Based on a series of experiments, the formula dL/dλ=nf/αcosβ (for the verticalsymmetrical plane grating spectrograph) has been corrcted to dL/dλ=2nf/α(cosβ+cosβ~(1/2)) in this paper. The corrected formula can directly be used to work out the computer program of automatic seeking spectra's places. It will make the program simpler, the operation easier—only two wavelength values are inputted, and the places of the spectra seeking by computer are accurate.


Chemical oxidation of 3,3′-dibutoxy-2,2′-bithiophene has led to the synthesis of a nearly transparent conducting (2 S cm–1) polymer which has an oxidation potential at only 0.07 V vs. saturated calomel electrode.


Objective: To explore the psychological factors of college students'internet usage. Method: Based on an open-end investigation, we got a questionnaire. 813 college students were surveyed by this questionnaire. Results:1.5% subjects can be defined as internet addiction disorder (IAD) according to Bread' IAD scale. Six factors were extracted by means of factor analysis, and the results indicated that the psychology factor of college students' Internet use could be a multifaceted nature. We did not find significant difference between user with IAD and common users.


FPGA-based real-time simulation is a powerful tool to test and validate power converter designs and their associated controls before field application. Half-bridge modules are the basic building blocks of many power converters. However, they are usually simply modeled by a piecewise linearized model, which neglects the nonlinear characteristics of power switches. Therefore, to improve the half-bridge model's accuracy while maintaining a high computational efficiency, this paper proposes an artificial neural network (ANN)-based half-bridge real-time system-level modeling approach. In this model, the nonlinear static characteristics in relation to the current, voltage and junction temperature of power switches are considered. Furthermore, a floating interleaved boost converter (FIBC) is modeled under the proposed modeling approach and simulated with a 200 nanoseconds (ns) time-step on a National Instrument (NI) PXIe-7975R FlexRIO real-time platform. The accuracy of the proposed model is validated against the results from the Simulink Simscape model and compared with the Simulink SimPowerSystem model as well. The effectiveness of the proposed model is also verified by hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experimental tests.


The World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh in 1910 discussed the "Evangelization of the World in This Generation", and it attracted lots of interest...


The aim of this study is to investigate whether the relationship between internet addiction and leisure facilitators of Siirt University School of Physical Education and Sports varies significantly in terms of different variables. The study group consists of a total of 192 participants, 84 (43.8%) and male 108 (56.2%), who study at the School of Physical Education and Sports of Siirt University and answer yes to the question of whether it disrupts your internet health. As the data collection tool in the study, "Leisure Facilitators Scale" developed by Kim et al. (2011) and whose validity and reliability in Turkish was developed by Gürbüz et al. (2015) and the "Internet Addiction Scale" developed by Balta and Horzum (2008) were used. Number, percentage, average and standard deviation were used as descriptive statistical methods in the evaluation of the data. The research model was tested with structural equation analysis. Relationships between leisure facilitators and internet addiction were tested by the structural model analysis. Structural Equation Modeling is an analysis method that allows the variables to be analyzed simultaneously and together with latent variables (Wan, 2002). Schematic model and regression coefficients are given below. As a result of the research, the goodness of fit values of the structural model between leisure facilitators and internet addiction are highly acceptable. Leisure facilitators do not affect internet addiction (p > 0.05).


The article examines the philosophical and poetic heritage of the Kazakh people as a kind of spiritual modernization of society. Philosophical and poetic thought are inextricably linked. Philosophy finds the general laws of the Universe from the point of view of creation, poetry finds them in the universe itself. Both are focused on the knowledge of the world, both strive to show this knowledge in a certain sense. Philosophy finds the general laws of the Universe from the point of view of creation, poetry finds them in the universe itself. If we compare the philosopher and the poet as creators of thought, then we can find a lot in common. Both the Philosopher and the poet strive to create a world in their works. This is how the philosophy and methodology of poetry can be linked together. The first is mainly based on a scientific basis, the second acts as a kind of accelerator of consciousness, thinking and the world through poetic language and rhyme.


EVIDENCE for a neurotransmitter role of the undecapeptide. substance P (SP), has accumulated from studies in the spinal cord (OTSUKA & KONISHI, 1976) and CNS (BARKER, 1976; KONISHI & OTSUKA, 1974). of laboratory mammals. This peptide has also been shown immunohistochemically in axonal processes in human spinal cord (CUELLO et al., 1976). Substance P is unevenly distributed in the rat brain, with highest concentrations in the substantia nigra (s. nigra) (KANAZAWA & JESSELL, 1976). High concentrations of SP have also been reported in the human s. nigra (DUFFY et al., 1975; KANAZAWA et al., 1977) and in animal experiments iontophoretically applied SP has been shown to excite nigral neurones (WALKER er al.. 1976). Preliminary studies indicated abnormally low levels of this transmitter in the s. nigra of post-mortem brains from patients dying with Huntington's chorea (KANAZAWA et al., 1977). a disorder in which there is marked atrophy of the basal ganglia. We now present the results of a more extensive study on SP distribution in various regions of normal and choreic post-mortem human brain.


Abstract This study analyzes the short‐term impact of an exogenous, positive income shock on caregivers' subjective well‐being (SWB) in Malawi using panel data from 3,365 households targeted to receive Malawi's Social Cash Transfer Program that provides unconditional cash to ultra‐poor, labor‐constrained households. The study consists of a cluster‐randomized, longitudinal design. After the baseline survey, half of these village clusters were randomly selected to receive the transfer and a follow‐up was conducted 17 months later. We find that the short‐term impact of household income increases from the cash transfer leads to substantial SWB gains among caregivers. After a year's worth of transfers, caregivers in beneficiary households have higher life satisfaction and are more likely to believe in a better future. We examine whether program impacts on consumption, food security, resilience, and hopefulness could explain the increase in SWB but do not find that any of these mechanisms individually mediate our results.


With the application of 3D laser scanning technique,high density point cloud coordinate data of high steep slope was obtained;and a surface model of high slope was established.Information of structure of rock mass of high slope and data of dangerous rock mass were extracted based on point cloud data obtained from 3D laser scanning.Based on this,a method for identifying dangerous rock mass was proposed;grid of point cloud coordinate data of dangerous rock mass of high steep slope was constructed;block element was formed,then the block element was divided by surface of spatial structure,spatial block model was formed;and the spatial block model was classified according to slide types of dangerous rock masses.Based on the limit equilibrium theory,the failure mechanism of all kinds of dangerous rock masses and the load combination acting on the dangerous rock mass,a calculation method of dangerous rock mass anchor was established.This method was applied to the investigation and rehabilitation of dangerous rock mass of Dongping Baifoshan slope;the minimum numbers of anchors of different kinds of dangerous rock masses were calculated according to the main kinds of loads acting on the dangerous rock masses of Baifoshan slope(such as weights,fissure water pressures,seismic forces and so on) and the stability coefficients of different kinds of dangerous rock masses.The results of the study show that:(1) Spatial coordinate data of high steep slope can be quickly obtained at a far distance with 3D laser scanning technology;then the spatial information and attitudes of the structure of the rock masses can be obtained.(2) Based on the spatial coordinate data of dangerous rock masses,the spatial information of surface of structure and different kinds of load combinations,classification of dangerous rock masses and calculation of anchoring can be carried out;the numbers of anchor bolts and anchor cables needed in the dangerous rock mass anchoring were obtained;and the results can be referenced for rehabilitation and design of dangerous rock masses.Engineering example shows that this method has strong applicability and reliability;and it benefits to design and optimization of reinforcement scheme of dangerous rock masses of high steep slopes.


A dynamic assessment test has been developed in collaboration between schools, Educational Psychology services and practice-related further education courses. The test is a component in an evaluation model for pupils who are weak in mathematics. The assessment material is based on well known socio-cultural learning theory. The purpose of the test is not to present a diagnosis, but to provide a good basis for adapted teaching in mathematics. It provides knowledge about the pupil's mathematical thinking, both when the pupil is coping and when not. It assesses whether the pupil can apply knowledge within a context, task specific strategies, possible misconceptions and the pupil's learning potential: What can the pupil manage by himself and with a competent adult in the role of supportive scaffolding? There is a demand for good knowledge and awareness of professional practice and educational theory concerning one's own manner of communicating. Teachers consider the material demanding to become involved with, but that it nonetheless provides a great deal of relevant information for the planning of special needs teaching. The dynamic assessment material has been evaluated for several years by many teachers, advisors and students, as well as by the author. Using the material has had a positive effect on pupils and teachers, and when used for the right reasons it appears to be a good tool for planning and carrying out well adapted teaching in mathematics.


The purpose of this conference, which was attended by 240 scientists from 20 countries, was to survey the latest developments in the field of controlled stochastic processes, stochastic programming, control under incomplete information and applications of stochastic optimization techniques to problems in economics, engineering, modeling of energy systems, etc.

The conference reflected a number of recent important developments in the field, notably new results in control theory with incomplete information, stochastic maximum principle, new numerical techniques for stochastic programming and related software, application of probabilistic methods to the modeling of the economy.

The contributions to this book are divided into three categories: (1) Controlled stochastic processes; (2) Stochastic extremal problems; and (3) Stochastic optimization problems with incomplete information.


