The present study was designed to assess children's ability to produce depth relationships for an array of objects under two pairs of conditions such as verbal-nonverbal and transparent-nontransparent. Age was also included to investigate the age trends of the representation of depth arrangement.
 The subjects were 360 children, 36 boys and 36 girls at each chronological age level, 5 to 9 years of age. At each age level, children were randomly assigned to 4 groups.
 The apparatus consisted of two objects, placed adjacent to one another on a platform of variable height designed to ensure the presentation at approximately the subject's eye level.
 The procedure for the Experiment was as follows. Each child was brought into the testing room individually and after some preliminary conversation his or her attention was drawn to the table and the chairs, and to the objects and their different colors. The experimenter then talked about which chair the child was going to sit in, walking with the child around the table so that the child had an opportunity to see the array from all aspects. Once seated, the child was given a square, blank sheet of paper together with felt tipped pens of appropriate colors, and asked to "make the best drawing of the objects that you can." If the child asked a question about what he or she should draw, the original instruction was repeated. As the child was drawing, a note was made about which color object was drawn first.


The invention relates to a new test method for long-distance and high-capacity high voltage direct current transmission transient state overload, which is operated in rated load by two poles of a DC system, then the DC voltage of one of the poles is reduced to be 70 percent of monopole DC voltage rated power, and the DC power is transferred to the other pole to realize the transient state overload of the other pole. The test method reduces impact to a DC current changing valve, and can not generate larger grounding pole current to influence the normal operation of an AC system substation transformer.


Background/aims: To evaluate the efficacy of intracameral recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-TPA) in prevention of fibrinous effusion after lensectomy, anterior vitrectomy, and posterior chamber intraocular lens (PCIOL) implantation in patients with congenital cataract. Methods: The study was done as a double masked randomised clinical trial between April 2002 and November 2003 in Farabi Eye Hospital. 34 eyes of 26 patients with congenital cataract were included in the study and randomised into two groups (18 cases and 16 controls). Mean age was 8.1 years (3–14 years). Each eye underwent lensectomy and anterior vitrectomy with PCIOL implantation. At the end of surgery 20 μg r-TPA was injected intracamerally in the case group. The control group received only balanced salt solution. All patients received periocular, systemic, and topical steroids after surgery. Patients underwent follow up examinations for 3 months. Results: The incidence of intraocular fibrin membrane formation was significantly lower in the case group on days 1, 3, 7, 14 (p = 0.02, p = 0.01, p = 0.01, and p = 0.01, respectively, χ2 test), but there was no significant difference on days 30 and 90. The frequency of pigmented intraocular lens precipitates was significantly lower in the case group at the end of the third month (p<0.001, χ2 test). No gross ocular side effects were noted after r-TPA injection. Conclusion: It seems that prophylactic intracameral r-TPA is effective in prevention of fibrinous effusion at least in the first 2 weeks after cataract extraction in the paediatric age group and decreases the incidence of pigmented IOL precipitates.


The problem of this research is the low learning outcomes of mathematics resulting in low student learning outcomes in the mathematics content of grade V SD Negeri Patih Selera, Barito Kuala Regency. Because the model used is too monotonous. One of the efforts to improve learning outcomes is through realistic models. The purpose of this study was to determine student activity and improve student activity and learning outcomes. This study used Classroom Action Research (PTK), which was conducted in four meetings. The research subjects were students in grade V even semester SD Negeri Patih Selera, the number of students was 11. The type of data in this study were qualitative and quantitative data, through observation of student activity quantitative data was obtained through measurement techniques with written tests. individually. The data analysis was carried out by using qualitative techniques which were described by a set graph and learning completeness indicators. The results of this study indicate that the student activities at the first meeting reached good criteria, the second meeting reached the good criteria, the third meeting reached the very good criteria, and the fourth meeting reached the very good criteria. Student activity at meeting I reached medium criteria, meeting II reached moderate, meeting III reached high, and meeting IV reached high criteria. Classical completeness of student learning outcomes at the first meeting reached 41.81%, the second meeting reached 56.36%, the third meeting reached 67.27%, and the fourth meeting reached 76.37%. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that a realistic model can improve student activity and learning outcomes. It is recommended to use this model as an alternative in increasing student activity which has an impact on improving student learning outcomes.


The coupling between optical phonons of piezoelectric metamaterial and the plasmons of semiconductor substrate results in the formation of a type of artificial surface polariton: phonon-plasmon polariton. The additional electric polarizations induced by the piezoelectric effect contribute to the effective dielectric function and to the elastic constant of the metamaterial film. In this work, we have calculated the effective elastic constant of the piezoelectric metamaterial. This additional contribution enhances both velocity and frequency of surface polaritons by 15%. The artificial surface phonon-plasmon polariton may offer opportunities in optical science such as acoustic excitation of surface plasmons and vice versa.


