thanks to the use of BIM technologies, the design process is significantly accelerated and much fewer errors occur. In this article, the Revit software package is selected as an example of a 3D design environment. This program has a fairly convenient and functional interface, allows you to configure connections with other programs, and it has a Dynamo visual programming module that allows you to speed up and automate many standard functions.


Hydrogen appears to be an ideal candidate as an alternative to fossil fuels. It has the highest energy content per unit of weight for any known fuel and it can be used to generate electricity by fuel cell technology. Hydrogen can be obtained biologically via fermentation via anaerobic bacteria and photolysis via algae and cyanobactera. However, hydrogen is produced at higher rates with fermentation compared to photolysis and has the potential to combine organic waste management with simultaneous hydrogen production. Dark fermentation of hexoses has been extensively studied using a variety of anaerobic inocula under different growth and operational conditions. Few reports have demonstrated biohydrogen production directly from food waste or paper waste. In addition, the effect of different amounts of paper waste and food waste on biohydrogen production has not been studied. The objective of this work was to examine the effect of different amounts of paper waste and food waste on biohydrogen production in batch reactors.


In this paper we have studied the electric power steering system for a front wheel- steered, rear-wheel driven four wheels vehicle. A controller has been designed for our model with the help of assist characteristics curves and PID action. We have carried out simulation on different types of vehicle paths which include circular and moose test path. We chose two different cases of steering and for each case we have carried out simulation by considering the two path states. Keywords : electric power steering system, assist characteristics curves, PID controller, circular and moose test path.


As Claire Renzetti (this issue) correctly points out in her commentary on Swan and Snow's (this issue) article, in a relatively short period of time, the social scientific literature on gender differences in intimate partner violence (IPV) has increased "exponentially." Consider, too, that a growing number of scholars, such as Swan and Snow (this issue), are now trying to theorize the complex nature of women's use of violence in intimate relationships. However, as was the case 12 years ago when Martin Schwartz and I responded to some researchers who argued that women are just as violent as men in intimate relationships (e.g., Straus, 1993), there is still an important battle being waged over the nature of women's behavior and its role in woman abuse (Schwartz & DeKeseredy, 1993). Indeed, the respectful but often heated scholarly exchanges that occurred at the Gender Symmetry Workshop organized by the National Institute of Justice are not representative of much popular discourse on the nature and extent of women's use of violence. For example, on June 21, 2005, lawyer David Burroughs sent Schwartz and me an electronic message criticizing our critique of Statistics Canada's 1999 General Social Survey on Victimization (see DeKeseredy & Schwartz, 2003). Included in his message was this statement:


The classical free-energy expression for a polymer solution with Flory–Huggins (FH) combinatorial together with an interaction free energy reflecting component molecular volumes predicts that as the polymer molecular weight M→∞, the polymer critical composition ϕ2c→ 0 and the critical temperature Tc→θ, the Flory temperature. Experimental evidence indicates that molecular surfaces should replace molecular volumes in the interaction term. This model leads to limiting ϕ2c and Tc values which can differ widely from zero and θ, respectively, when the surface/volume ratio of the polymer is less than ⅔ that of the solvent, as found for many systems. The new predictions are contrary to many experimental data. Replacement of the FH combinatorial by the multiple-connected combinatorial of Prausnitz and collaborators restores the usual limiting values of ϕ2c and Tc for polymer solutions constituting experimental evidence for this combinatorial.


The regioselective method allows access to functionalized aldehydes, ketones and aromatic allylic alcohols thus opening the way to biologically interesting substances.


Abstract : The U.S. economy is the largest and arguably the most complex in the world. Every day, millions of Americans are making economic decisions. Consumers are choosing among a vast array of goods and services and deciding how much income they want to save and where they want to invest it. At the same time, firms are making decisions about hiring workers, about investing in new plants, equipment, and technology, and about what and how much to produce. And at some point, everyone has to make important life decisions about work--deciding, for example, whether to take a job for the first time or leave the workforce to care for children, go to school, or retire. Government policies can influence all of those decisions. Higher marginal tax rates can reduce work effort, discourage saving, and slow the growth ofthe economy. Changes in entitlement programs for the elderly can influence people's decisions about retirement and saving for the future. Reducing the budget deficit can boost the U.S. capital stock, lower interest rates, and raise gross domestic product. Increased regulation and governmental mandates can reduce productivity. In addition, world events can affect the economy. An economic storm in Asia can roll across the Pacific. War can break out in the Middle East. World oil prices can shoot up. Stock markets can drop, and business and consumer confidence can collapse.


Programming over the air (POTA) is commonly used to update the firmware and configuration of a wireless sensor node without any physical contact with the node.We used this concept here to program the Arduino pro mini wirelessly over the Bluetooth link using HC-05 module.Bluetooth module only support UART traffic to communicate with slave devices. To implement POTA, a software layer is written for HC-05 module, this software layer makes HC-05 able to program Arduino pro mini over serial communication. The written software transfer data over the Bluetooth link to the slave hardware and then Arduino pro mini is programmed.


many parts of the world. This is a major public health problem because obesity often tracks into adulthood, with many complications. During the last two decades, the prevalence of childhood obesity has been estimated in several countries. In Belgium, data are available from some parts of the country but no recent data exist for the province of Liege. The objective of the study is to assess the current prevalence of overweight and obesity in schoolchildren from the province of Liege. Method: A retrospective study was conducted from the school health records of 1403 children monitored in 2005–2006 by school health centres in the Province of Liege. Height and weight, as part of routine child health monitoring, have been measured in light clothing by trained nurses. Complementary data such as physical activity were also recorded. Results: The mean age of the population studied was 7 years (2?26–14?6 years). Using the IOTF definition, the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) was 16?6 % for girls and 15?9 % for boys, and the prevalence of obesity was 3?96 % and 4?44 %, respectively. Overweight is increasing with age, particularly in girls between 5 and 8 years of age. Conclusions: In comparison with other European countries, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Belgian province of Liege is intermediate, between the high prevalence in Southern Europe and the relatively lower prevalence in Northern Europe. It will be important to follow the situation in order to adjust prevention programmes.


The goal of the ProFlex workshop is to bring together practitioners and researchers from different communities who share an interest in flexibility of process-aware information systems and team support. This workshop report gives an overview of the presented papers that address various flexibility issues of process-aware information systems.


In this study, mixing enhancement behind a backward-facing step is experimentally investigated using thin rectangular tabs attached on the trailing edge at the Reynolds number of 24,000 based on the free-stream velocity and step-height (h). The control parameters considered are the height and width of the tab and the spanwise spacing (λ) between the adjacent tabs. The reattachment length (x R ) is about 5.8h for uncontrolled flow. For each tab configuration, we measure the distributions of wall static pressure and reattachment length along the spanwise direction. With the tab, the reattachment length and wall static pressure show significant variations in the spanwise direction. With single tab, x R slightly increases at the spanwise location of the tab, but significantly decreases at other spanwise locations. With multiple tabs, we also find that there exists optimal λ minimizing reattachment length. It is shown that the tabs attached on the trailing edge drastically increase mixing behind the backward-facing step.