To explore the explosion characteristics of methane-air mixtures with low concentration of methane at various humidities, a device for producing and containing water-saturated air was developed. The temperature and flow of pipes, air bag and explosion vessel were controlled to obtain methane-air mixture with variable humidity. The 20 L spherical explosion vessel was employed to analyze the effect of relative humidity and methane concentration on methane explosion characteristics (i.e., maximum explosion pressure, maximum rate of pressure rise, lower explosion limit and laminar burning velocity). It is concluded that the maximum explosion pressure and maximum rate of pressure rise show a linear decrease with an increasing value of humidity. As the humidity of gas mixture changes from 27.7% to 80.1%, the lower explosion limit of methane in air increases from 5.15% to 5.25% with a rising rate of 1.9%. The laminar burning velocity performs a similar linear downtrend with the increase of relative humidity. Under the given circumstances, the relative humidity has no significant influence on the explosion characteristic of methane-air mixture, which can be ascribed to the low value of partial pressure of water vapor at ambient condition. However, this influence cannot be neglected as the water vapor increases to a certain extent level at high temperatures and high pressures.


At the end of his classification of the genus Rattus, published in 1941, John R. Ellerman reported on a large collection of murid rodents from Celebes that had been obtained by W. J. C. Frost during the winter of 1938. Seventeen taxa were represented in Frost's material; nine were new to the collections of the British Museum (Natural History), and three were named and described by Ellerman: Rattus tatei, R. frosti, and R. hellwaldii dollmani. From 1941 no additional specimens of these three forms were reported in the mammalogical literature until 1969 when I documented other specimens of dollmani and showed that the taxon represented a valid species rather than a subspecies of R. hellwaldii (Musser, 1969b). The identities and allocations of R. tatei and R. frosti have been obscure since the names were first proposed by Ellerman, and from that time to the present each taxon has been differently allocated by workers who have published taxonomic information on murids of Celebes (Laurie and Hill, 1954; Schwarz and Schwarz, 1967; Misonne, 1969). In the fall of 1969 I visited the British Museum (Natural History) and studied the murid rodents obtained from Celebes by Frost, including the


A simple, fast and accurate light line projection technique for direct detection of three-dimensional shape is presented by simulation and verified experimentally. To obtain the object surface shape, the object is moved along an axis by an electromechanical device and scanned by a light line. The profilometric method is based on the principle that the height data of an object can be obtained from the projected light line displacement. In this technique, object topography is extracted by measuring the position of a set of intensity points along of the projected vertical light line. This topography is an object section, which corresponds to the width of the light line. The proposed way to obtain the topographic information has also ability to measure complicate and small details of an object. The light line computer processing by using the proposed method is very fast. This is due to the light line intensity is approximate to continuous function by Bezier curves method. This technique consists on taking a set of points from the light line profile and fitting them to a smooth continuous curve. The displacement measurement of every intensity point along the vertical light line is obtained with a resolution of pixel fraction. With this resolution height data of the object can be obtained with a higher accuracy of 0.001 mm.


Due to the characteristics of small-size, low cost and high resolution, the millimeter-wave synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has the unique property during the high-resolution imagery of the observations. In this article, a millimeter-wave video synthetic aperture radar (ViSAR) imaging algorithm is proposed based on the micro platforms, which can constantly produce SAR images at a high frame rate and dynamically monitor a region of interest. In the scheme, an overlapped sub-aperture strategy is applied to segment data, and two-dimensional (2D) de-chirp processing is applied to each segmented data for high resolution imaging. Finally, the Chirp-Z transform (CZT) is utilized to resolve the distortion problem of SAR image. Experiments based on simulated and measured data verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


As the production of synthetic plastic products continues to increase, microplastic contamination in our water bodies will also increase (Li et al 2018 Public awareness of microplastics in our water has been steadily increasing over the past several years It is important for us to be aware of microplastic contamination, especially as the risks to wildlife and human health are poorly understood Pereao et al 2020 Recent studies focus on finding effective ways to estimate and share results of microplastic contamination In order to gain a broad understanding of microplastics and how they could be affecting the water bodies in our local area, water samples were collected from Big Creek and the Saline River These water samples were examined for microplastics with the aid of a microscope and a UV A light This May, we will be traveling to Ireland where we will repeat this experiment on the Camcor River


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of how national board administrators, more precisely, officials at the Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) have perceived the primary influencing factors, or "regulators", of the national core curriculum reform and the success of the implementation. The alignment between the identified regulators was also explored.

Design/methodology/approach

Altogether, 23 FNBE officials participated in this mixed methods study.

Findings

The results showed that the officials perceived the core curriculum reform as a systemic entity: the reform was implemented using a top-down and bottom-up strategy, and several regulators were identified at different levels of the education system. The officials also viewed the implementation as successful, and identified more promoting than hindering factors in it. However, they emphasised regulators at the administrative level, whereas regulators at the district or national levels were less often identified. They also highlighted the importance of orchestrating collaboration in comparison with the other regulators.

Practical implications

The results imply that in addition to considering separate determinants of reform success, it is important to pay attention to sufficient alignment between the regulators at different levels of the education system in order to better understand and promote the implementation of a large-scale reform.

Originality/value

This study provides new knowledge on national board administrators' perspectives on what regulates the implementation of a large-scale curriculum reform.


Visualization techniques have proven extremely valuable for understanding the dictates controlling asymmetric organic reactions. A series of chemical reactivity models has been developed, which provide a convenient connection between the structural and reactivity aspects important in chemical systems. Structural information is conveyed through the use of shading, while reactivity information, evaluated at points located upon the structural model, is displayed coincident with structure using the color dimension hue. The utility of the resulting four-information-dimensional image can be appreciated by the speed at which all the information presented is assimilated and interpreted by the viewer. While having been demonstrated to be useful in understanding the dictates of asymmetric organic reactivity, the visualization techniques discussed here should be applicable to the description of problems in molecular interactions and structure-activity relationships in general.


A culture medium for the Daqiugai mushroom is prepared from the capsules of coffee bean and the saw dust or shavings of broad-leaf tree through mixing, adding water and stirring.


In R v. Sharpe, the Canadian Supreme Court held that "simple possession" of child pornography did not violate the Canadian criminal code as long as the material was for the use of its creator only and self-authored without the involvement of any other person (i.e. no child was used to create the images, text or other representation). The Court further held that the section of the Canadian criminal code prohibiting simple possession under these conditions was a violation of the S. 2 (b) Charter right to freedom of expression. "Simple possession" refers to possession of solely self-created child pornography without the intent to distribute. This article reanalyzes this Canadian Supreme Court decision. The Court described the material falling under the Canadian Criminal Code legal deŽ nition of child pornography in the following terms:


The aim of the reported study was to measure households' intentions under various conditions to change their travel behaviour in order to reduce air pollution in urban environments. The people who participated were selected among those working in one of the biggest work places in the downtown of Umeaa. They consisted of 67 subjects, 32 men and 35 women, who regularly travelled to work by a car without a catalytic converter but in which such a device could be installed. A questionnaire was administered in the workplace, designed to measure attitudes towards: (a) using the car for work trips, (b) measures to reduce air pollution in the downtown of Umeaa, and (c) how likely they were under various future conditions to change to other travel modes. The future conditions were defined by systematically varying the degree of air pollution, the percentage of car users who change to another travel mode, fuel price, cost for installing catalytic converter, and income. The main findings were that the respondents had positive attitudes towards using their car at the same time as they perceived the need to take measures against air pollution, and felt moral responsibility for taking such measures. Furthermore, the respondents stated that they intended to change their travel behaviour when the degree of air pollution increases, when a greater number of car users change to another travel mode, when fuel prices increase, when the cost for catalytic converter is decreased and when their income increases. The results could be interpreted as showing that increased costs are perceived as worse than decreased travel comfort. (TRRL)


Developed a set of data acquisition and processing system which combines characteristics of USB2.0 and DSP.CPLD is used to realize the logical control in the system.The system has both the stable performance and the compact configuration.The experiment indicated that the data transfers speed of the system is above 64Mb/s,the speed can satisfy the need of high-speed data acquisition.The blue print has a certain practicability and reference value to developing other equipments based on CY7C68013 and TMS320C54xx series DSP,and can be used in the measure system measuring voltage,current,temperature or other parameters.


A semiconductor memory device and a data input/output method thereof are provided to reduce the number of input lines and output lines by using control signals with different enabled periods without using a multiplexer. A semiconductor memory device includes a memory core and an input circuit(1300). The input circuit generates second data having bits, where the number of bits 2N times the number of bits of first data, using latch circuits operating in response to input control signals with different enabled periods, and provides the second data to the memory core. An output circuit generates fourth data having bits, where the number of bits is 1/(2N) times the number of bits of third data outputted from the memory core, using latch circuits operating in response to output control signals with different enabled periods, and provides the fourth data to an output pin.


To the Editor,We read with great interest the recent study by Zayed et al. reporting dupilumab safety and efficacy in uncontrolled asthma [1]. They reported that the addition of dupilumab reduced r...