Background: Caring is considered as the fundamental concept of nursing role and provides framework to guide the nursing practice. It involves viewing the totality of an individual in order to provide an optimal lev el of care to patients. However, this has become a challenge in t he current health care system due to the advancemen t of technology coupled by scarce resources, shortage of nursing personnel and occupational stress. Objectives: The purpose of this descriptive-correlational stud y was to determine the level of caring behaviors of nurses as perceived by the nurses and patients and determine the difference between their perceptions. Furthermore, the relationship between the level of caring behavi or and patient's satisfaction was determined. Methodology: A purposive sample of 101 patients and 47 nurses w ere selected in medical-surgical unit of selected Level 3 Hospitals in Manila, Philippines. Staff nur ses and patients were asked to rate the level of ca ring behavior using the Clinical Nurse Patient Interaction Scale (CNPI) Also, patients were asked to rate their leve l of satisfaction using the Patient Satisfaction Instrument (PSI). Results: Finding suggests that nurses rated themselves high er n terms of caring behavior as compared to the r atings of the patients. However, patients were still satis fied in the level of care received from the nurses in the hospital. Conclusion: A significant difference was noted in terms of th e perception of nurses and patients in the level of caring behavior. Moreover, significant relationship was also noted between the level of caring behavio r as perceived by patients and the patient satisfaction.


To leach and explain system modelling in a Thermal-Fluid application is a challenge: learning how one component or even the surrounding conditions can influence the performance of the rest of the c ...


Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Finland and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt on the promotion and protection of investments. Cairo, 3 March 2004


Objective: This communication explores a lead fraction from methanolic extract of novel Stevia species raised under in vitro conditions for its various biological activities. Methods: The dried Stevia leaves were crushed in methanol to get the polar extract. This methanol extract was tested for pancreatic lipase and alpha-amylase inhibitory activity using quantitative plate assays. Antibacterial property of the extract was also evaluated against Staphylococcus epidermidis , Escherichia coli , Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Further, the antioxidant potential was evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. Results: The methanolic extract inhibited pancreatic lipase with IC50 of 5.74 μg/ml in a similar manner to a well-known anti-obesity drug in the market orlistat. The methanolic extract also showed a better pancreatic α-amylase inhibitory activity (IC50=88 μg/ml) than acarbose. Further, the lead fraction exhibited 88.48% antioxidant activity. It also exhibited broad spectrum antimicrobial activity against the spectrum of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria tested under laboratory conditions with a minimal inhibitory concentration ranging from 1.95 to 31.25 μg/ml. Conclusion: Thus, this study signifies the vast potential of the lead fraction from a novel Stevia species for further development into a herbal formulation for prevention of various infectious and non-infectious diseases.


Hydrogen shallow donors in undoped and doped ZnO systems have been studied by means of the electron paramagnetic resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance measurements. Experimental evidence is given in this work for coupling of hydrogen shallow donors and Mn ions in Mn-doped ZnO mediating short-range ferromagnetic spin-spin interaction.


Redundant assets have complicated implications to equilibrium, when available asset markets are subject to market frictions. We show the existence of equilibrium in two-period asset markets where portfolio choices are subject to portfolio constraints. The main consequences of the paper are differentiated from the literature in two respects. First, asset markets are allowed to have a large multiplicity of alternative portfolios in equilibrium. A portfolio decomposition technique is developed to resolve the large multiplicity problem. Second, we provide a survival condition with asset markets for the existence of equilibrium. Remarkably, this cannot be dispensed within the constrained asset markets, even when the endowment of goods is in the interior of the consumption set for each agent.


Development of high power microwave (HPM) requires high power pulse conditioning system with high output power, small volume and wide application range1-2. Propylene carbonate (PC), because of its great dielectric constant and high breakdown strength, has attracted extensive attention in high energy storage liquid dielectrics of Pulse Forming Line. In this paper, we investigated the polarity effects on the breakdown voltage of PC by using gaps of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mm for the needle-plate electrode. The equipment used in this study involved a compact capacitive-energy-storage pulsed power source with charging time vary from 5 to 20 microsecond and a test cell with the needle-plate electrode in it. The breakdown voltage and the time to breakdown were recorded on a digital oscilloscope for each gap. The data of these three groups noted that the positive breakdown voltage was higher than the negative one. And the breakdown voltage of PC increases with increasing electrode gap. Moreover, an investigation of the polarity effect of glycerin has been undertaken as a comparison. The results also show that the breakdown voltage for positive polarity was higher than for the negative one. Finally, through the comparison of the polarity effect between PC and glycerin, some pertinent conclusions are drawn. The research results deepen our understanding of the polarity effects in liquid dielectrics and can be used in the further research on the high energy storage liquid dielectrics.