In a traditional question answering (QA) task, a problem instance consists of a question and a paragraph (called the context) in natural language. A system must read and understand the context to find an answer to the question. Here it is implicitly understood that the provided context contains all the information necessary to answer the question. This task falls within the field of natural language processing (NLP) and is closely related to reading comprehension. Being able to understand and answer questions in natural language opens up myriad possibilities in human-computer interaction. Providing the system with a relevant piece of context implies that some amount of information about the query is already known in advance. In a real problem setting, the relevant context is often not known, as questions can concern a large variety of topics. When the context is not known, the problem is said to be one of open-domain question answering. There are already published models that achieve good performance on the traditional question answering task. This work focuses on methods to find an appropriate context paragraph from a large pool of candidates covering many different topics. This problem—finding one relevant piece of information in a corpus—is known as information retrieval (IR). It has been widely studied, mostly in the context of search engines. Existing systems typically work by constructing a search index and/or comparing similar words in the question and context candidates. Neural networks may be able to gain and use a deeper understanding of the meaning of the texts in order to make a more informed decision. However, it is not computationally feasible to apply neural network classifiers to a large corpus of possible contexts. Therefore, we explore several alternative models that make do without applying a classifier to every possible question-context pair.


Glaciers which drain the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) into the Amundsen Sea are accelerating and thinning rapidly. These observations have been attributed to the regional oceanography whereby heat contained within Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) drives the basal melting of floating glaciers. On the basis of new data we calculate that 2.8 terra‐Watts (1012) of oceanic heat flow onto the continental shelf and toward the glaciers via a submarine glacial trough. This is enough to account for most of the basal melting in the entire region suggesting the ocean is supplying an excess of heat toward the Antarctic continent.


In recent years, the structural changes and innovations in medical records have become an important issue for many countries and organizations. Electronic medical records (EMRs), in particular, have been the focus of considerable attention. However, although the benefits and advantages of the EMRs have been cited by many studies and professionals, in Taiwan the degree of the implementation is still lower than the USA and other European countries. The intent of this study is to probe into the difficulties of the electronic medical records (EMRs) implementation for private solo clinics in Taiwan by conducting a case-control study in order to encourage the implementation of the EMRs for all health providers. Since the National Health Insurance (NHI) System was implemented for the entire Taiwanese population in 1995, the EMRs are becoming more and more important for sharing and exchanging data among providers, improving the quality of medical services, assisting health decision makers, correction and analysis of correlation and completion of the claim's data.
The primary screening questionnaires were sent to 13,923 solo private clinics for screening the study subjects. Then 165 geographically matched pairs were selected for conducting the case-control study. Furthermore, 158 previous users who have ceased the implementation of the EMRs are also included in this study. According to the results, age, experience with computers and willingness to learn about computer are significant factors influencing EMRs implementation. In addition, by comparing the current users and previous users, we find that age and time-efficiency are two significant variables associated with ceasing the use of the EMRs. Since the factor of provider age cannot be changed by the policy makers and the Department of Health, the policy makers are suggested to focus on enhancing the amount of experience with computers and willingness to learn about computer. The ideas of a Medical Information Access Card System and National Medical Information Network are presented to eliminate the shortcomings of the current National Health Insurance System and improve the implementation rate of computers in the medical care system.


The introduction of new tools and technologies of training would increase the interest of students and build the motivation to train them in a way that would contribute to better and quality education. Content management systems (CMS) help to resolve such problems. They automate and facilitate the process of adding and changing content sites. The article is devoted to the problems facing modern secondary education proposing solutions to some of them. Key words :  Content management system (CMS),  secondary education,  informatics,  WordPress,  Joomla,  Drupal


A flavin analog (1) in which the isoalloxazine ring of riboflavin is linked to a pyrrole group has been synthesized and electrochemically characterized. The enzyme flavin reductase (Fre) was successfully immobilized by copolymerization of compound 1 and the amphiphilic pyrrole ammonium derivative 2. The amperometric response of the resulting poly(1-2)-Fre electrode to NADH was based on the oxidation of the enzymically reduced flavin analog 1 at −0.1 V (vs. SCE). The sensitivity and detection limit of the biosensor for NADH are 13.7 mA M−1 cm−2 and 0.5 μM, respectively. The new biosensor is NADH-specific since no amperometric response was observed for repeated additions of NADPH.


In this study, we propose a multirotor aerial robot for high-pressure washing tasks at high altitudes. The aerial robot consists of a multirotor platform, an add-on planar translational driving system (ATD), a visual sensing system, and a high-pressure washing system. The ATD consists of three ducted fans, which can generate force in all directions on the horizontal plane. The ATD also allows the multirotor to suppress the reaction force generated by the nozzle of a high-pressure washing system and inject water accurately. In this study, we propose a method to precisely inject water by installing an ATD in the multirotor and using its driving force to suppress the reaction force and move the multirotor while keeping its posture horizontal. The semi-autonomous system was designed to allow the operator to maneuver the multirotor while maintaining a constant distance from the wall by the sensor feedback with onboard LiDAR or stereo camera. In the experiment, we succeeded in performing the high-pressure washing task in a real environment and verified that the reaction force generated from the nozzle was actually suppressed during the task.


We appreciate the opportunity to correct a typographical error in our commentary (1) "MEF2A sequence variants and coronary heart disease: a change of heart?". Specifically, the number of nonsynonymous changes found in controls should have read "1 in 500," not "0 in 500" as in our published article. (This is because the 21-nt deletion was seen in controls.) Based on the then-available counts (5/500 in cases and 1/500 in controls), the 2-tailed P value we provided (P > 0.2) is correct.

The accompanying letter from Weng et al. adds to and clarifies their recent study (2), providing more detailed information about ascertainment of variants in cases and controls. First, all exons were resequenced in cases, but only certain exons were resequenced in controls. Second, several additional missense changes were identified in both cases and controls. Taking these data into account, it appears that there have been 7 missense changes identified in cases and 5 in controls, including 3 found uniquely in cases, 1 found uniquely in controls, and 4 found in both groups. Moreover, the incomplete ascertainment in controls by Weng et al. (2) means that the current estimate of the frequency of MEF2A missense mutations in controls is a lower bound; additional missense changes in controls (which might have been found by more complete resequencing) would shift the combined data in the direction away from association between MEF2A variation and cardiac disease.

Finally, we note that the major prevailing bias in the association literature is publication bias; that is, there is a greater likelihood that positive claims of association will be published as compared with studies that provide no evidence of association (3). Counteracting this bias requires that we encourage the publication and dispassionate evaluation of all relevant data, whether or not the data support an association.


Do different design and information content factors influence trust and mistrust of online health sites? Fifteen women faced with a risky health decision were observed while searching the Internet for information and advice over four consecutive weeks. In some sessions their searches were unstructured, whilst in other sessions they were directed to review specific sites, chosen for their trust design elements. Content analysis of concurrent verbalisations and group discussion protocols provided support for a staged model wherein design appeal predicted rejection (mistrust) and credibility of information and personalisation of content predicted selection (trust) of advice sites.