Hand based biometrie authentication is becoming so popular in the field of information security because it is an accurate and easily accessible procedure to legalize the human identity. Many studies related to palm print recognition have been proposed recently. To achieve superior recognition results, an accurate segmentation of region of interest is very crucial. In this article, a novel palm print ROI extraction algorithm has been presented which extracts a fixed size region from a full hand image. The quadrangular shape ROI covers the maximum possible area over palm and thus consists of more features. The basic coordinate system is modified to find accurate base points at fingers bottom so that a square with longest side can be drawn using Bresenham's line algorithm. The publically available CASIA, PolyU and IIT Delhi Contactless palm print databases have been used for testing. Addressing to the matching problem, a novel Deep-Matching algorithm has been used. The results have been compared with two state-of-art algorithms. It has been observed that proposed algorithm outperforms with EER drop not more than 20%. With this it is clear that the proposed algorithm has been extracting palm ROI more consistently and hence assist to improve the performance of traditional palm print biometric system.


e is an uncommon disease of the endocrine system. It occurs in both the dog and cat, but often has a different aetiology in each species. In the dog, the disease is most commonly caused by the hormone progesterone, which stimulates hypersecretion of growth hormone in mammary gland tissue. Spaying often resolves the problem. In the case of acromegaly, cats are not small dogs, but they are like small humans. Similar to humans, the hypersecretion of growth hormone in cats is caused by pituitary tumours. Middle-aged to older male, domestic short-haired cats are the primary sufferers of acromegaly.


The present invention relates to a stator of the permanent This type rotating electrical apparatus (1), wherein the center of the first coil group (10a), the first center of the first center tooth portion (8a) having a tooth width (MB) is arranged a stator (5) is a second, and a coil group (10b), the first coil group and the second coil group are arranged so as to immediately continuously in the circumferential direction (U), between the first coil group and the second coil group, the first border, the first border tooth part 9 having a tooth width (RB) is arranged, the first edge tooth width (RB) is substantially a "RB = a? ZB" first center tooth width (MB) is substantially a "MB = (2-a)? ZB", wherein the coefficient (a) is greater than 0 and smaller than 1. According to the invention, the detent torque can be reduced and / or the vibration torque generated in the permanent This type rotating electrical apparatus (1).


In this work we will show that it is possible to perform three-dimensional (3D) analysis and extract features without performing a 3D surface reconstruction. We propose a novel approach that consists in acquiring the scene under the projection of structured light (plus the natural ambient illumination), which allows us to obtain the depth gradient map using a simple processing step with very low hardware requirements.


A correlation between the antirejection drug sirolimus and an increased risk of diabetes has been reported in a recent study. Sirolimus (rapamycin) is a relatively new immunosuppressant drug used to prevent rejection in organ transplantation, and is especially useful in kidney transplants. John Gill (University of British Columbia, BC, Canada) reports, "We demonstrated a robust association between sirolimus and diabetes after transplantation in a large group of kidney transplant recipients in the United States [and] the risk of diabetes was independent of other factors that are known to increase the risk of [the disease]." Kidney, liver or heart transplant patients are at a high risk of developing diabetes. This can lead to cardiovascular disease and rejection of the transplant. Factors such as age, weight and family history can increase the risk of new-onset diabetes after transplantation, as well as immunosuppressant drugs. US Renal Data System (RDS) data was analyzed for approximately 20,000 Medicare beneficiaries undergoing kidney transplantation between 1995 and 2003, none of whom had diabetes prior to their kidney transplantation. Treatment with sirolimus was assessed as a potential contributor to the risk of developing diabetes, in conjunction with other known potential risk factors. The results of this study suggest a higher rate of post-transplantational diabetes among patients treated with sirolimus compared with other antirejection drugs. Gill states that "Sirolimus is a newer type of antirejection drug that has not been associated with diabetes in transplant recipients. However, a number of animal studies and small clinical studies have suggested that sirolimus may increase the risk." Depending on which additional drugs were administered, patients receiving sirolimus had an increased risk of 33–66% of developing the disease. A separate analysis of patients who remained on the same antirejection drugs throughout the first year after transplantation revealed similar results. The increase in risk was found to be unrelated to any of the other drugs used in combination with sirolimus, or to other risk factors, such as age, ethnicity or obesity. The US RDS database revealed that the development of diabetes is a strong independent predictor of graft failure and mortality, with a 63 and 87% increased risk, respectively. The increased risk in mortality is believed to be associated with the increased risk of infections and other complications observed in transplant recipients who develop diabetes. "Patients who develop diabetes after transplantation have roughly the same risk of transplant failure as patients who develop acute transplant rejection," states Gill. This recent report is the first largescale clinical study to suggest that sirolimus may also be a risk factor. Further studies are required to support this data. Gill notes that "Some important limitations of the study [include] the fact that it was based on a review of previous data and limited to Medicare patients." However, this first line of convincing evidence clearly merits further investgation.


We demonstrate the results of numerical simulations of 1.3μm InAlGaAs/InP VCSEL with a ring pattern etched at the interface between the cavity and top DBR. We show that the proposed design offers selective confinement of the fundamental mode and strong discrimination of higher order modes. Consequently, VCSEL with ring confinement is capable to operate in a broad range of injected currents in the single mode regime, which facilitates the improvement of maximal emitted power and increase of the wavelength tuning range with very narrow spectral characteristics. High power, single-mode emitting vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are of great interest, since they can serve as high-power, smoothly tuned with current and temperature, coherent-optical sources. Emerging applications include inexpensive and portable gas sensors, telecommunication emitters, and so on. For these applications, it is preferable to have a low-threshold, high side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) light source. VCSELs inherently emit in a single longitudinal mode; controlling the lateral mode is far more complicated. It can be achieved using a well-established wet oxidation technology, which makes possible single-mode operation only for relatively narrow apertures (providing less than 5 mW of output power) (1). Other methods provide up to twofold higher emitted power but exploit more challenging technologies (2-5). The limitation of high power single mode operation comes from small optical apertures or multimode operation under high injection levels. This paper provides numerical analysis of the ring pattern etched in the cavity of the VCSEL which eliminates higher order mode emission. The ring pattern provides confinement for a fundamental mode and forces higher order modes to be pushed out of the active region. The analyzed structure (Fig. 1a) (6) incorporates InAlGaAs quantum wells within an InP cavity. The cavity is bounded by 35 pairs of Al0.9Ga0.1As/GaAs DBRs from the bottom and 20.5 pairs of Al0.9Ga0.1As/GaAs DBRs from the top. Laterally patterned tunnel junction (TJ) layers are responsible for tunnelling carriers into the


An account is given of the survival and contribution to sport fishing of stocked trout and natural river trout in the impounded reservoir, Llyn Alaw, in Anglesey, North Wales. Scales from 2143 trout caught by angling and netting during the first four years after impoundment were used to determine the age and origin of Llyn Alaw fish. The success and future of Llyn Alaw as a trout fishery are discussed.


This paper presents a simple and effective method of assessing the degree of setting of cement pastes and mortars at any instant by a specialy devised splitting tension test. The test gives the resistance of the material to external forces due to interlinkage between solid particles, which is referred to as the splitting tensile strength. From a splitting tensile strength-time plot, either the theoretical instants at which setting begins and ends or any arbitrarilty defined intitial and final setting times can be estimated. On the basis of test results, it is recommended that the proposed method may be used as an alternative to the penetration described in ASTM C 191, C 206, C 403, and C 953.


The multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition (MOEA/D) is one of the favorite algorithms in the evolutionary computation community. In this paper, a genetic algorithm is used to automatically tune the parameters for MOEA/D in an offline manner. We consider a version of MOEA/D with a normalization mechanism and two neighborhood structures (for mating and replacement). Our experimental results show that the automatically obtained implementation of MOEA/D outperforms MOEA/D with the default settings in their applications to the DTLZ and WFG test suites. The obtained implementation for each test problem also allows us to discover some potentially good parameter values that can lead to the performance improvement of MOEA/D on certain test problems.


This paper suggests a modification of the Becker–Chiswick model for analyzing investment in human capital where the capital market is imperfect. The modification essentially involves the addition of a consumption function to the model. As a result it is possible to include the effects of human capital investment on a student's income expectations, on consumption, and thereby on the availability of funds for the student to finance investment in human capital.


The American Physiological Society and the American Thoracic Society held their Fall meetings jointly on October 15-19, 1989 in Rochester, Minnesota. One of the two themes for the meeting concentrated on the biology of smooth muscle. A session within this theme, which attracted interest, was a debate format on the hypothesis that cell-to-cell conduction across gap junctions can account for electrical syncytial properties of gastrointestinal smooth muscle. Alexander Rortoff, Professor of Physiology at Syracuse University, New York defended the pro position on the issue. The con position was taken by Nicholas Sperelakis, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physiology at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. I acted as the chairperson and organizer for the debate. The smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract are often described as a functional syncytium because action potentials and associated contractions starting at one point spread from cell-to-cell throughout the tissue. Nevertheless, unlike a true syncytial tissue, there is no cytoplasmic continuity between cells to explain the transfer of excitation from muscle ftber to muscle fiber in the digestive muscles. Without cytoplasmic continuity as an explanation, the structural and mechanistic basis of cell-to-cell communication has remained an open question. A s a way of stimulating interest in the question, professors Sperelakis and Bortoff agreed to defend opposing views. The discussion of questions related to the fiinctional syncytial behavior of gastrointestinal muscle was, in many ways, a tribute to Professor Emeritus C. Ladd Prosser of the University of Illinois. Each of the three participants were Professor Prosser's students at the University of Illinois. Bortoff and Sperelakis were in his laboratory in the late 50's and early 60's; I was there later in the 60's. In fact, Joseph Szurszewski of the Mayo Medical School, the principal organizer and host for the meeting, was also advised by Professor Prosser during his training at the University of Illinois. Much of the research, during the era at Illinois, was centered on understanding the mechanisms and structural organization responsible for the functional