RUPTURE of the mitral chordae tendineae, until recent years, has remained a medical curiosity and conversational material at clinical pathological conferences. With development of open heart surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass, surgical repair is now feasible. Mitral insufficiency may result from distortion of the mitral leaflet by ruptured chordae tendineae with loss of the normal valve restraining mechanism. The following communication presents a case of ruptured chordae secondary to subacute bacterial endocarditis with associated mitral insufficiency diagnosed preoperatively, and successfully corrected. Report of a Case The patient is a 38-year-old Caucasian female who was admitted on Nov 23, 1962 with the history of right parascapular pain. She had a dilatation and curettage performed because of menorrhagia in December, 1961. Because of persistent menorrhagia a hysterectomy was performed in October, 1962. During the course of her hospitalization she was examined by several physicians; no cardiac abnormalities were discovered. She had an uneventful


Purpose: Frailty defines a clinical syndrome characterized by multiple system effects leading to decreased functional reserve and increased sensitivity to mortality or mortality following minor stress events. Inflammation, lack of physical activity, reduced exercise efficiency and maximum oxygen uptake may contribute to the development of fragility in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We aimed to compare exercise capacity, physical activity level, and balance in patients with and without frail COPD. Methods: Thirty-one clinically stable COPD patients (11 frail [3F,8M, mean age=65.55±5.92 years]; 20 non-frail [1F,19M, mean age=66.10±5.66 years]) were included in study. Frailty was identified by presence of three or more of the following criteria unintentional weight loss, weakness (grip strength), self-reported exhaustion, slow walking speed (4-m walk test) and low physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form). Exercise capacity was assessed using the 6-min walk test (6MWT). Physical activity level was assessed using a triaxial armband monitor. The functional reach test was used to evaluate. Results: The 6MWT distance of frail COPD patients was significantly lower than non-frail patients (p Conclusion: The presence of fragility in COPD patients contribute to exercise intolerance, physical inactivity as well as impaired balance and vice versa. The development of specific treatment strategies seems to be necessary according to presence of frailty.


Attempts towards the total synthesis of MKN-349A and synthesis and characterization of a new and symmetric byproduct, cyclooctapeptide is described. The characterization of the cyclooctapeptide is established using advanced NMR and MALDI studies.


Load identification is crucial for structural health monitoring. However, the traditional load identification methods based on the system response function. These methods calculate load using the inverse solution of structure dynamic response and system characteristics. Therefore, the traditional methods are only applicable to linear structures, and have some shortcomings such as ill-posedness and huge computational cost. In this paper, a deep learning based identification method is proposed to identify the static load amplitude and position of bulkhead plate rapidly. Firstly, the loading experiment is carried out. The raw signal is preprocessed by normalization and temporal segment. Secondly, we design the Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory and Convolutional neural network (BiLSTM+CNN) to realize static load identification. Finally, the model is applied to the identification of dynamic loads to prove its generalization capability. It is demonstrated that the proposed deep learning model reveals a fast convergence and a high degree of accuracy in the identification of the load and its position. Moreover, the model can be applied to dynamic load identification.


1. This paper discusses the framework within which mergers are assessed. It begins by considering the purpose of merger control. Without clear objectives for merger control, it is difficult to formulate an appropriate analytical framework. The paper then briefly reviews the relationship between jurisdiction and the analytical framework, before exploring some of the issues relating to the analytical framework itself. The paper touches finally on links between merger control processes and remedies in the context of the analytical framework.


Students' problem-solving ability can be seen from various aspects, such as positive thinking toward problems, thinking on problem solving ability, systematical thinking, adducing problems, finding and collecting facts, focusing mind on important things, and adducing notions for problem solving. The better the students in those abilities, the better the students on the ability of problem solving, and vice versa. However, from the data collected from distributed questionnaires about the ability of problem solving given to 107 students, 60 students were included in the category of having low problem solving. Starting from that problem, the author tried to create a digital based media in the forms of video game on students' ability of problem solving entitled Asfire Adventure. The game that was created using Construct 2 app which had a concept of adventure consisting of 3 levels. In the game, the players were required to collect all keys and also books which contained questions and motivational sentences to finish the game. Based on the test by media experts, it showed a result of 65.5% and material tests chich obtained 75% which meant the media design of Asfire Adventure video concerning the ability of problem solving was quite feasible to use.

Keywords: ability, low problem solving, media Asfire Adventure game


Headley claims that European colonial violence is beyond the frame of his analysis. In fact, the topic comes up often. He decries Europe's historic treatment of others and regards its twentieth-century violence as an imperialist crescendo turned within. Yet, Headley treats this history, incredibly, as a set of 'embarrassing discrepancies and lapses' (130). When the European idea of human rights is confronted by 'Auschwitz', Headley writes that this is not a paradox but rather 'integral to the complexities and varieties of the human animal' (4). Is not the task of history, precisely, to explain such entanglements? The crucial question for the history of universal ideals would ask how they attach to specific practices. For example, we are told that universal principles can 'suffocate' dissent (215). Presumably in such cases, the specificity of interest seizes for itself the sign of the universal. Which agendas have found empowerment in this way? To what effect? How have they varied? Headley's refusal to nuance the practices of universalism leaves the European animal unexamined. Finally, Headley closes with an extremely sharp rebuke of Bush-era American policies as a serious threat to 500 years of expanding rights. In tandem with this right-wing lawlessness is the left-wing American university, which since the 1960s has trampled the valuable heritage of Western liberalism. 'Both . . . together work to scuttle what should be positive and enduring in this unique civilization' (212–13). Here, the liberal contradiction at the core of the treatise becomes most glaring. How does Headley justify singling out academe's voice of dissent from the West's otherwise valuable self-critique? He argues that overstated claims for diversity destroy the 'common ground' (6). But, of course, major dissent concerning the distribution of resources and power is rarely conducted as if at a debating society; rather, the foundations of the debate and the framing of questions are themselves placed under intense scrutiny, as in the struggles for abolition and civil rights, examples which Headley often cites but without fully recognizing the fundamental challenges they posed. In each of these cases, Headley abstracts language and event into separate registers. In his political and methodological ideal, language enjoys articulation as if free from its own conditions. This parallels an old – Western? – theme, which is today the target of global dissent: the neutral mechanism of money.