An improved shielded radio frequency transmission cable having at least one center conductor surrounded by a dielectric and a plurality of metallic sheaths surrounding the dielectric with at least two of the metallic sheaths separated by at least one interlayer (preferably braided) that includes insulating material (which may be a good dielectric) and at least one conducting member.


Professor Bannikov describes how the USSR has created nature reserves to protect individual rare species so that today all endangered mammals are protected in reserves or sanctuaries; several rare species have been greatly increased in numbers and reintroduced in other areas. The article is the talk Professor Bannikov, who is a Vice-President of the FPS, gave at the Society's Annual General Meeting on July 5 in London.


To present the outcomes of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) resection from five Italian centres, focussing the analysis on the comparison among open (OG), laparoscopic (LG) and robotic (RG) approaches.


An approximate inversion, using a specific model, of Apollo subsatellite vector magnetometer data has provided estimates for the locations, scale sizes, and magnetization characteristics of strongly magnetized lunar crustal materials across a portion of the lunar far side. The nearly model-independent local bulk directions of magnetization, while otherwise random, exhibit a tendency to lie in or near planes perpendicular to the present lunar spin axis. The apparent existence of such a preferred plane of magnetization must be regarded as unfavorable for proposed local, presumably random sources of large-scale, coherent magnetization and implies that any assumed internal magnetizing dipole or external linear magnetizing field must also have been oriented mainly perpendicular to the present spin axis. The otherwise random orientations of these vectors when projected onto the equatorial plane suggests a simple explanation for the negligible lunar global dipole moment.


Softwood bark is a rich source of renewable chemicals, including phenolic compounds known as tannins. Tannins can be extracted from bark with hot water, but the yield can be relatively low, leading to dilute extracts. Next to tannin, a considerable amount of extracted dry matter comprised of carbohydrates, and bark carbohydrates limit the applicability of the extract in applications that demand high purity. This study used membrane filtration to refine and concentrate tannins produced from hot water extracts of softwood bark. Enzymatic hydrolysis of bark carbohydrates prior to membrane filtration was assessed as means to improve the separation of bark sugars from bark phenols. Enzymatic hydrolysis using an optimised enzyme mixture liberated 55% of bark carbohydrates mainly by degradation of pectin and other polysaccharides in spruce unrefined tannins. Separation of bark phenols from the enzyme-treated extract by precipitation at acidic pH and subsequent microfiltration produced low tannin yield. Instead, keeping bark phenols soluble at alkaline pH allowed us to concentrate them 15-fold with good and stable flux using nanofiltration. Additionally, enzymatically liberated sugars permeated well through the nanofiltration membrane, decreasing the free sugar content of the concentrated tannin from 31% to 7.4%. However, diafiltration did not seem to decrease the proportion of free sugars in the concentrate further. This enzyme-assisted nanofiltration concept was successfully upscaled to a pilot scale which was a promising result for improved industrial applicability of softwood bark tannins in the future.


An organophotoreceptor is provided to generate a high-resolution output and be suitable for short waves of about 400-500 nm. An organophotoreceptor for short waves includes a conductive support and a photosensitive layer formed on the conductive supporter. The photosensitive layer comprises a naphthalenetetracarboxylic acid diimide derivative represented by the following formula 1, wherein each of R1 and R2 independently represents hydrogen, a halogen group, a C1-20 substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group, or a C1-20 substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy group, R3 represents a C1-20 substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group, a C1-20 substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy group, a C7-30 substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group, or -(CH2)n-Y-R4(wherein, Y represents an oxygen atom or sulfur atom, R4 represents a hydrogen atom, a C1-20 substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group, and n represents an integer of 1-12), and Ar represents a C6-30 substituted or unsubstituted aryl group.


Recently, the utilization of the potential bioactive phenolics has been the focus of attention owing to their consumption imparts health benefits including various cancer types, reduced risk of coronary heart diseases. Dietary supplements, food tablets, capsules and fortificated foods based on food by-product may be alternative for healthy public nutrition. In this research content, the preliminary data was obtained; the detailed chemical properties of innovative mandarin peel effervescent tablet was determined. Bioactive flavanones and phenolic acids of mandarin peel tablet by HPLC-DAD and LC-ESI-QTOFF-Mass Spectrometry has been put forwarded.


Inverter with single loop PID controller woks not very well if PID controller parameters are not designed well. The design method of inverter instantaneous voltage PID controller based on pole-assignment is proposed in this paper. This method makes PID controlled inverter provides fast dynamic response, low output THD with nonlinear load, nice static characteristics and is a robust system. Theoretically, control essence of the PID controlled inverter is expounded with state space concept. Theoretical analysis is confirmed well through both simulation and experimental results. The instantaneous voltage PID control inverter has advantage on circuit and cost, compared with voltage current dual-loop control inverter.


development by of very good quality. The meeting with a phase of operational validation and a friendly confrontation was planned in Pforzheim in The team taken part in the edition "RobAFIS 2016" and the German team had taken part in the edition "RobSE 2016/2017". The robot was designed to ensure three successive and different missions with a phase in autonomous mode, then a phase in teleoperation mode. The missions consisted in depositing a beacon on a black rectangle, then two beacons on black rounds, then three beacons on black squares. The tele operation was carried out with a « blind » manner, thanks to a embarked video channel of a camera received and displayed on the control center.


This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Political Science at Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Political Science Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact email@example.com. Repository Citation Genovese, Michael A., "Book Review of Problems in Administrative Reform by Robert Miewald & Michael Steinman" (1985). Political Science Faculty Works. 74. http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/poli_fac/74


Lifelog devices are proficient in logging huge amounts of information to assist memory recollection but they lack a swift information retrieval method, which is important when a person needs to take instant action based on previous experiences. This paper presents a mechanism for recalling past events by combining appropriate context with lifelogs. A user's location is recorded together with the identity of people in close proximity and objects in the vicinity. Later, appropriate logs are retrieved based on the user's present context. The system is programmed on a Nexus S smartphone that is connected to an infrared transmitter and receiver pair to recognize people nearby, and an image-recognition engine is used to distinguish three-dimensional objects via the smartphone in real time. In an evaluation, we compared our proposed approach to a Vicon Revue lifelog device and determined that our system is capable of retrieving useful logs related to a user's present circumstances


Aim To observe the effect of peri-operative analgesia with Parecoxib for electrovaporization-ablation of the prostate on elderly patients.Methods Eighty patients older than 60 who received electrovaporization-ablation of the prostate were randomly divided into A and B groups,ASAⅠ-Ⅱ,age between 60 and 91 years old,anesthetized with combined spinal epidural anesthesia(CSEA).Patients in group A(n=40)received intravenous injection Parecoxib of 40 mg(diluted to 5 ml with normal saline)before surgery while patients in group B(n=40)received normal saline 5 ml.The vital signs at 1,4,8,24 and 48 h after surgery were recorded.The incidence of pain,VAS of pain and the grade 0~3 of pain were observed respectively.Also,creatinine(Cr)and blood urea nitrogen(BUN)were tested before surgery,at the time of 1,4,8,24 and 48 h.Results The vital signs of the patients in two groups were basically stable.The incidence of pain in group A was 12.5%,which were remarkably lower than those in group B which was 75%(P0.01),and the levels of the pain were lower in group A than that in group B.There was no obvious difference in Cr and BuN between the two groups.Conclusion Peri-operative analgesia with Parecoxib for electrovaporization-ablation of the prostate on elderly patients has a perfect analgesics effect,and it has no effects on the renal function.