FIELD: medicine, steroids. SUBSTANCE: invention describes relatively low serum progesterone levels, from 1 to 6 ng/ml, that can be used for prophylaxis of development of endometrium cancer. Vaginal delivery of progesterone using tampon made of cross-linked polycarboxylic polymer provides this low level of progesterone in serum and also provides the complete secretory transformation of endometrium that indicates the effectiveness of progesterone. These low levels of serum progesterone will decrease risk of development of breast cancer in women that are subjected for substitution therapy and to minimize possibility of manifestation of other undesirable adverse effects associated with progesterone. EFFECT: improved new method of progesterone delivery. 17 cl, 3 dwg, 1 ex


I have spent the past eleven years thinking about, talking about, and creating adult Jewish education, specifically through the program called Me'ah, created by Hebrew College and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston. A two-year, curriculum-based program featuring high level academic practitioners teaching adults texts, history, and ideas, Me'ah creates a framework for understanding Jewish culture and civilization. At the same time, it encourages adults to internalize and manifest the Jewish predilection for dialogue, dialectic, and questioning as much as it provides adults with "answers" to questions of fact and meaning. From modest beginnings -two classes and fifty people -today we reach over one thousand students a year in dozens of communities in Boston, New York, and beyond. In this article, I want to reflect a bit on Me'ah's own learning curve, using the rubrics called for in the charge to contributors for this issue: How do we think about change, collaboration, and what it means to build sacred community. I agree that these three rubrics rely upon a host of collaborations between different sorts of people, skills, contexts, and approaches. I would argue that Me'ah involves embracing continuity and change in Jewish life. It also involved a commitment to community and culture, as well as to the personal autonomy of the adult learner, a confrontation that places the text at the center, while inviting the student into the conversation of Jewish study as receiver, shaper, and transmitter of the text's meaning. Consider the issue of change. Me'ah saw itself as a change agent, affecting methods and content, practitioners and students, and, most importantly, educational and existential outcomes emerging from a class or program. To take the congregational venue as an example, most rabbis think of themselves significantly, if not primarily, as educators, when, in fact, their jobs prevent them from spending much time in a classroom, even less in designing courses and curricula, for any age group, especially adults. We wanted to change the assumptions about adult learners, which included the failure to invest money in programs for them, and a lack of curricula that would take their learning needs seriously. Participants would need to spend hundreds of dollars a year to study, and more for materials. Congregations needed to invest their funds in allocating staff resources, as well as in some cases subsidizing the program. We were willing to challenge rabbis, asking them to "share" their congregants with us, to let us become important teachers in their lives, to allow us to spend two years in learning, in their congregations, most often. We asked rabbis to bracket their intellectual and ideological agendas, and be receptive to our methodology, which involves critical inquiry as opposed to more ideologically committed frameworks. In that sense, Me'ah depended upon change, and the willingness of its various partners to tolerate and embrace changes in personnel, outlook, approach, and potential impact upon adult learners. Me'ah takes change seriously; in fact, one might argue that change constitutes the core of the program's vision, substance, and methodology. I want to drash a bit here on the rubrics set forth in the recent August CAJE Conference on Excellence in Communal and Congregational Learning, words like Vision, Reflection, Planning, Collaboration, and consider them through ideas and labels found in empirical reality. Rabbis, educators, scholars, executives, lay leaders, students, ideas, and texts -these comprise the components of Me'ah. These items contributed to manifold changes in the participants themselves, and in their "sacred communities."


The utility model discloses a column type shock-absorption buffering device for an elevator, which relates to a shock absorbing device for the elevator. The shock-absorption buffering device for the elevator comprises a base plate, a column axle and an outer spring, wherein the upper part of the column axle is provided with a spring gasket, the upper part of the spring gasket is provided with a nut, and a locking nut is arranged above the nut; and the shock-absorption buffering device is characterized in that an elastic rubber body is arranged on the outer surface of the column axle; an inner pipe is arranged outside the elastic rubber body; the column axle, the elastic rubber body and the inner pipe are vulcanized into a whole; an outer pipe is sheathed outside the inner pipe; and the bottom end of the outer pipe is fixedly connected with the base plate. The shock-absorption buffering device not only absorbs impact and shock in the vertical direction, but also absorbs shock in the horizontal direction, and greatly improves the safety and comfortableness of the elevator.


#### Cytomegalovirus as a Driver of Excess Cardiovascular Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Facts in Short

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common inflammatory arthritis worldwide. Apart from its well-known manifestations involving the joints (eg, deformity, swelling, and synovial inflammation), there are widespread, extra-articular manifestations that also involve the cardiovascular system.1 The consequences of cardiovascular involvement are often serious; cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, and cardiovascular disease (CVD)–associated death are ≤50% higher in the context of RA leading to a reduction of life-expectancy in these patients of 3 to 10 years compared with the general population.1 To date, no satisfactory explanation of this phenomenon has been found, or maybe, it has been overlooked?

This Viewpoint argues that cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a major contributor to the excess of CVD observed in RA. For over 2 decades, CMV has been implicated …


This chapter has six sections: 1. General and Prose; 2. The Novel; 3. Poetry; 4. Periodicals and Publishing History; 5. Drama; 6. Miscellaneous and Cross-Genre. Section 1 is by Ana Alicia Garza; section 2 is by Lois Burke with assistance from Christian Dickinson, who writes on Dickens; section 3 is by Ana Alicia Garza; section 4 is by Helen Williams; section 5 is by Lucy Barnes; section 6 is by William Baker. Thanks for assistance with this chapter must go to Dominic Edwards, Steven Amarnick, Richard Bleiler, Nancy S. Weyant, the bibliographer of Mrs Gaskell, and Patrick Scott.In a departure from previous years, and in order to avoid confusion as to who has contributed what to this chapter, George Borrow, Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle, and Richard Jefferies, previously found in the General and Prose section, and the Brontës, Samuel Butler, Wilkie Collins, George Eliot, George Henry Lewes, George Gissing, and Anthony Trollope, previously found in the Novel section, will be found in section 6, Miscellaneous and Cross-Genre, as will materials that came in too late to be included in other sections.


Taking the example of Ten Years Marriage by Suqing and The Fighting of One Person by Linbai,this article cast back the growing history of female,combining with the social and historical condition of the writing,the special cultural concept,analyzes the female images and their thinking implication,and the author attempts to unscramble more than half a century growing course of the female in our country.


Abstractâ?? E-test is prepared over the internet in which questions and solutions are computerized test rather than traditional test. The application of e-test as a perspective knowledge measurement is apparent. But, security for such scheme is not obvious. Thus in this article we introduce a secure e-test scheme with mobile technology. In addition, we suggest a swapping technique between test application and test security. We claim that the proposed scheme is secure and dynamic and more efficient than the already existed schemes.

Index Termâ?? e-test scheme, mobile technology, e-test security, public key encryption


The corona virus pandemic has disrupted the human activities all across the globe and teaching-learning activity is no exception. In India, the nation-wide lockdown was announced in late March, and since then the main mode of undergraduate (UG) medical teaching has been through online classes. This is an unprecedented situation, both for medical teachers and students. Our institute initiated online classes for UG students from as early as mid-March, 2020. It has been more than 6 months of exclusive online teaching now and it was imperative to get overall feedback from students regarding its impact on their learning. It would provide useful inputs regarding utility, efficacy and opportunities to improvise further.


Understanding the relationship between selection, genotype-phenotype map and loss of population diversity represents an important step towards more effective genetic programming (GP) algorithms. This paper describes an approach to capture dynamic changes in this relationship. We analyze the frequency distribution of points in the diversity plane defined by structural and semantic similarity measures. We test our methodology using standard GP (SGP) on a number of test problems, as well as Offspring Selection GP (OS-GP), an algorithmic flavor where selection is explicitly focused towards adaptive change. We end with a discussion about the implications of diversity maintenance for each of the tested algorithms. We conclude that diversity needs to be considered in the context of fitness improvement, and that more diversity is not necessarily beneficial in terms of solution quality.


Background: Superficial mycosis is among the most frequent forms of human infection affecting more than 20-25% of world's population. Current study aims at assessing the clinical profile of dermatophytic infection and to identify the fungal species responsible. Methods: A prospective study conducted on 100 patients with clinically suspected dermatophytosis presenting to Skin OPD in a tertiary hospital in north Karnataka. A detailed clinical history, general physical examination and systemic examination routine lab investigations were done. Sample collection for mycological examinations was done for direct microscopy in 10% KOH (40% KOH for nail) and fungal culture an SDA with 0.5% chloramphenicol and 0.5% cyclohexidine was done in every case. Results: A total of 100 patients were included in the study. Male:female ratio was approximately 3:2. Maximum numbers of cases were in the age groups of 16-30 years (46 cases). 46% patients had multiple site involvement followed by tinea corporis in 20 (20%), tinea cruris in 18 (18%), tinea unguium (8%), tinea manuum (3%), tinea pedis (3%), tinea barbae (1%), and tinea faciei (1%). Potassium hydroxide examination was positive for fungal elements in 88(88%) patients and 35(35%). The most common species identified were.  Trichophyton rubrum in 60% samples, followed by  Trichophyton mentagrophytes in 20%. Conclusions: Present clinical and mycological study showed tinea corporis as the most common clinical pattern followed by tinea cruris and T. rubrum  as the most common causative agent.