In article the author investigates interrelation and mutual influence of the factors causing growth and formation arrived in corporations of oil sector. Characteristics are revealed most, calculation of influence of factors on formation of profit on the example of 20 leading corporations of the Russian and foreign oil sector is carried out. The logic of factor model of profit formation of corporation in oil sector is also offered.


The LES Project (LES-Llavor Energètica i Salut. Del cole a casa i a la societat, in English: Energy and Health Seed. From school to home and society) is seen as an opportunity to increase the visibility of the role of science and women scientists in their actual contexts and to present architectural research as essential in mitigating climate change and improving people's health. The goal of this research was to reach the greatest range of people possible through intergenerational transfer. However, the main receptors and drivers were students aged between 8 and 10 years old who were responsible for transmitting energy and environmental conditioning concepts and their interrelations with strategic performance in buildings. Awareness was raised through scientific workshops implemented in primary schools that had energy and air quality deficiencies and opportunities, and the concepts were extrapolated to housing. Two schools in different socioeconomic districts (vulnerable and middle-income families) were selected as a strategy to provide details about the perceptions of energy benefits in both schools' families. The results of the experience were highly satisfactory. Children from 8 to 10 years old were interested and ready to understand and transfer key concepts about energy efficiency and health improvement through the transformation of the buildings surrounding them. The dissemination of the project and social awareness reached the primary students of the two schools selected for the project and the entire educational community (students, teachers, families and all of society). Currently, we are working on a second stage that will allow for a broad volume of replicability of the workshops, with schoolteachers taking the lead in these actions. For this purpose, LES has the support of the Department of Education of the Generalitat de Catalunya.


There has been increasing number of reports on the cutaneousmanifestations of COVID-19 patients. The skin involvements in patients with COVID-19 demonstrate various clinical entities. In our article, we summarize these cutaneous manifestations based on the literature data and on our own experiencies. While in inducing maculopapulosus exanthem, urticaria, erythema multiformeand vesicular lesions etiological factors other than SARS-COV-2 virus may play a role , vascular manifestations, such as chilblain-like lesions and retiform purpura, could have a more direct association with the virus. Cutaneous manifestation may help in identifying asymptomatic patients and could provide prognostic information on the clinical course of COVID-19.


This paper considers a portfolio selection problem in which portfolios with minimum number of active assets are sought. This problem is motivated by the need of inducing sparsity on the selected portfolio to reduce transaction costs, complexity of portfolio management, and instability of the solution. The resulting problem is a difficult combinatorial problem. We propose an approach based on the definition of an equivalent smooth concave problem. In this way, we move the difficulty of the original problem to that of solving a concave global minimization problem. We present as global optimization algorithm a specific version of the monotonic basin hopping method which employs, as local minimizer, an efficient version of the Frank–Wolfe method. We test our method on various data sets (of small, medium, and large dimensions) involving real-world capital market from major stock markets. The obtained results show the effectiveness of the presented methodology in terms of global optimization. Furthermore, also the out-of-sample performances of the selected portfolios, as measured by Sharpe ratio, appear satisfactory.


A unified design approach for improving the performance of both regular DRO & Voltage Tuned DRO (VTDRO) is presented with a step-by-step procedure. The novel designs of 23GHz DRO and 18GHz VTDRO are reported together with their experimental results showing superior performance over the previously published results; for example, the frequency- temperature stability at 23GHz has been improved by a factor of four, while the frequency tuning sensitivity at 18GHz by a factor of five.


The use of automation and computer engineering information channels of the control system. SUMMARY device comprises register 1 (1), a trigger 3


(3,4). Previously, it was reported that a U-shaped association existed between physical activity and incidences of stroke or mortality. In the Harvard Alumni Study, highly active men had elevated stroke risk when compared with moderately active men but lower risk when compared with low-active men (4). Contrary to the investigators, a previously published study even showed a positive association between physical activity and stroke incidence in a Japanese population (5). Moreover, data from an integrated activity questionnaire and from recall diaries are converted to amount of energy expenditure, but this may lead to a source of bias. Ideally, except for frequency and duration components of physical activity, exercise intensity is important for a preventative approach. The method carries many difficulties, particularly for estimating different levels of physical activity. Related to these arguments is the following question: What is the true path of the dose-response curve regarding physical activity and cardiovascular mortality in cardiac patients (3)? Finally, the intensity of physical activity should be taken into consideration because it is a major contributor to exercise-induced medical complications. The intensity of such activities should be estimated and accurately prescribed to reduce health risks before participation in sports exercises.