Abstract : Just as terrestrial networks have shifted to routed, message centric networks, the satellite networking regime is beginning to transition in the same manner. Based on established networking theories and unique orbital models, a satellite based communications network architecture is modeled that would fulfill the requirements of capacity, coverage and logistics for current and future military needs. Specifically, various satellite constellations and network characteristics are examined with a focus on how to enhance current methods of routing data in this environment. The authors explore how Social Networking theories can be applied to the routing decision making process in the space environment. Utilizing aspects of adaptation and the weak-tie relationship, an adaptive hybrid routing protocol model is proposed leveraging the predictability of orbital mechanics to increase performance and decrease network overhead.


Reconstructs a dialogue between objectifiers (American Puritans, slaveowners) and objectifieds (Native Americans, slaves) by arguing that the literature of race in antebellum America is the continuing story of an encounter with the grotesque. The focus is on literature-from Puritan captivity accounts, fugitive slave narratives, and proslavery fiction to the work of Melville, Stowe, Douglass, and their contemporaries. But Cassuto also ranges from colonial prodigies to nineteenth-century freak shows and Sambo stereotyping, from horror movies to the Holocaust Museum.


This thesis presents a novel controller synthesis method for path following of a wheeled mobile robot (WMR). The proposed control method consists of a three-step procedure mixing piecewise-affine (PWA) and linear parameter-varying (LPV) techniques with backstepping. In the first step, two curvature limits and a curvature rate of change limit are defined for the desired path and the nonlinear WMR parameterized path kinematics are approximated by an uncertain piecewise-affine parameter-varying (PWAPV) system, while assuming that the WMR forward velocity is constant. A numerical method is proposed for determining PWA bounds on the uncertainty terms such that the original nonlinear parameter-dependent system is contained in the uncertain PWAPV system. Then, a PWAPV steering control law is designed using a parameter-dependent quadratic Lyapunov function. In the second step, a backstepping-type approach is used to include the vehicle dynamics and design the wheel control torques that guarantee convergence of the WMR forward and rotational velocities to the desired values. Finally, in the third step, the actuator dynamics are included and the input voltages are designed using backstepping. There are four primary advantages to the path following controller synthesis method proposed in this thesis. First, the PWAPV controller synthesis method can be formulated as a convex optimization program subject to a parameterized set of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs), which will be approximated by a finite set of LMIs using LPV theory and then solved efficiently using available software. Second, it includes both a general, non-singular path parameterization and the actuator dynamics. Third, the PWAPV control law can also stabilize the type of nonlinear parameter-dependent system considered here. And fourth, it is a first step toward including hard nonlinearities in the actuator dynamics, which are important PWA characteristics. The effectiveness of the proposed path following control method is demonstrated through numerical simulations.


Context. Direct imaging of Earth-like planets from space requires dedicated observatories, combining large segmented apertures with instruments and techniques such as coronagraphs, wavefront sensors, and wavefront control in order to reach the high contrast of 1010 that is required. The complexity of these systems would be increased by the segmentation of the primary mirror, which allows for the larger diameters necessary to image Earth-like planets but also introduces specific patterns in the image due to the pupil shape and segmentation and making high-contrast imaging more challenging. Among these defects, the phasing errors of the primary mirror are a strong limitation to the performance.
Aims. In this paper, we focus on the wavefront sensing of segment phasing errors for a high-contrast system, using the COronagraphic Focal plane wave-Front Estimation for Exoplanet detection (COFFEE) technique.
Methods. We implemented and tested COFFEE on the High-contrast imaging for Complex Aperture Telescopes (HiCAT) testbed, in a configuration without any coronagraph and with a classical Lyot coronagraph, to reconstruct errors applied on a 37 segment mirror. We analysed the quality and limitations of the reconstructions.
Results. We demonstrate that COFFEE is able to estimate correctly the phasing errors of a segmented telescope for piston, tip, and tilt aberrations of typically 100 nm RMS. We also identified the limitations of COFFEE for the reconstruction of low-order wavefront modes, which are highly filtered by the coronagraph. This is illustrated using two focal plane mask sizes on HiCAT. We discuss possible solutions, both in the hardware system and in the COFFEE optimizer, to mitigate these issues.


Rhetoric and law had mutually beneficial influences on each other during the Graeco-Roman era..The relationship deteriorated during the middle ages because of a universal decline in learning, culture, and social organization; the hostility of the church toward rhetoric as a pagan concept; and the feudal structure in which there was no system of orderly government to prevail against individual domains. The disciplines of rhetoric and law were revived during the rebirth of learning and the development of the legal system in England, but in separate and different spheres. This segregation was a loss for both endeavors. The era since 1920, however, has witnessed the first signs of a trend toward the recognition of the role that rhetoric and law .can play in association with each other. Legal realists have broken the ground for a broader view of the factors that contribute to an understanding of the legal system, and lawyers and judges are becoming aware of their problems in communication and rhetoric. (Author/RN) U.S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO OUCEO EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR (IRGANIZATION ORtG INATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPIN IONS STATED 00 NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF E0u CATION POSITION OR POLICY RHETORIC AND LAW: AN OVERVIEW Malthon Anapol University of Delaware REPRINTED FROM adOtig gperfql eke 9OW1110e oi Ike Speech LA f:Snei a t inn of tile eastool States Fall, 1970, Volume 13, Number 4 PEHMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPY RIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED 8Y Speech Association of the Eastern States TO ERIC AND EMGAMEATIONS OPERATING UNOER AGREEMENTS_ WITH THE US_OFFICE


In this study we aimed to evaluate the morphological traits and essential oil compositions of three members of Astreraceae (Helichrysum plicatum subsp. plicatum DC., Tanacetum vulgare L., Anthemis cretica L. subsp. albida (Boiss.) Grierson) growing wild in the semi-arid areas of Cankiri province, Turkey. Some morphological characters were reported for the first time. Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation, and their components were identified using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Forty eight compounds were detected for Helichrysum plicatum subsp. plicatum DC., 39 for Tanacetum vulgare L., and 15 for Anthemis cretica L. subsp. albida (Boiss.) Grierson. Although these species belong to the same family, the essential oil profiles revealed significant alterations. The dominant compounds in Helichrysum plicatum subsp. plicatum DC. were sesquiterpenes, whereas monoterpenes were the most abundant compounds in Tanacetum vulgare L. and Anthemis cretica L. subsp. albida (Boiss.) Grierson. The results indicated that the three species use different morphological and chemical processes for broad and specific adaptation.