(57) Abstract: in processing the blood product in order to remove leukocytes, there is a possibility that the air is introduced along with leukocyte depletion blood within the transfer bag. The air is potentially deleterious to the recipient of the treated blood product. It is removed by providing a line between the donor bag is taken out for processing a transfer bag and blood products, the bypass line is passing air, a hydrophobic filter that prevents the passage of processed blood products It is provided. In this way, it is possible to remove all air from the transfer bag without affecting the quality of the treated blood product. Similar methods may be utilized to remove processed from blood products other non-target fluid.


Calpainopathy (LGMD2A) is the most common type of autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. We performed a systematic clinical evaluation in 13 calpainopathy patients from 11 families, with particular attention to the pattern of muscle involvement. Eleven patients had a muscle biopsy with de®ciency of calpain 3 on western blotting. The other two patients were not biopsied as they were siblings from the same families. Con®rmatory CAPN3 mutations were detected in seven patients. The age at presentation was 2±45 years, wider than previously reported. We con®rm the highly characteristic and recognisable phenotype of predominant muscular atrophy with early pelvic girdle involvement, relative sparing of the hip abductors, scapular winging and abdominal laxity. Early primary contractures were also a prominent feature in this group, expanding the breadth of the phenotype. Recognition of the clinical pattern of calpainopathy is of diagnosic signi®cance. It is important, especially in sporadic cases, in targeting and interpreting laboratory investigations in order to provide accurate diagnostic and prognostic information. q 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


This Article,from the Strategic Height of the Long-term Development of the Enterprise and Combining with the Practices of Enterprise,has Discussed the Important Function on the Works of the People of Talent and the Construction of the Enterprise Culture from the Several Respects of Strengthening the Consciousness of Using the People of Talent,Gathering the People of Talent from the Several Ways,Picking out the People of Talent from Selecting of the Excellent at Open State,Cultivating the People of Talent from Many Kind of Forms,Managing the People of Talent Relying on the Systems and Institutions and Holding on the People of Talent Depending on the Career,and the Important Function of the Enterprise Culture in the Enterprise Management. Enterprise Culture is the soul for the Jumping of Enterprise,Enterprise Culture Portrays the Form of Enterprise,Enterprise Culture Standardizes the Action of Enterprise,Enterprise Culture Can promotes Effective Management of Enterprise. Consulting General Corp.for the Communication of Shanxi Province has Gained Good Achievements from Establish for More than Ten Years that has been Awarded the Prizes of "The Advanced Unit for Construction Supervicing of China"by the Communication Ministry and Construction Ministry, The One of Most Important has Established and Perfected a series of Enterprise Cultures that Take the Quality and Honest as a Centre by Combining Quality with a Enterprise Culture.From that,She has been Raising Continuously Her Service Quality for Consulting,has been Devileping and Growing,and has Obtained Better Social and Economic Benefits.


In this new account of Athenian demokratia, the most significant human activities in the polis were not political deliberations or economic transactions but ritual engagements with gods, the non-human agencies who ultimately controlled the very conditions of existence. To a point, offerings to gods were like taxes rendered to maintain the infrastructure of the cosmos. Ritual actions were thus performed more or less continually, at a wide range of locations, from household shrines to major sanctuaries, by all inhabitants of Attica, male and female, young and old, Athenian and non-Athenian alike. As the chapter stresses, these actions are best understood as ecological transactions, rather than as purely "religious" practices. Indeed, in such circumstances, where gods were potentially everywhere and anywhere in experience, the modern category "religion" has little or no valence or meaning. The chapter also highlights the ritual contributions to the life of the polis that were made by females, who played literally vital ecological roles through their involvements in numerous divine cults.


O nce thought of as a soft approach to school improvement efforts, school culture has finally amassed the depth of research necessary to qualify as a mainstay in a school leader's annual improvement plans. Every school has a culture, and every school can improve its culture. And school culture may be the missing link—a link that has much more to do with the culture of the school than it does with elaborate curriculum alignment projects, scrimmage tests, and the latest buzzword reform efforts—in the school improvement conundrum (Wagner & Hall-O'Phalen, 1998). Several authors and researchers (Levine & LeZotte, 1995; Sizer, 1988; Phillips, 1996; Peterson & Deal, 1998; Frieberg, 1998) agree and refer to school climate, and more specifically to school culture, as an important but often-overlooked component of school improvement.


Measurements of the linewidths of interedge magnetoplasmons are reported for electrons on liquid helium in a temperature range from 200 to 600 mK and in a magnetic field $B=1 \mathrm{T}.$ The linewidths show an abrupt increase at a certain temperature. This temperature changes if the electron density is altered and can be related to the crystallization temperature. At the frequencies used, the effect on conventional edge magnetoplasmons is only very weak.


Experimental investigations of the lubricant film thickness generated in elastohydrodynamic elliptical contacts have been undertaken since the early 1960s. The majority of these studies has been concerned with circular or near circular contact situations, although a wide range of geometries in which lubricant entrainment was directed along the minor axis of the contact ellipse has also been considered. The information available on lubricant film thickness in geometrical conditions where lubricant entrainment was aligned with the major axis of the contact ellipse has, however, been severely limited. The experimental investigation described in this paper is therefore concerned with the measurement of lubricant film thickness in the unusual geometrical conditions recently analysed theoretically by the authors (1, 2). The measurements were made with the aid of a twin disc machine for geometries ranging from a radius ratio of unity down to a value of 0.112. The experimental apparatus is described and details are given of the special test discs which were manufactured to produce such geometries. The capacitance measurement technique adopted is detailed along with the numerical model developed to allow the measured values of inter-disc capacitance to be interpreted in terms of the lubricant film thickness. The lubricant film thickness developed in four geometrical situations was investigated at four rotational speeds and five loads. This allowed a comparison to be made with the film thickness values predicted by recent elastohydrodynamic theory for changes in both speed and load. The film thickness deduced from the capacitance measurements was considered to be representative of that found at the centre of contact, and good agreement was found between experiment and all aspects of the theoretical predictions.


Objective:To explore the value of lung-specific X protein gene(LUNX)mRNA expression in diagnosis of lung cancer.Methods:Real-time RT-PCR assay was used to detect LUNX mRNA in the peripheral blood of 67 patients with lung cancer,40 patients with benign pulmonary disease and 20 healthy volunteers.The serum levels of CEA,CA125 and Cyfra21-1 of 67 patients with lung cancer were simultaneously measured by radioimmunoassay.Results:The positive rate of LUNX mRNA expression in the peripheral blood of patients with lung cancer was higher than that of each one or combination of CEA,CA125 and Cyfra21-1(56.7% and 11.9%,16.4%,26.9%,32.8%,respectively)(P0.05-P0.005),and the sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value of LUNX mRNA were 56.7%,100%,100% and 67.4% by real-time RT-PCR assay,respectively.Conclusions:LUNX mRNA in peripheral blood detected by Real-Time RT-PCR assay may be a good gene indicator for diagnosis of lung cancer.


The problems faced in organic rice farming is decreasing quality and fertility of land caused by the use of non-organic fertilizers or pesticides and also by climate change. This study aims to determine the environmental efficiency of semi-organic rice farming. The sampling method was purposively carried out consisting of 115 farmers from four farmer groups in Bantul Regency and had implemented semi-organic rice farming. The technical analysis used was Stochastic Frontier Translog Analysis with one input variable namely N fertilizer which was thought to be an input that could decrease environmental quality (detrimental environment input). The results showed that the coefficient value used to analyze the environmental efficiency from the Stochastic Frontier Analysis Translog is the coefficient value that interacts with N fertilizer. The environmental efficiency of semi-organic rice farming is still very low, ranging from 0.1434 to 0.6541 with an average of 0.40. This efficiency value shows that semi-organic rice production will survive or even increase by reducing 60% from the use of N fertilizer. Environmental efficiency is influenced by the use of factors of production which are detrimental to the environment, climate change (temperature changes) and water resources management.


The development of efficient non-noble metal catalysts is of critical importance for conversion of lignin toward value-added chemicals. The trans-metal Co catalysts and the counterparts promoted wi...


Contemporary institutions and enterprises which face market development challenges regarding the product and the service ar range activities aimed on advanced objectives reaching or management problems solving. The chapter concerns problems and main factors that are identified within the project cooperation between applicants, grantee and institutions that support international scienti fic events related to the research projects and cooperation with the industry based on projects results applying in practice. Factors identified in the research analysis and presented i n the chapter result from project coordinators' observations, project partners percep tion and evaluation of fund institutions. Identification the most important issues in the sci entific international projects in accordance to grants selection criteria and project s f atures let to find an application both in the practice for future research projects creati ng and institutional selection criteria in accordance with Value management theory.


Abstract:Theater productions incorporating American Sign Language (ASL) and deaf actors have hitherto been only superficially discussed by Shakespeare performance scholars. While the premise that the dynamic co-presence of actors and audience creates the meanings of performance is fundamental to performance studies, this sparse scholarship does not consider how productions might generate different performative meanings and experiences for deaf audiences than for hearing ones. As a result, the key element of accessibility has been overlooked. Through close examination of four North American productions that incorporated ASL-speaking actors into the production, this essay compares the responses of hearing audiences to the author's own as a deaf spectator, illustrating the different performative meanings generated by the incorporation of ASL and deaf actors. The author also discusses how choices at all levels of the production can be detrimental to accessibility and argues that hearing directors have an ethical responsibility to be inclusive of deaf audiences. This can be accomplished by centering deaf perspectives and experiences both onstage and in front-of-house practices. Scholars who study such performances should also orient themselves in an ethics of care for deaf audiences. Reviews and critical readings focused only on what takes place on stage, ignoring audience composition and accessibility considerations, perpetuate the exclusion of deaf spectators from the performance experience.