This paper presents a novel method for improving the training step of the single-scale Gabor filters by using the Boltzmann univariate marginal distribution algorithm (BUMDA) in X-ray angiograms. Since the single-scale Gabor filters (SSG) are governed by three parameters, the optimal selection of the SSG parameters is highly desirable in order to maximize the detection performance of coronary arteries while reducing the computational time. To obtain the best set of parameters for the SSG, the area (A z) under the receiver operating characteristic curve is used as fitness function. Moreover, to classify vessel and nonvessel pixels from the Gabor filter response, the interclass variance thresholding method has been adopted. The experimental results using the proposed method obtained the highest detection rate with A z = 0.9502 over a training set of 40 images and A z = 0.9583 with a test set of 40 images. In addition, the experimental results of vessel segmentation provided an accuracy of 0.944 with the test set of angiograms.


The atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique has been developed to study the sublimation rate of an organic solid film on smooth surfaces. On the basis of the experimental results, a dipole-induced dipole propagation potential is employed to explain a nonlinear sublimation rate of a solid TNT thin film in a very close proximity to the substrate surface. In this model, three important physical parameters, the bulk sublimation rate δo, surface interaction potential Uo, and the effective decay length of the surface potential ho, are introduced without any arbitrary constants. It is argued that the model reflects a general phenomena rather than a special case.


This study aimed to investigate parents' and dentists' perceptions of the national oral health screening for infants and children (OHS), and evaluate the dentists' accuracy of analyzing the results of OHS. A questionnaire survey was conducted, face-to-face or online, for 90 parents of children who received OHS in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Yonsei University Dental Hospital and 100 dentists working at local clinic or university dental hospital from May to October 2021. Most parents and dentists were aware of the importance of OHS, and approximately 96.7% of parents were satisfied with OHS. The requirements of parents and dentists about OHS were different. The reasons for having difficulties in explaining parents after OHS and the opinions on appropriate period and number of OHS were disagreed between pediatric dentists and general dentists. Regardless of dentists' major, work experience, elapsed period after taking online education program, the accuracy of the examination result was low. In this study, various opinions of parents and dentists on OHS were collected. Efforts should be made to enhance the oral health of infants and children by considering the requirements of parents and dentists and improving the accuracy of examination results.


The tests on mechanical characteristics of laminated rubber bearing(D = 800) with lead plug made in China are carried out. Vertical and horizontal properties of the beraing, such as stiffness, damping and their dependence on compressive and shear deformation are researched. It is proved that the bearing has good properties compared with the standards published by China and Japan Isolation Institute.


Background and Aim: Allergic asthma is an inflammatory disease of the respiratory system which causes an increase in inflammatory factors such as IL-2,IL-4,IL-5, lymphocytes and eosinophils. These factors can increase the level of free radicals and oxidants. Pomalidumide, an anti-inflammatory drug that has stronger effects than its analogues, can significantly reduce inflammatory factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pomalidumide on inflammatory factors and pro-oxidant antioxidant balance in the rat model of ovalbumininduced asthma. Material and Methods: Male rats were divided into 5 groups (n=8): normal saline, ovalbumin+normal saline, ovalbumin+dexamethasone, ovalbumin+pomalidimide (0.4 0.8 mg/kg, ip). We used ELISA method to determine the level of inflammatory factors. We measured pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB) for assessment of blood oxidant level. Results: We found significant decrease in the levels of inflammatory factors in the pomalidumide group. This decrease was more significant in the group that received pomalidumide 0.8 mg/kg, ip. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that pomalidomide prevented the pro-oxidant antioxidant balance shift towards increasing oxidant factors in the asthmatic rats. Also it prevented increase in inflammatory factors including IL-2, IL-4,IL-5, lymphocytes and eosinophils in the ovalbumin-induced asthma rat model.


Listed are the officers and addresses of the allied and affiliate organizations that provided information as of late spring 1998.


Recently Suszycki [22] defined the notion of multi-retractions on compact metric spaces and considered interesting properties. The author [15] extended that notion to the case of metric spaces and announced some properties related to shape theory. First the notion of multi-retractions resulted from inverses of CE-maps. But in shape theory we studied various kinds of Vietoris-type maps. Then in this paper we shall define notions of various multi-valued functions and consider related topics. Throughout this paper we assume that all spaces are metrizable and all maps are continuous. $AR$ and $ANR$ mean those for metric spaces. Dimension means covering dimension and by $\dim X$ we denote the covering dimension of a space $X$. Let $X$ and $Y$ be spaces. By a multi-valued function $\varphi:Y\rightarrow Y$ we mean a function assigning to each point $x\in X$ a non-empty closed subset $\varphi(x)$ of $Y$ . A multi-valued function $\varphi:X\rightarrow Y$ is compact if $\varphi(x)$ is compact for every $x\in X$. A multi-valued function $\varphi:X\rightarrow Y$ is said to be upper semi-continuous (shortly


Background: Attempts to maximise diagnostic accuracy and reduce unnecessary surgery have led to the hospital observation of children with suspected appendicitis but unconvincing physical signs. However, morbidity associated with perforation necessitates the prompt management of acute appendicitis and increases anxiety concerning prolonged preoperative observation.