Measurements of biochemical markers of bone turnover have been explored as a diagnostic tool for the detection of osteolysis after THA, but their predictive value in individual subjects has been poor. One explanation for this low diagnostic utility is that the mechanism of bone resorption in osteolysis may be different to that occurring in other high bone turnover states, such as osteoporosis, where these markers were principally developed. The aim of this study was to examine the role of the biomarkers urinary ααCTX-I and serum CTX-MMP, that are released in pathological rather than physiological bone turnover states, for detecting periprosthetic osteolysis in a case control study of 23 subjects with osteolysis and 26 controls. All samples were collected between the hours of 0800 and 1000 following an overnight fast, and were assayed using standard techniques. The demographic characteristics of the subjects in both groups were similar. Serum CTX-MMP was greater in the osteolysis versus the control group (P=0.001). Urinary ααCTX-I was similar between osteolysis and control groups (P>0.05). A cut-off value of 5.50ng/mL CTX-MMP had a sensitivity of 91% (95% CI: 72 to 99) and specificity of 69% (48 to 96) detecting osteolysis (P=0.001). The same cut-off had a sensitivity of 100% (100 to 100) and specificity of 63% (44 to 79) for detecting femoral osteolysis (P=0.0004), and a sensitivity of 89% (65 to 98) and specificity of 58% (39 to 75) for identifying pelvic osteolysis (P=0.014). Serum CTX-MMP shows promise for further investigation as a sensitive bio-marker for detecting periprosthetic osteolysis.


Densities, refractive indices, speeds of sound and viscosities of the diethylene glycol dimethyl ether - methyl salicylate system were measured as a function of mole fraction at 298.15, 303.15, 308.15, 313.15 and 318.15 K. The results are fitted by a power series equation involving both the temperature and mole fraction variables. The basic physical data of the mixtures are further used to calculate the excess molar volume V E , changes in isentropic compressibility ∆β, changes in refractivity ∆ R and changes in viscosity ∆η. The results are fitted by the Redlich-Kister polynomial relation. The isobaric thermal expansion coefficients of the mixtures are also determined from density measurements. The data are compared with those obtained from equations derived by differentiation of the Lorentz-Lorenz and Eykman relations. Refractive indices of the mixture are used to test the validity of mixing relations. The changes in isobaric thermal expansion coefficients ∆α of the mixtures were examined. Viscosity data were tested in terms of the McAllister, Heric and Auslaender relations.


Energy dissipation within hydraulic structures continues to be one of the major issues facing the designer of new or rehabilitated facilities, such as for overtopping protection of embankment dams. The energy dissipation characteristics of stepped spillways have been well documented, both for lowand high-head dams. Interestingly, much of the generalized research on stepped channels and spillways over the past few decades, while concerned with the amount of energy dissipated on the steps themselves, has contributed very little to generalized design criteria for terminal dissipation structures/stilling basins. Many site specific studies have included work on modifications to stilling basins to account for the increased energy dissipation on the steps, typically resulting in a shortening of the basin length. Others have included some stilling basin parameters within their studies. A few studies have attempted to provide generalized design guidance for the use of specific types of stilling basins with stepped chutes and spillways. This paper will focus on recent studies at the Reclamation laboratory that evaluated the application of smooth channel design criteria for Type III stilling basins to a variety of stepped spillway slopes. While there is a lack of specific generalized studies for stilling basin performance over the range of all types of stepped spillways that exist, there appears to be adequate data available to allow the designer to select and size an appropriate stilling basin for most types of stepped spillways currently in use, including RCC overtopping protection systems.


Objective To assess the efficacy of drugs combined with amniotic membrane covering for fungal keratitis.Methods A total of 97patients(98eyes)with fungal keratitis were treated in our hospital from June 2006 to June 2013.Of whom,53patients(53eyes)were treated with drugs only,and 44patients(45eyes)treated with drugs combined with amniotic membrane covering.All the patients received corneal ulcer debridement and Natamycin eye drops.The patients treated with the combined therapy were given amniotic membrane covering in addition to the above routine management.The efficacy,vision and course of treatment between the two groups were compared. Results The difference of efficacy between the two groups was significant(Uc=2.62,P0.05).The differences between the two groups after therapy were significant with regard to both averagely corrected vision and average course of treatment(t=2.07,2.19;P0.05). Conclusion Drugs combined with amniotic membrane covering is an effective method for the treatment of fungal keratitis,which is worthy of clinical application.


A variational procedure related to the differential form of the Hellmann-Feynman theorem to calculate various expectation values is applied to the exactly solvable Fues potential problem of the non-rigid diatomic vibrator-rotator. Results obtained from the exact solution of the radial term of the Schrodinger equation are used to derive an expression for the expectation value of the bond stretch due to rotational-vibrational coupling.


Reported are fabrication and characterisation of a novel vacuum logic OR gate using two identical nanodiamond lateral field emission diodes fabricated on silicon-on-insulator wafers. Each diode consists of 9000 finger-like emitters with 4 µm interelectrode spacing. High and stable emission current with low turn-on field have been observed and verified by a Fowler-Nordheim plot for each structure. Diode-resistor logic is used to realise the logic OR function. This nanodiamond vacuum logic gate is very promising for application in harsh environments.


Although the subject of contour has been relatively neglected by theorists, two systematic articles with differing terminology and somewhat differing underlying concepts have appeared in this journal during the past year and a half.' For readers who wish to grapple with the applicability of the concepts to both analysis and composition, it seems appropriate to summarize and briefly discuss both situations where different names for the same phenomenon are being used and where different, even irreconcilable concepts are involved. To a great extent, analysts may want to piece together different aspects of the two methodologies, depending on the music under discussion, or the type of composition being generated.


Biogas production via anaerobic digestion (AD) of waste is a very attractive and challenging task. A slow rate of biodegradation and the presence of impurities in biogas propose the whole process f...


CdFe2O4 ferrite was prepared by ceramic technique. Structural properties were determined by X-ray diffraction. Surface morphological and elemental compositions of the prepared samples were studied by high resolution scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The prepared samples were irradiated to high energy gamma radiation of 60Co source with a dose rate of 6.972 kGy/hr to different doses of 300kGy and 500kGy. The XRD spectra were obtained for the irradiated samples and compared with that of the pristine samples to study the changes in the structure. The obtained results showed that the crystallite size decreases and lattice strain increases with increase of radiation dose. The DC electrical conductivity at room temperature studies showed the increase of conductivity and decrease of activation energies with radiation dose.


EU member states must set out how the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy formulated by the European Commission will benefit from their policies in a National Strategic Plan (NSP) for the period 2023-2027. These policies are partly based on a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. To prepare for the Dutch NSP, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) opted for making a SWOT analysis in two phases. In the first phase (2019), the main aspects of the analysis were formulated in the form of a so-called 'charcoal SWOT'. In the second phase, the final SWOT analysis was completed. The present report contains this final analysis.