Object detection is a core task for image analysis and inter-pretation and is broadly applied in applications relying on space- and airborne imagery. Like all supervised deep learning methods, training an object detector generally requires a large amount of representative annotated data, which can be hard to acquire in practice. To overcome this challenge, generating synthetic data can be an option to alleviate a lack of real-world annotated data. One key influential factor for the quality of the synthetic data is the background. We show that the detectors' classifier especially depends severely on the background and has a large impact on the detection preci-sion. Using real background is a natural option, however, we show that this naive approach has drawbacks such as a sig-nificant drop in recall. In this paper, we demonstrate that by using style transfer to match the synthetic foreground to the real background, the detector can mitigate these drawbacks and achieve a more balanced result in terms of precision and recall.


IEEE 802.15.4 is the emerging next generation standard specifically designed for low-rate wireless personal area networks (LR-WPAN), which suit wireless sensor networks applications. It attempts to provide a low cost, low power and short range wireless networking standards. This paper provides the performance analysis of Quality of Service parameters of WSN based on IEEE 802.15.4 star topology using MANET routing. The data packet delivery ratio, average end-to-end delay, total energy consumption, network lifetime and percentage of time in sleep mode are investigated as the performance metrics. The results show that DSR performs better than DYMO, AODV routing protocols for varying traffic loads in star topology beacon enabled mode.


With mobile robots, most current methods of controlling the speed and direction of the robot require complex logic and a great deal of parameter tuning. Instead, we are working on a system in which a human demonstrates how and where to drive, by driving the robot with a remote control, and the robot learns from demonstration how to navigate to its goal.At this point in this study, we have implemented such a system, which is currently capable of avoiding obstacles and following a path. Qualitative testing has shown that acceptable perfor mance in such behaviors is attainable after training for one hour.At this point, issues are present with what appears to be dynamics an d latency effects not being completely learned, and also with control commands oscillating between two modes in ambiguous situations. To counter these issues, we will investigate incorpo rating hysteresis into a sum-of-Gaussians model for voting on comm and direction. Later in this study, we will also incorporate learning of behavior changes, automatic dimensionality reduction,and automatic tuning of obstacle detection parameters.


The Concurrent Multipath Transmit with Forward Error Correction (CMT-FEC) mechanism uses multiple paths for data transfer and employs Forward Error Correction (FEC) to adapt to changing conditions in the wireless network. The CMT-FEC mechanism cannot be used in delay-sensitive video communications when the FEC block length is longer than the end-to-end delay because this will lead to the video frame not being playable on-time at the receiver end. This paper proposes the Delay-sensitive Multipath FEC (DM-FEC) mechanism using a mathematical analytical model to determine the appropriate transmission rate, FEC block length, and FEC redundancy on each path in a multipath environment. The DM-FEC mechanism does not cause the video frame to be unplayable or impede the timely recovery of video information.


The trial was conducted on 24 Apr near Cook Station, Mo., on a 1-yr-old stand of alfalfa. Plots were 20 × 40 ft and arranged in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications. The alfalfa was 15 inches tall at time of treatment. Temperature was 77°F, skies were cloudy, and winds were 0-3 mph. Sprays were applied with a 20-ft spray boom, 8002 flat-fan nozzles, and 50-mesh screens. Sprays were applied at 16.5 gal/acre and 20 psi. Measurable precipitation fell on 5 of the 28 days following treatment. Evaluations were conducted at 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days posttreatment by taking 10 180-degree sweeps with a 15-inch-diam sweep net. The data were transformed by × + 0.5 for analytical purposes, but actual means are presented in the table.


Price promotions and countercyclical pricing are driven by consumer search. This explanation is tested using a dynamic, structural, and seasonal inventory model.


An ageing population raises many questions about the appropriateness of current housing and neighbourhood options. While downsizing or retirement village living are often the major stereotypes for the ideal living arrangements for older Australians, only a relatively small percentage of older Australians actually live in such housing. The vast majority remain in the general community in separate houses with 3 or more bedrooms. Indeed, government policy encourages ageing in place and has progressively increased the delivery of support services to the home, resulting in substantial savings to the public purse and, arguably, better health and wellbeing outcomes for older people. In the light of these changes, it important to understand the perceptions of older people themselves about the housing and neighbourhood options available and their reasons for staying put or moving.


Objective To investigate the number and distribution of mast cells (MCs) and their potential role in the progression of trinitrobenenze sulfonic acid (TNBS) induced pancreatic fibrosis in rats. Methods The rat pancreatic fibrosis model was established by infusion of 2% TNBS ethyl alcohol solution into the cholangiopancreatic duct. The animals were sacrificed on day 3, week 1 and 4 after operation. The pathologic changes and the extent of fibrosis of the pancreas were studied by H E staining. MCs in the pancreas were stained by thionine blue, and activation of PSCs, which was indicated by measurement of α SMA, was determined by immunochemistry. Results Inflammation was the major histopathologic change in the pancreas after injection of TNBS solution and interstitial fibrosis was increasingly noted later. On day 3, the number of MCs was increased, mainly localized in the interstitial of the pancreas. At week 1, the number of MCs increased significantly ( P 0.05 vs 3 d ), and the MCs distributed predominantly in the fibrotic area. At 4 week, the number of MCs increased significantly ( P 0.01 vs 1 week), and the percentage of degranulation was also increased in the fibrotic area, but in the other area the number and distribution of MCs remained unchanged ( P 0 05 vs 3 d). The staining of α SMA of PSCs was mildly positive at 3 d, but the positivity became more evident after 1 week, mainly in the fibrous area and the pancreatic duct. The expression of α SMA of PSCs in the normal area was dispersed. Conclusions Activation of MCs might play a mediating regulatory role in the progress of pancreatic fibrosis through degranulation. This action is possibly related to the release of cytokines, which stimulate the activation of PSCs.


by Amy Dawn Carey, M.S. Washington State University August 2006 Chair: C. Kent Keller Storage and release of calcium from watersheds is controlled by biogeochemical processes in terrestrial ecosystems. The Hubbard Brook sandbox experiments allow researchers to monitor changes in all nutrient pools within ecosystems on watershed chemistry, including the biologic pool of nutrients stored in plant tissues. When calcium is absorbed for plant nutrition, calcium isotopes undergo stable mass fractionation. Discharge and soil water from two large 'sandbox' lysimeters were analyzed. One sandbox was planted with red pine trees that were harvested after 16 years of growth while the other became colonized by non-vascular vegetation. Isotopes were measured using MC-ICP-MS in the Washington State University GeoAnalytical Laboratory. Within the non-vascular sandbox there was no variation measured in δCa in both discharge and shallow soil water. The lack of variation in δCa in the non-vascular sandbox is attributed to chemical weathering releasing calcium from the system. Results also showed no variation in the δCa value of discharge and soil water within the red pine sandbox and between the red pine and non-vascular sandbox. This result is contrary


SISNPESERY OTHER PUBLICATIONS O. Painter et al., Two-Dimensional Photonic band-Gap (75) Inventor: Axel Scherer, Laguna Beach, CA (US) Defect Mode Laser; Jun. 1999; Science vol. 284; p 1819.* W. d. Zhou et la.; Electrically Injected Single-Defect pho (73) Assignee: California Institute of Technology, tonic bandbap Surface-Emitting Laser at room Temperature; Pasadena, CA (US) Aug. 2000; electronics Letter; vol. 36; No. 18.* S.Y. Lin et al.; Dirrect Mesurement of the Quality Factor In (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this Two-demensional Photonic-Crystal Mirocavity; Dec. 2001; patent is extended or adjusted under 35 Optical Society of America vol. 26, No. 23; p. 1903.* U.S.C. 154(b) by 17 davs. (b) by y * cited by examiner


The influence of boundary scattering on oneand two-dimensional weak localization is studied both analytically and by numerical Simulation. Diffuse and specular boundary scattering are considered for two geometries, a metal film in a parallel magnetic field and a laterally restricted twodimensional electron gas in a perpendicular field. The results, which extend the APtshuler-Aronov and Dugaev-Khmel'nitskii theories, are relevant to recent magnetoresistance experiments on highmobility channels in GaAs-Al^Ga^^As heterostructures.


The rst part of this paper provides an overview of previous work on tra c sign recognition. Various components are discussed, such as detection, classi cation and temporal integration. The second part of this paper covers a recently developed shape-based system, based on distance transforms. This system has been quite successful in detecting and recognizing tra c signs in real-time; we report single-image recognition rates of above 90 % in preliminary experiments both o ine as on-board our demo vehicle.