For many cosmetic surgeons, water-assisted liposuction devices are the preferred liposuction devices on the market today. Body-Jet appears to demonstrate superiority in novel irrigation and aspiration functions, as well as in the high-quality lipo-aspirate it yields.


INTRODUCTION: Renal and hepatic diseases cause seizures and patients with epilepsy may suffer from such diseases which change antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) metabolism. OBJECTIVES: To revise how seizures may be caused by metabolic disturbances due to renal or hepatic diseases, by their treatment or by comorbidities and how AEDs choice might be influenced by these conditions. RESULTS: Seizures arise in renal failure due to toxins accumulation and to complications like sepsis, hemorrhage, malignant hypertension, pH and hydroelectrolytic disturbances. Hemodialysis leads to acute dysequilibrium syndrome and to dementia. Peritoneal dialysis may cause hyperosmolar non-ketotic coma. Post-renal transplant immunosupression is neurotoxic and cause posterior leukoencephalopathy, cerebral lymphoma and infections. Some antibiotics decrease convulsive thresholds, risking status epilepticus. Most commonly used AEDs in uremia are benzodiazepines, ethosuximide, phenytoin and phenobarbital. When treating epilepsy in renal failure, the choice of AED remains linked to seizure type, but doses should be adjusted especially in the case of hydrosoluble, low-molecular-weight, low-protein-bound, low apparent distribution volume AEDs. Hepatic failure leads to encephalopathy and seizures treated by ammonium levels and intestinal bacterial activity reductions, reversal of cerebral edema and intracranial hypertension. Phenytoin and benzodiazepines are usually ineffective. Seizures caused by post-hepatic immunosupression can be treated by phenytoin or levetiracetam. Seizures in Wilson's disease may result from D-penicillamine dependent piridoxine deficiency. Porphyria seizures may be treated with gabapentin, oxcarbazepine and levetiracetam. Hepatic disease changes AEDs pharmacokinetics and needs doses readjustments. Little liver-metabolized AEDs as gabapentin, oxcarbazepine and levetiracetam are theoretically more adequate. CONCLUSIONS: Efficient seizures treatment in renal and hepatic diseases requires adequate diagnosis of these disturbances and their comorbidities besides good knowledge on AEDs metabolism, their pharmacokinetic changes in such diseases, careful use of concomitant medications and AEDs serum levels monitoring.


The Bahamas were annexed by the Crown in 1629 but, for a century, there was no progressive settlement, Early in the eighteenth century the island s were abandoned to the nefarious activities of pirates. Government reverted t o the Crown in 1718 and ordered development began. Education of the children of the colonists was begun in 1734 by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel but State aid was given as early as 1746. Little progress was made for a century but the advent of loyalists from the American Colonies in 1784 had a beneficial influence. With the need f o r educating the liberated slaves a Board of Education was appointed in 1836. There ensued a denominational struggle for control which was resolved by removing the schools from the control of all the churches. At the same time an Inspector was appointed but progress was hindered by lack of teachers and money and by the geographical nature of the colony. Blockade-running during the American Civil war made more money available and a series of inspectors and teachers was appointed from England. Slow but steady progress was effected, the " British Schools" being adopted as a model, Compulsory attendance became universal in 1886 but the number of schools remained totally in sufficient until 1920. Income from boot-legging during American prohibition resulted in rapid expansion both in the number of primary schools and in the provision of secondary education for negroes. The last twenty years have witnessed improvement in teachers' qualifications and the provision of scholarships for higher education. The out islands are far behind Nassau in educational facilities which are uncoordinated in the colony as a whole. Introductory chapters furnish a background of general history and of conditions in the colony at present. Final chapter applies the lessons of history to educational policy for the future.


2 Rese ea ar a ch ch c C C Cen en entr tr tre e e in in Abstract Background— Cardiac mortality and electrophysiologic dysfunction both increase with age.


This paper presents U-Pb-He triple-dating age determinations for several porphyry Cu±Mo±Au deposits in Chile, Indonesia and Iran in an effort to determine their thermal histories and to explore the effects of cooling/exhumation rates on ore formation and preservation processes. Inverse thermal modelling of measured time-temperature history data from these deposits was conducted to quantitatively constrain the depth of emplacement, duration of ore deposition, exposure ages and cooling/exhumation rates. The duration of hypogene ore formation for the deposits studied generally occurs within timeframes of 10 years, although modelling results for the Grasberg, Batu Hijau and El Teniente super porphyry deposits suggest formation periods of the order of 10 years. Emplacement depths on intrusions associated with porphyry mineralisation range from 800 m to 5500 m from the palaeosurface, with Grasberg and Rio Blanco being respectively the shallowest and deepest super porphyry deposits studied. The thermochronology data indicates a positive correlation between metal grade and cooling rate during hypogene ore formation, but further investigation is warranted. Exhumation rates varying from 0.3 to 1.1 km/m.y. have implications for the preservation potential of hypogene ore deposits, with super porphyry deposits like Sar Cheshmeh potentially losing 3.5 Mt of copper to erosion over the last 5 million years. The potential for supergene ore formation under such conditions is high, as is the potential for the formation of proximal Exotica-type deposits.