Abstarct: In the process of clustering time series main idea is to generate clusters with similar characteristics, so that greater accuracy in clustering is obtained. The present study describes the process of fuzzy clustering time series based on structural components. Techniques are implemented such as the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Fuzzy c-means algorithm. The DWT allows mapping of the series in time domain and frequency and Fuzzy c-means algorithm allows the fuzzification of the series and obtaining clusters. The proposed algorithms are implemented on both synthetic data and real data from the actual data is considered pollution records of MP 10 for different times of day for 30 days. The clustering process, particularly the Fuzzy c-means, provides the ability to group time series according to the membership values thrown by the algorithm, where the maximum value determines cluster membership. Additionally, the process generates clusters characterized by a set of series belonging to the same stochastic process. Implementation, simulation and validation was performed on synthetic and real data, there was tested the hypothesis, finding that improves clustering algorithm on time series which have been transformed in the DWT in string comparison have not been transformed. Additionally, cluster validation indices realize the amount of time series must contain each cluster, so that the group is more accurate.


The invention relates to a lead-free capacitor ceramics with stability at high temperature and a preparation method thereof. The ceramics is characterized in that expression thereof is (1-x)BaTiO3-xBi(Mg1/2Ti1/2)O3, wherein x is more than or equal to 0.3 and less than or equal to 0.5. The preparation method is characterized by the following steps: step 1) of selecting BaCo3, MgO, Bi2O3 and TiO2 as raw materials according to molar ratio of Ba, Ti, Mg and Bi in expression: (1-x)BaTiO3-xBi(Mg1/2Ti1/2)O3, wherein x is more than or equal to 0.3 and less than or equal to 0.5; step 2) of preburning for 2-3h at 850-1,050 DEG C and temperature increasing speed of 3-5 DEG C/min after mixing; ball milling after cooling, and baking to obtain ceramic powder; step 3) of adding binder into the ceramic powder, wherein adding amount of the binder is 3-5% of mass of the ceramic powder, uniformly mixing, tabletting, preserving heat for 2 hours at 600 DEG C, heating up to 1,000-1,200 DEG C at temperature increasing speed of 3-5 DEG C/min, preserving heat for 1-3 hours and sintering to obtain the lead-free capacitor ceramics with stability at high temperature. The capacitor ceramics prepared by the method has the features of good stability at high temperature and low cost.


"Theater is pure Chemistry; Chemistry is pure Theater" is a project developed in the University of Valencia in which a group of undergraduate students have to write a theatre play, which must be performed by themselves on a stage. It is essentially an academic activity that seeks two goals: first, that the authors/actors face the challenge of motivating a group of youngsters (16-18 years old) to study Chemistry. And second, they have to analyze the most basic chemical concepts in depth, in order to find that metaphor or unexpected situation that allows them to approach Chemistry in a different but amusing way. During the last four years, more than one hundred Chemistry, Biology, Pharmacy and Mathematics students have enjoyed the possibility of discovering their role as actors/actresses and awaken their own potential as future teachers. The project has been awarded the 2010 Educational Innovation Award of the "Premios del Consell Social-Universitat de Valencia".


This is an analysis of the effects of economic factors on voting behavior in the United Kingdom. Aggregate- and individual-level data are used. When the results are compared to findings generated by the United States case, some intriguing differences appear. To mention just two examples, unemployment and inflation seem to be much more important in the United Kingdom than in the United States, and changes in real per capita income are positively related to election results in the United States and negatively related in the United Kingdom. More generally, while the aggregate results are strong and the individual-level results weak in the United States, in the United Kingdom the situation is practically reversed.


The phosphonous dichlorides, PhPCl2 and PhCH2PCl2, react with the (Z)-ketoenol CF3C(O)CH=C(OH)CF3 to yield tricyclic trialkoxyphosphoranes, whose structures were determined on the basis of the 1JPC values and "through-space" F···F coupling


The baseline error is a primary error source of the wide-swath altimeter, directly related to the cross-track distance, and can lead to serious height errors at the swath's outer edge. Cross-calibration using discrepancies with reference data can effectively estimate and correct the baseline error. However, building a reference surface that accurately describes the sea surface at the observation time is necessary to use this cross-correction method. The dynamic ocean environments where the sea surface structure changes over time are challenging. This paper proposes a method for constructing reference topography data (RTD) based on multi-source data products to correct the baseline error of the wide-swath altimeter. The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated using HYCOM ocean model data to assess the timeliness of the baseline error correction. The results demonstrate that using RTD at the observation time of the wide-swath altimeter can significantly correct the baseline error. The RMSE of the corrected sea surface height (SSH) in different regions is typically between 1~2 cm, except in some regions with strong currents where the RMSE is approximately 3~4 cm. However, the time interval between the RTD and the observation time of the wide-swath altimeter can affect the accuracy of the baseline error correction. The timeliness of this correction is influenced by the variability of SSH in different regions. In regions with relatively slow SSH changes near the equator, the effective time based on HYRTD and MORTD can basically reach more than 7 days. In regions where the SSH changes more rapidly, the correction result may no longer be reliable in only 1~3 days.


Abstracts of new technology derived from the research and development activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are presented. Emphasis is placed on information considered likely to be transferrable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines. Subject matter covered includes: electronic components and circuits; electronic systems; physical sciences; materials; life sciences; mechanics; machinery; fabrication technology; and mathematics and information sciences.


In this paper we study some determinants of export performance of agro-industrial firms in Uruguay, a topic rarely discussed in the country. In particular, we emphasizes in some of the internal factors, such as firm characteristics and competitive abilities, and the perceptions that managers have of environmental factors. We use objective and subjective measures to operationalize the concept of export performance.


Signal processing techniques (such as the FFT and sampling rate conversion) can be used to locate and correct data errors, as an alternative to error control coding. These error control techniques in the real or complex fields are not subject to stringent restrictions on block length, as it is the case in Galois fields, and can be readily performed in DSPs. Furthermore, they are capable of exploring the redundancy that naturally exists in oversampled signals, rather than introducing redundant data in a different domain and in a separate channel-coding step (the finite field approach). However, the use of finite-precision real arithmetic raises the question of numerical stability. We study the conditioning of an error correction algorithm in the complex field, in an attempt to understand the effect of the location of the errors and the effect of the error amplitudes. We then consider the parallel concatenation of these codes, which seems to lead to surprisingly stable codes, and formulate a number of open problems concerning them.


The PRIAE Minority Elderly Care (MEC) research investigates the quality and effectiveness of health and social provision to older people from ethnic minority groups.


This paper discusses two alternative analyses of the Mian gender system, which shows pervasive homophony in its gender/number markers, for instance the agreement forms for singular females and plural inanimates are identical. This form of syncretism across features is called polarity. The first analysis establishes four genders as agreement classes defined by sets of agreement markers: masculine, feminine, and two neuter genders. Second, a two-class system consisting of only a masculine and a feminine gender plus a distinction between animate and inanimate referents will be proposed. Such a two-gender system has to assume that for inanimates a switch in number can result in a switch in gender and vice versa. Because of this conflation of gender and number the two-gender analysis will be rejected for Mian in favour of the first.