Charles M. Onasch, Advisor Characterization of texture using population statistics neglects spatial and temporal relations of the grains within the sample which provide valuable information about process and history. Despite the importance of space and time in textural analysis, little has been done to analyze the spatial variability of textures. In order to investigate the question of textural heterogeneity at a thin section scale in detail, the Standard Deviational Ellipse (ME) function from ArcGIS was used to create an extensive database from two different samples: an Elle simulation of crystal-plastic deformation and a weakly deformed quartz arenite photomicrograph. Both samples were deformed by the same increments of simple shear (γ = 0.00 – 0.87); the Elle sample by the deformation simulation and the quartz arenite by passively displacing grain boundaries according to the geometry of simple shear. Each sample was divided into nine cells and the textures in each was analyzed in the GIS using the Standard Deviational Ellipse as well as other parameters such as grain perimeter, area, ellipticity, and long axis orientation. In addition to using the Standard Deviational Ellipse to characterize textural variations, this tool was also evaluated for use as a finite strain marker. The study revealed non-systematic spatial and temporal variation in the change of the ME long axis orientations and ellipticity for the Elle simulation and systematic variation for the quartz arenite. The spatial variation in the texture categorized by the ME is partly due to the variations of grain distribution, shape, and grain position in the undeformed state and partly


Doing a keyword search for haigui ( ) at sina.com.cn, there are 3,830 entries and if you do a related keyword search for haiguipai ( ) (haigui, group of people) at yahoo.com.cn, you'll find 3,844 entries. Hai for 'sea' and gui for 'return', haigui is a new Chinese word combination that means a return to China from overseas. Specifically, it is a liuxingyu (pop term) that refers to the recent trend in which tens of thousands of Western-educated Chinese intellectuals return to China to contribute to the Motherland.


Abstract Background Falsely observing symptoms of psychosis risk in youth is a critical limitation to pluripotent prevention efforts. Factors including race, age, and measurement construction may affect the validity of semi-structured interviews and self-report screening tools designed to identify symptoms. Consideration of different constructs measured within a single screening tool, what a screening tool can offer beyond prediction of psychosis-like symptoms, and how to maximize efficiency may all influence the ability to effectively identify people who would benefit from services. Methods Help-seeking adolescents (N=134) ages 12–25 completed various screening tools for psychosis risk, and the Structured Interview for Psychosis-risk Syndromes (SIPS). The influence of race and age on screen scores and SIPS (CHR) symptoms were examined. We also evaluated alternatives to CHR symptom screening beyond conventional CHR screening tools. Results Higher Prime Screen scores increased the probability of clinician assessed symptoms among White participants, but not Black participants (interaction: b = -0.50 Wald χ2[1] = 4.63, p = .03, Exp[B] = 0.60), and younger participants were more likely to use the Prime Screen as a dichotomous (yes/no) screener relative to older participants, reducing screener efficacy (b = -0.04, Wald χ2[1] = 3.75, p = .05, Exp[B] = 0.96). Given discrepancies across groups, we attempted to expand screening strategies. First, to better understand the Prime Screen, factor analysis suggested two distinct factors that appear to measure different constructs. Additionally, an IRT model of several CHR screening tools suggested the value of an ultra-brief two-item measure. Finally, analyses of the BASC-2, a more comprehensive measure of behavior that includes, but is not limited to, psychosis risk items, also demonstrated accurate prediction of psychosis symptoms, as well as more pluripotent conceptualizations of symptoms. Discussion Results suggest that contextual or individual factors influence the accurate identification of individuals exhibiting psychosis-risk symptoms. Tailored approaches to screening based on an awareness of context, identity, setting, and preferences of clients are possible, and customizing assessment efforts accordingly may be useful for the accurate identification of a variety of people who might benefit from services.


Meeting customer needs becomes a variable for the development of strategic actions for
banking companies. The measurement of the levels of services offered and the appropriate
treatment of dissatisfactions are important variables to be considered. The objective of this
research is to identify the perception of student clients in relation to the banking services
provided by the agencies of Mariana and Ouro Preto. As Kotler (2000) points out, consumer
satisfaction and expectations must be met in order to have a competitive level of service. The
study is classified as a qualitative descriptive research, using a questionnaire, with the purpose
of measuring the level of (in) satisfaction of the services provided to the students. It is hoped
that these results may help financial institutions to understand customers' (in) satisfaction, in
order to establish new strategies for the maintenance of their product, service and customer
portfolios. And one has an effective understanding of what relationship marketing is and how
it relates to the services offered.


Military integration of rebels has become a more common feature in post-civil war contexts. Despite this, little attention has been given towards explaining the continuation of intergroup violence ...


Based on the R. Hills incremental virtual power principle and the elasto-plastic constitution equation for large deformation and by considering physical nonlinear, geometric nonlinear and thermal effects, a plane and axisymmetric finite element e-quation for thermal large elasto-plastic deformation has been established in the Eu-ler description. The corresponding analysis program ATLEPD has been also complied for thermal large elasto-plastic deformation, which includes also forming mesh automatically and changing boundary condition automatically. This work employed the program ATLEPD to simulate the large defomation process of O-ring in RPV. The variations of stress, strain, contact specific pressure, mesh deformation and the aspects of spring back in upseting and spring back process have been also in vesti-gated. Numerical results are fairly consistent with experimental ones.


The term load prediction refers to the projected load requirement using systematic process of defining load in sufficient quantitative detail so that vital power system expansion decisions can be made. In recent years, there is an emphasis on Short-Term Load Forecasting (STLF), the essential part of power system planning and operation. Rudimentary operating functions such as unit commitment, economic transmit, and unit preservation can be performed efficiently with a precise forecast. Short-term forecasting can assist in predicting the flow and making decisions that prevent overloading. This paper implements the STLF as a 24-hour forecast whose result is an hourly electric forecast. This paper uses the method of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to create a STLF process. The inputs to the ANN are load profiles of one month previous days and the weather variables of that days. Correlation analysis between load and weather variables will be used for all predictor input data to the ANN to optimize in size and accuracy. MATLAB programming language is used to implement this system.


.................................................................................................... iii ÖZET ................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................ xi LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................ xiii CHAPTER-1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1 1.1. Contribution of the Dissertation .................................................................... 7 1.2. Structure of the Dissertation ........................................................................ 12 CHAPTER-2: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................... 14 2.


This work deals with time-dependent analysis of a random process associated with the number of jobs and of their spent service times in the M/G/1 queueing system under the foreground- background (FBPS) processor sharing discipline. This discipline assumes that only the set of jobs with the least amount of attained service share the server in the pure processor sharing fashion. We derive the time-dependent distribution of the number of jobs each of which has an attained service time a y at time t in terms of the double transforms (with respect to space: the Laplace functional, and with respect to time: the Laplace transform) given the system is empty at time t = 0. In other words, it is obtained the non-stationary distribution of the random counting measure representing the transient state of the FBPS queue in all details. The method of the analysis is an extension and refinement of the principally new approach introduced and developed in the previous authors works (see, for example, (11)). We consider also some important special cases.


To the Editor: I have a comment concerning the article "Interrater Reliability of Diastasis Recti Abdominis Measurement," in the July issue of Physical Therapy (67:1077–1079, 1987).

The author stated that the modified postpartum exercise for separation of recti muscles of three or more finger widths is a partial sit-up with the scapulae clearing the floor.

It is my understanding that the modified exercise consists of a head raise only while in a supine position with knees bent, crossing the hands over the abdominal area so as to pull the muscles toward the midline.

Raising only your head and not your shoulders and trunk activates just the superficial abdominal muscles that have separated. If the shoulders are raised off the floor, the deeper abdominal muscles will contract, causing an increase in the separation. This information can be found in Noble's Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year , page 62.

[ ARTICLE][1]

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Structure-properties relationships in dissimilar resistance spot welding of AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel (SS) and AISI 1008 low carbon steel (CS) are investigated. Differences in physical and mechanical properties of both steel sheets affect resistance spot weldability of this combination. Weld nugget shape is asymmetrical and the final fusion line shifts from sheet/sheet interface into the higher resistivity side (i.e. AISI 304). Fusion zone microstructure was ranged from Ferrite-Austenite-Martensite to full martensite depending on the melting/dilution ratio of base metals. Criteria for selection optimum welding condition for dissimilar combination are discussed. It was shown that generally there is a direct relation between mechanical performance (peak load and failure energy) and FZ size of low carbon steel side. The peak load of CS/CS and SS/LCS was nearly same due to the fact that the pullout failure mode of SS/CS welds is initiated from CS base metal. However, the failure energy of the later was greater than the former weld which is a function of higher ductility of SS that helps increasing plastic deformation during process of pullout failure.


In the years before the civil rights era, American broadcasting reflected the interests of the white mainstream, especially in the South. Today, the face of local television throughout the nation mirrors the diversity of the local populations. The impetus for change began in 1964, when the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ and two black Mississippians, Aaron Henry and Reverend R. L. T. Smith, challenged the broadcasting license of WLBT, an NBC affiliate in Jackson, Mississippi. The lawsuit was the catalyst that would bring social reform to American broadcasting. This station in a city whose population was 40 percent black was charged with failure to give fair coverage to civil rights and to integration issues that were dominating the news. Among offenses cited by the black population were the cancellation of a network interview with the civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall and editorializing against the integration of the University of Mississippi. However, muscle, money, and a powerhouse Washington, D.C., law firm were on the side of the station. Despite the charges, the Federal Communications Commission twice renewed the station's license. Twice the challengers won appeals to the federal courts. Warren Burger, then a federal appeals court judge, wrote decisions on both challenges. The first ordered the FCC to allow public participation in its proceedings. The second, an unprecedented move, took the license from WLBT. This well-told, deeply researched history of the case covers the legal battles over their more than fifteen years and reports the ultimate victory for civil rights. Aaron Henry, a black civil rights leader and one of the plaintiffs, became the station's chairman of the board. WLBT's new manager, William Dilday, was the first black person in the South to hold such a position. Burger's decision on this Mississippi case had widescale repercussions, for it allowed community groups in other regions to challenge their stations and to negotiate for improved services and for the employment of minorities.