Guinea pigs were exposed to octave band (0.1, 2, or 8 kHz) or broad‐band noise at 90, 100, and 106 dB SPL, eight hours daily for seven days, while receiving kanamycin 100 mg/kg daily s. c. Controls were subjected to noise exposure or kanamycin injection only. Cochlear injuries were assessed electrophysiologically in terms of reduction in microphonic (CM) and neural (N1) potentials, and histopathologically in terms of the location and extent of hair cell loss seen in surface preparations of Corti's organ and recorded in cytocochleograms. Potentiation between noise and kanamycin was seen only after exposures at 100 dB or more, and then not in all animals. With 0.5‐kHz exposures even at 112 dB, affecting mainly turn 3, there was no indication of enhancement of the injury by kanamycin, which has its major site of action in the basal turn. It appears that for potentiation to occur the noise and the antibiotic must act on the same region of the cochlea. [Supported by NIH‐NIEHS contract No. 1‐ES‐2‐2110 and NM Pr...


Lexical hyponymy relation is a kind of hyponymy that can be directly inferred from the lexical compositions of concepts, and of great importance in ontology learning. However, there is a key problem that the lexical hyponymy is so commonsensible that it cannot be discovered by any existing acquisition methods. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to semi-automatically discover hierarchical lexical hyponymy relations from a large-scale concept set, instead of analyzing lexical structures of concepts. Firstly we design Common Suffix Tree (CST) to cluster lexical concepts. We extract class concepts candidates from CST by statistic-base rules that we investigated, and then use a Google-based classifier to verify them. Finally, we extract lexical hyponymy relation candidates from CST and judge them after a prefix clustering process. Experimental result shows us that our approach can correctly discover most lexical hyponymy relations in a given large-scale concept set.


The basic task of higher vocational colleges is to cultivate talents.In addition to the function of teaching,managing and serving students,modern vocational education attaches more and more importance to the campus environment,especially the practice teaching environment in education.Under the concept of environmental education,Hunan Vocational College of Nationalities tries to create educational environment.Relying on the campus area,the college declares a national level 3A scenic spots which becomes a professional practice teaching platform.The study explores the establishment of the "true teaching" talents cultivation mode of tourism management specialty in higher vocational colleges by utilizing the environmental advantages and highlights the education function of the environmental education.


The article examines the strategic management of credit operations as the activities on credit strategies of banking institutions, the formation of goals, objectives, and the choice of methods to achieve them. The basis of this is the strategic management analysis of the factors affecting the lending operations, strategic planning, communication mechanisms of strategic and tactical decisions, monitoring the implementation of the strategy and  timely adjustments. For the purpose of effective implementation of the developed strategy, the article argues that banks in modern conditions should develop their own internal credit policy which should cover the essential elements and principles of credit at these banks. The study determines that the credit policy is based on the factors determined by the amount of capital assets and loan portfolio, the structure of its clientele, specialization, location, presence of branch network, the situation in the money market.


An on-chip measurement circuit that was specifically designed to capture the high-speed transient characteristics of photocurrent is employed to measure total-ionizing-dose (TID)-induced leakage from 10 keV X-rays. This circuit uses a photocurrent-controlled oscillator (PCO) to produce an analog frequency, which provides linearity comparable to traditional, off-chip methods of TID measurement. The circuit was fabricated in a sub-50 nm, fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) technology. TID-induced leakage currents were measured using the circuit and results were compared to off-chip direct measurements from identical transistor arrays. Additionally, potential in situ applications of this circuit in conjunction with a TID-compensating back-gate biasing technique are explored.


Abstract For points in d real dimensions, we introduce a geometry for general digit sets. We introduce a positional number system where the basis for our representation is a fixed d by d matrix over ℤ. Our starting point is a given pair (A,𝒟) with the matrix A assumed expansive, and 𝒟 a chosen complete digit set, i.e., in bijective correspondence with the points in ℤd/ATℤd. We give an explicit geometric representation and encoding with infinite words in letters from 𝒟. We show that the attractor X(AT,𝒟) for an affine Iterated Function System (IFS) based on (A,𝒟) is a set of fractions for our digital representation of points in ℝd. Moreover our positional 'number representation' is spelled out in the form of an explicit IFS-encoding of a compact solenoid 𝒮A associated with the pair (A,𝒟). The intricate part (Theorem 6.15) is played by the cycles in ℤd for the initial (A,𝒟)-IFS. Using these cycles we are able to write down formulas for the two maps which do the encoding as well as the decoding in our positional 𝒟-representation. We show how some wavelet representations can be realized on the solenoid, and on symbolic spaces.