In 1993 and 1994 we determined the frequency of extrapair paternity in broods of great tits, Parus major, using multilocus DNA fingerprinting. We found no instances of intraspecific brood parasitism, but 40% of broods (31/78) contained extrapair-fathered young and 8.5% of offspring (58/681) were extrapair. We identified the genetic lathers of 60% of the extrapair nestlings (35/ 58). Males with full and lost paternity did not differ significantly in traits that have been suggested to indicate male quality, nor did the genetic and social fathers of extrapair offspring. In 1993, cuckolded males sired more offspring that recruited to the subsequent breeding season than males with full paternity. Moreover, even though genetic fathers of extrapair young (EPY) sired more fledglings than the males they cuckolded, genetic and social fathers of EPY did not differ in the number of recruits sired. Also, the EPY of a brood did not survive better than their half sibs. Thus, our results do not support the hypothesis that females choose better quality males for extrapair mating* ("good genes" hypothesis). Further, the level of extrapair paternity differed markedly between the two years. Our data show that females are constrained in their extrapair activities by the availability of extrapair mates. This is at least partly due to yearly differences in breeding synchrony.


In the online platforms, people prefer to write their views in their own language in different creative ways which is a big challenge in the sentiment analysis task. In this report, an algorithm is proposed for sentiment analysis for the multilingual texts posted by the users in different online platforms. The goal of this work is to identify the sentiment behind the message of the user as well as the topic on which h(sh)e is commenting. The overall work has been carried out in three phases. In the first phase, the multilingual texts have been converted into a uniform language using the UNICODE range; second, the sense of the message has been derived based on a training data set; and third, the topic of the message is identified with the help of a newspaper archive and WordNet. The data sets are prepared from various social media and E-commerce platforms. The proposed model is tested on 10 different languages such as English, Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujrati, Punjabi, Malayalam, Urdu, and Kannada. The challenges and the pitfalls of this work are explained in detail at the end of this report.


The role of Earth science data centers has traditionally been to maintain central archives that serve openly available Earth observation data. However, in order to ensure data are as useful as possible to a diverse user community, Earth science data centers must move beyond simply serving as an archive to offering innovative data services to user communities. A virtual collection, the end product of a curation activity that searches, selects, and synthesizes diffuse data and information resources around a specific topic or event, is a data curation service that improves the discoverability, accessibility, and usability of Earth science data and also supports the needs of unanticipated users. Virtual collections minimize the amount of the time and effort needed to begin research by maximizing certainty of reward and by providing a trustworthy source of data for unanticipated users. This presentation will define a virtual collection in the context of an Earth science data center and will highlight a virtual collection case study created at the Global Hydrology Resource Center data center.


In this paper, we studied the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-enabled wireless power transfer networks to maximize the sum harvesting energy problem with a nonlinear energy harvesting model. As the original sum energy maximization problem is non-convex problem, it is difficult to obtain the optimal placement of the UAV. To tackle this problem, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is proposed to optimize the problem. Compared with the user-overhead traversal search (UOTS) algorithm and the heuristic algorithm, simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


The present invention provides novel compositions for delivery of hypnotic agents through the oral mucosa. In particular, the buffer system in the composition according to the present invention raise the pH of the saliva to about 7.8 greater than pH, thereby substantially completely to its de-ionized form from that the ionized form of the hypnotic agent to facilitate the conversion. As a result, it is rapidly and effectively absorbed by the oral mucosa doses of hypnotics surprisingly low inter-patient variability. Moreover, delivery of the hypnotic agent through the oral mucosa advantageously bypasses hepatic first pass metabolism of the drug, and avoiding enzymatic degradation of the drug in the gastrointestinal lumen. A method of using a composition according to the present invention for the treatment of such sleep disorder insomnia are also provided.


. I n this paper we generalize the concept of happy numbers in several ways. First we present known results of Grundman and Teeple and establish further results, not given in that work. Then we construct a similar function expanding the definition of happy numbers to negative integers. Using this function, we compute and prove results extending those regarding higher powers and sequences of consecutive happy numbers that El-Sidy and Siksek and Grundman and Teeple proved to negative integers. Finally, we consider a variety of special cases, in which the existence of certain fixed points and cycles of infinite families of generalized happy functions can be proven.


The profound economic, social and political reforms in contemporary migration societies are seriously tackling the scope of civil, social and political rights of citizenship. In this article, we refer to the concept of citizenship through four dimensions that enlarge its theoretical content and transcend the historical rationality of rights, duties and the State: (a) citizenship as a collective subject that is being permeated by (neoliberal) logics of producing urban spaces; (b) citizenship as a power relation expressed by politics of scale; (c) citizenship as a discursive mechanism that articulates iden- tity and place through politics of belonging; and (d) citizenship inter- preted through acts that challenge the multiple dimensions of domi- nation. This conceptualisation helps to outline the conceptualisation of acts of citizenship that demand a re-appropriation of public space and, in general terms, the public sphere, aiming at constructing new spaces of citizenship.


Current OSI model layer 2 network elements (NEs, e.g., bridges, switches) are complex hardware and software boxes, often running an operating system, service and administration software, that can be vulnerable to attacks, including to remote code execution inside them. The purpose of this thesis is to present an architecture to protect the Carrier Ethernet network infrastructure from attacks performed by malicious NEs against the link management protocol, Spanning Tree Protocol, and its variations. This thesis proposes that NEs are equipped with an intrusion detection component. Each detector uses a specification-based intrusion detection mechanism in order to inspect the behaviour of other NEs through the analysis of the received messages. The correct behaviour of the NEs is crafted from the standard specification of the STP protocol. If there is a deviation between current and expected behaviour, then the NE is considered to be malicious. The specification is extended with temporal pattern annotations, in order to detect certain deviations from the protocol. The results of the local detection are then transmitted to the other NEs, in order to cooperatively establish a correlation between all the NEs, so that malicious NEs can be logically removed from the network (disconnecting the ports connected to them).


The emergence of the surplus agricultural labor force employed in the secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas, the registered agricultural population engaged in business and the agricultural labor force has contributed to the continuous extension of the meaning of the term "migrant workers". The evolvement of the meaning of "migrant workers" is the change of language promoted by the development of migrant workers through the economic principle and metonymy mechanism. Keywords—"migrant workers"; word meaning; evolution;


Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is the transport technique for the broadband ISDN recommended by CCITT (I.121). Many switches have been proposed to accommodate the ATM that requires fast packet switching capability.1-8 The proposed switches for the broadband ISDN can be classified as being of input queueing or output queueing type. Those of the input queueing type have a throughput performance which is approximately 58 per cent that of the output queueing type. However, output queueing networks require larger amounts of hardware than input queueing networks. In this paper, we propose a new multistage switch with internal buffering that approaches a maximum throughput of 100 per cent as the buffering is increased. The switch is capable of broadcasting and self-routeing. It consists of two switching planes which consist of packet processors, 2 x 2 switching elements, distributors and buffers located between stages and in the output ports. The internal data rate of the proposed switch is the same as that of the arriving information stream. In this sense, the switch does not require speed-up. The switch has log2N stages that forward packets in a store-and-forward fashion, thus incurring a latency of log2N time periods. Performance analysis shows that the additional delay is small.