In order to achieve highly functional materials which show high fatigue and high tribological properties, two surface modifications, high carbon carburizing and DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) coating, were applied to low carbon steel (SCM415). However, there are some reports which raise the concern that coat materials like DLC show low fatigue strength compared with substrate only due to high heating history during the coating process. So, in this study, in order to prevent the base material from losing fatigue strength, DLC was coated by using the UBMS (Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering) method, which can coat at low temperature. Furthermore, three types of DLC-coated specimens with different coating structures were prepared. Rotational bending fatigue tests and friction-wear tests were carried out. It was clear that the friction coefficient of each specimens coated with DLC stabilized under 0.1. And, the specimen coated a 5 μm-thick DLC film shows the highest tribological properties because the DLC coating was transcribed on the opposite material during the wear process. Furthermore, no decreases in fatigue strength were observed for any of the coated specimens. It can be concluded that it is possible to achieve highly functional materials by applying DLC hybrid surface modification as suggested in this search.


This paper demonstrates the solution of a combinatorial optimization problem. The general problem faced is that of determining an acceptable sequence in which to provide a service to specific entities. In this specific case, the service is painting houses (the entities) and the sequence is constrained by the need to avoid painting contiguous houses within a minimum time period. Neither specialized optimization software nor a general programming language is used to perform the optimization. Instead, the authors formulated an Excel spreadsheet solution utilizing Excel add-in tools (Premium Solver Platform, Evolver, and GeneHunter). Genetic algorithms, a more efficient technique than those frequently found in Excel optimization software, were used to reduce solution time. Model development time was minimal and execution time was not a significant constraint. It is likely that genetic algorithm tools will continue to be used in more and more applications.


In order to establish a Discrete Element Method (DEM) model of soil particles, the soil in the laboratory soil bin was used as the research object. The soil texture was determined to be sandy loam by sieving, and the shape of the soil particles was analyzed by an image particle analyzer to establish a geometric model of the soil particles. The Edinburgh Elasto-Plastic Adhesion (EEPA) model was chosen as the contact model for the soil particle simulation analysis, and the accuracy of the model selection was determined by texture tests. The parameters in the contact model played a crucial role in the results of the simulation. Test methods were used to obtain parameters for the soil particles that were easy to measure. For parameters that could not be measured in the contact model, a direct shear test was used as the calibration test, and after screening the sensitive parameters using the PB test, the response surface method was used to calibrate the sensitive parameters. The accuracy of the calibration results was verified by comparing the simulation and test results of the direct shear test under different loadings.


While there is a history of sorts clearly evident in the Preliminaries of James Harrington's Commonwealth of Oceana, one can hardly escape noticing the model qualities of the Commonwealth as it is proposed. Accepting this apparent dualism as an obstacle, Pocock has noted that Oceana cannot be understood as utopia unless first understood as history. Others would not necessarily agree. Yet, given that Harrington located his explanation for the dissolution of the government upon the failure of the nobility to maintain English arms in time of crisis, I argue that in seeking a solution he turned to a series of debates regarding the history of the contemporary alternative to those failed feudal armies, the English militia. Having identified a crisis of arms, Harrington found tactical models dealing with the organization of a militia -- both contemporary and ancient -- to be a perfect historical model for his own commowealth. Considered in this context, the utopian status of the Commonwealth's orders becomes questionable and the work appears much more historical throughout.


The paper addresses the issues of syntax-to-prosody and syntax-to-information-structure interfaces. The author proves that Wackernagel's law was instrumental in the Old Czech. Old Czech clitic template in the corpus of 'Dalimil chronicle' (XIV century) is described for the first time.


After attending numerous sessions dedicated to stroke imaging at national conferences, one cannot help but leave confused with unanswered questions because the presentations consist of diametrically opposed positions regarding the imaging of patients with acute stroke. For example, some presenters


Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a chronic B‐cell lymphoid leukemia characterized by pancytopenia, splenomegaly, myelofibrosis, and the presence in peripheral blood, bone marrow, and spleen of atypical lymphoid cells with a hairy aspect.[1] There are approximately 1000 and 1600 new cases of HCL per year in the US and Europe, respectively. The prevalence of the disease is unknown, although HCL accounts for 2% of all types of leukemia, and the incidence of HCL increases annually.[2] Variant HCL (HCLv) is now included in the World Health Organization classification as a provisional entity and is no longer considered to be biologically related to classic HCL (HCLc). The clinical course of HCLv is variable, but usually more aggressive, and the median survival of patients with HCLv is significantly shorter than that of HCLc.[3] HCLc is a B‐cell malignancy with distinctive immunophenotype, typically expressing CD20, CD22, CD25, CD11c, CD103, CD123, annexin A1, and tartrate‐resistant Address for correspondence: Dr. Edris Sadeghi, Department of Nursing, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. E‐mail: sadeghi_mkn@yahoo. com


The Bounded Irregular Pyramid (BIP) is a hierarchical structure for image representation whose aim is to combine concepts from regular and irregular pyramids. The data structure is a combination of the simplest regular and irregular structures: the 2× 2/4 regular one and the simple graph representation. However, simple graphs only take into account adjacency relationships, being unable to correctly encode the topology of the image. This paper proposes a new version of the BIP, where the regular decimation process is now merged with a stochastic graph decimation strategy. Experiments demonstrate that this new irregular pyramid is able to provide qualitative good segmentation results and to preserve the topology of the input image at higher levels of its hierarchy. Keyworks image segmentation; regular pyramid; irregular pyramid; dual graph data struc-


Anecdotal evidence from experienced engineers suggest that barriers to creativity are often due to the limitations of current technology, methods and support systems (Baird, Moore, & Jagodzinski, 2000). The aim of this research was to explore what the perceived barriers to creativity are and how they are circumvented by design engineers working in New Projects Engineering (NPE), Rolls-Royce Aerospace (Bristol). Semi-structured interviews with four employees working in engineering design comprised a Scoping Study. This provided a general overview of the major issues perceived by the design engineers regarding barriers to creativity and resulted in six themes being identified. These themes were used as a framework for a Design Group Interviews Study that followed. Sixteen engineers comprising project managers, team leaders, experienced designers and new designers, graduate employees and trainees were interviewed using the same method. Using grounded theory to analyse the data, sixteen categories were drawn from the data. Confirmation of the findings was achieved through presentations and workshops with different groups from Rolls-Royce, and the development of an Interrelationship Digraph illustrating the relationships between the categories. The second phase of the research focused on the phenomena under current working conditions. In the Tracking Study interview diaries recorded with thirteen design engineers over an eight week period highlighted the salient issues relating to their perceived barriers to creativity. Thirteen categories (some of which could be mapped onto the previous categories and some which were new) were drawn from the data. Validation of the categories was achieved through direct observations of two design engineers in the week long Shadowing Study and completed this phase of the research. Mapping and interpretation of the findings in relation to the literature obtained further verification. From these analyses it was becoming evident that perceived barriers to creativity were present at


Abstract The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the four self-reported measures of the Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS) questionnaire with the performance-based measures of the AAHPERD functional fitness test. Two groups of subjects were recruited for the studyan active-control cohort (n = 16) of older adults that exercised regularly and an experimental group (n = 34) of older adults that began an 8-week community program. The CHAMPS questionnaire and the AAHPERD test were given to both groups before and after the program. Despite improvements in all the AAHPERD parameters, there were no significant changes between pre— and post-measurements of the CHAMPS questionnaire in the experimental group. The results from this investigation revealed that this survey does not appear to be an appropriate tool to measure physical activity changes in shorter community-based physical activity programs for older adults that prescribe a single multi-component exercise routine.


Radioactive material transport in urban areas is investigated and the specific urban features which influence environmental impacts are addressed. These features include the geographic and demographic make-up, and vehicular population and transportation patterns in the area. Previous efforts have not identified a most important population exposure pathway or group. This assessment examines several pathways and a number of urban specific population groups to evaluate their relative significance. In addition, because different causative events contribute to the overall environmental impacts, this assessment addresses four of these: incident free transport, vehicular accidents, human errors, and sabotage or malevolent acts. Not only does radioactive material transport produce radiological and economic consequences but also it can have social impacts. The objective of this study is to examine both the quantitative environmental impacts of radioactive material transport in urban areas and the more subjective social effects of this process. The social impacts assessment was performed by Battelle Human Affairs Research Centers, Seattle, Washington and their conclusions are only summarized here.


The purpose of this study was to test relations between product life cycle and perceived environment characteristics and to test...


There are many aspects of mediation that support an analysis of the process as a feminist approach to dispute resolution. This analysis might be used in terms of justifying the increased use of mediation in family dispute contexts where the number of women disputants is high. Women who are victims of domestic violence, however, face many practical and process disadvantages in family law mediation, and whilst feminist scholarship has enabled a better understanding of the impact of domestic violence on a victim's ability to participate effectively in mediation, the rates of participation remain high.

This article considers some of the arguments for considering mediation as a feminist model of dispute resolution and contextualises those arguments in terms of their application to the participation of victims of domestic violence in mediation. The article argues that as victims of domestic violence increasingly find themselves in the mediation context, specific strategies are needed to protect their interests and ensure their safety. The article proposes a distinct model of family law mediation for matters where there is a history of domestic violence that centralises the role of a legal advocate for the victim.