Drugs are by far the most common cause of toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), but unidentified drugs and chemicals present in herbal and traditional medications may also be responsible for this reaction, which manifests as widespread epidermal detachment of the skin and mucous membrane. In contexts in which a subject has used an herbal or traditional medication, it is very difficult to diagnose the condition, identify the offending agent, and prevent the disease from recurring.


We have used anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) to define the flow fabric and possible source area of the Peach Springs Tuff, a widespread rhyolitic ash flow tuff in the Mojave Desert and Great Basin of California, Arizona, and Nevada. The tuff is an important stratigraphic marker from the Colorado Plateau to Barstow, California, a distance of 350 km; however, the location of its source caldera is unknown. Dated at 18.5 Ma by 40Ar/39 Ar, the tuff erupted during the early stages of Miocene extension along the lower Colorado River. The thicker accumulations (>100 m) occur at Kingman, Arizona, and in the Piute Mountains, California, on opposite sides of the Colorado River extensional corridor. Our AMS studies produced well-defined magnetic lineations in 30 of 42 sites distributed throughout the tuff. Typical ratios of the principal AMS axes are 1.01 for the magnetic lineation (kmax/kint) and 1.02 for the foliation (kint/kmin); the bulk magnetic susceptibility of the Peach Springs Tuff averages 2.0×10−3 in the SI unit system. The subhorizontal lineations, which presumably parallel the flow directions, form a pattern radiating outward from the approximate center of the outcrop area. Magnetic foliations define an imbrication that generally dips away from the distal margins and toward the center of the outcrop of the tuff. The lineation and imbrication indicate a source region near the southern tip of Nevada. Defining the best intersection of the AMS lineations required restoration of major extension, strike-slip faulting, and associated tectonic rotation in the disrupted tuff. The optimum intersection of magnetic lineations lies in the southern Black Mountains of Arizona on the eastern side of the Colorado River extensional corridor. No caldera structures are known from that area, but the area contains thick sections of the Peach Springs Tuff above a silicic volcanic center. The caldera may be buried under younger deposits in the Mohave Valley of Arizona. Tertiary granite in the Newberry Mountains may represent a deeper level of the Peach Springs Tuff vent that has been exhumed by detachment faulting.


The purpose of this article is to provide guidelines for improving the data and public information transparency in the State of Santa Catarina, related to Education, through the Transparency Portal of the Executive Government. This is a descriptive and qualitative research, which uses an analysis model based on attributes of information quality. The population consisted of 61 information requests from 2019 based on the Access to InformationAct (LAI). Using a documentary and content analysis, the specific results that 88% of the requests refer to Basic Education and 12% to Higher Education. Another classification showed that 58.8% are associated with "Provision of Services", 29.4% in "Institutional Information" and 11.8% in "Financial Management". Twenty-three content proposals were elaborated addressing aspects of relevance, reliability, language, presentation, timeliness and historical series, which are part of the dimensions usefulness, understandability and temporality of the analysis model. The proposals deal with organizational information, human resources, schools, the state university, as well as services, actions and results, expenses and the agreements and transfers of resources related to Education. They address general aspects, such as the general number of students, teachers and schools, but they also guide the availability in a particular way, such as content related to certain expenses of each school. The creation of the "Education" thematic page on the Portal to concentrate the content repertoire and facilitate access and directing to other pages and existing features on the Portal, applying education filters, consisted of a general improvement proposal.


Obesity is a global public health problem with numbers of affected people increasing despite the policy efforts1‐3 Bariatric surgery is the common treatment for patients with severe obesity, with increasing number of patients undergoing the surgery (252,000 in 2018 to 256,000 in 2019).4 Unfortunately, 10‐60% of patients develop iron deficiency after the bariatric surgery.5, 6 High‐dose oral iron (i.e., 150‐200 mg of non‐heme iron supplement such as FeSO47) is a recommended treatment for patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in post‐bariatric surgery patients.7 Studies show that oxidative stress (OxS) is an adverse effect of high dose oral iron therapy8, therefore we hypothesized that patients undergoing supplementation with high dose FeSO4 would exhibit increases in systemic oxidative stress. We tested our hypothesis with a secondary analysis using archived plasma specimens from a randomized, single‐blind study that included an arm that underwent treatment with high dose oral FeSO4and a comparison group that underwent a novel heme iron supplement (heme‐iron‐polypeptide, HIP). Participants were women who had developed IDA after bariatric surgery and findings of the study demonstrated superiority of high dose FeSO4 for 8 weeks for improving iron status.9 At baseline, the mean ± standard deviation for age, BMI, and years since surgery of the sample was 39.2 ± 8.7 years, 31.4 ± 7.2 kg/m2, and 6.9 ± 3.1 years, respectively. We used plasma from participants without obesity or bariatric surgery as a control group. We measured malondialdehyde (MDA), an established biomarker of oxidative stress (Abcam, UK). The two‐way ANOVA (IBM SPSS 27) showed no significant difference in mean MDA levels. Mean MDA values for FeSO4, HIP, and control group were 65.4 ± 38.3, 98.70 ± 63.4, and 84.9 ± 60.7 pmol/mL, respectively (all p>0.05).


Heortia vitessoides was a main pest of Aquilaria sinensis.The results of observation in lab and outside showed that H.vitessoides had up to 6 generations per year,and the larvae pupated under the ground and overwintered by pupas in late November.The adults emerged in early April in next year,and they had weak phototaxis.The stage of egg lasted an average of 6.6 days,the larval stage 14.1 days,the pre-pupal stage 2.9 days and the pupal stage 9.8 days,and the adult life-span averaged 8.7 days for female and 8.6 days for male.The larvae included five instars.The 1~4 instars larvae were used to living in a cluster,and the quantity of food consumption during 5th instar larvae covered 70.24% of the entire larval stages.Eggs distributed mainly in the back of tender leaf forepart in the crown of the host tree.


Devonian strata of the present-day Arctic contain abundant and diverse assemblages of terrestrial palynomorphs, particularly from Middle and Upper Devonian sections; few intervals of Lower Devonian and Silurian strata have been palynologically studied, and these demonstrate strong palynofloral similarities across the region. Based on published records, we present a compilation of six last occurrence events (LOs), 44 first occurrence events (FOs) and one acme event that have proven of value in correlation in the present-day Arctic. Although their chronostratigraphic resolution is relatively low, and a scarcity of independent age control hampers precise age assignments, palynology is the only biostratigraphic discipline available for confident chronostratigraphic correlation of most Arctic Devonian strata.