In order to uncover the reality of the trap present in the MQW consisting of GaN‐InGaN pair, extraction of the location and the energy level of the trap using RTN experiment were applied for the first time. Through simplification of the complex MQW into an approximate structure, we found the trap of each sample is located very close to p‐GaN interface.


Business organizations can be classified into three broad categories: entrepreneurial organizations without management hierarchy, entrepreneurial organizations with managerial hierarchy, and large publicly-held corporations. The key difference between the first two is the presence of agency problem, and the key difference between the last two is the presence of stock markets. Three major models of accounting, bookkeeping, managerial and financial reporting, have been engineered to suit the respective needs of the three forms of organizations. Using the work of Hatfield (1924), Barnard (1938), Simon (1947, 1952), and Cyert and March (1963), the paper explores the links between organization theory and classical bookkeeping, stewardship and capital markets perspectives on accounting.


In recent years, emerging social network sites are reshaping the ways that people communicate, interact, collaborate, work and even learn. Based on the idea that social networks can be a powerful and effective tool for instructors and students, this study was conducted to reveal students' perceptions about social networks from different perspectives. Hence, students thoughts on this topic were solicited via open-ended questions posed through an online survey which was announced via several social networks. The findings indicated that the sharing of materials and personal thoughts, the increase in the flow of knowledge, and online communication and interaction were perceived by students as the characteristic features for knowledge acquisition and socialization in online environments. Furthermore, socialization and interaction, the reinforcement of social links and communication, alongside information sharing and the gaining of knowledge were listed as the main benefits of using social network sites. It can be concluded that the new generation likes to communicate in social environments and that they also value the information they gain during this process. Thus, this environment should be considered as a learning environment in order to improve the quality in the communication process of our students. Hence, use of these environments should be integrated into the curriculum, especially for teacher education programs


From classical pearl earrings to bold turquoise necklaces, and antique gold chains to colourful bead bracelets, jewelry of every kind is featured in this book that shows how to appreciate, collect and care for beautiful jewelry.


This paper describes how researchers and teachers have developed ways of embedding the 'SATELLITES' geo-science and technology education program into K-12 classrooms, to enhance science teaching and learning. SATELLITES (Students And Teachers Exploring Local Landscapes to Interpret The Earth from Space) is a professional development program aimed at enhancing handson science and technology education in a wide range of thematic areas, including Earth and Space Science, Geography, Environmental Science, Biology and Physics. Since the Program's beginning in 1998, hundreds of teachers have attended intensive summer professional development Institutes in Earth Science and Technology content, project–based learning (PBL), and student inquiry. By leveraging the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Program's outreach and education resources, thousands of students from across the US and several other countries have participated in SATELLITES. The assessments performed on the efficacy of the program have clearly showed a positive change in teachers' level and quality of knowledge in geo-technologies and related natural sciences and in students' engagement in science and comprehension of science concepts. The experience gained throughout the program's long life has allowed the development and implementation of guidelines and recommendations to address emerging challenges. These experiences, together with the effective overall performance of the program create an important potential to expand its impact, by building capacity in more areas of the country or in other countries, where geospatial technologies have not yet been systematically introduced in the school environment.


General Comment The paper addresses compound events defined by combined high surges and high wind waves along European coastlines, especially in estuaries/river mouths. Statistical methods are used to investigate joint probabilities of compound events and the statistical dependency, since flood risk is not a function of one parameter (storm surges with peak value and duration) but usually of more (e.g. wind waves, river runoff). Large scale weather systems can cause either high storm surges or high wind waves and further more high precipitation and river runoff/discharges. Two sets of almost 35-year hindcasts of storm surges and wave heights were used to analyse the correlation and statistical dependency. As expected the frequency of the occurrence of the top compound events in different coastal areas were found to be higher during


One of the authors had previously proved in the experimental study on lethal time of mice that Ca-EDTA provided some protective effect against the toxicity of cadmium. In this paper the authors attempt to clarify whether the drug, Ca-EDTA, could accelerate the urinary excretion of cadmium. The first experiment (A): 6 rabbits were injected subcutaneously with 3.37 mg of CdCl2 every other day for 12 days. Three of the animals were given subcutaneously, one hour after the injection of CdCl2, 141 mg of Ca-EDTA in 10 ml of 5% glucose solution. The remaining animals were set aside as controls and received only glucose treatment. Laboratory examinations were done on blood; erythrocyte and leucocyte count, hemoglobin content and serum protein content, and on urine; coproporphiline- and urobilinogentest. Cadmium content in urine as well as in organ tissues were measured polarographically. The second experiment (B): 10 rabbits were injected with 6.74 mg of CdCl2 a day for three days and then with the same dose every other day for 14 days. After the last injection the animals were divided into two groups of 5 rabbits each. The animal of one group was administered 268.68 mg of Ca-EDTA in the same way as in (A) for 5 days. The other group served as controls and received only glucose treatment. The items examined in this experiment were, including those in (A), hematocrit value, blood specific gravity, and reti culocyte count. The third experiment (C): 6 rabbits were injected with radioactive cadmium in 1 ml of 0.34%-Cd*(NO3)2, and one hour after the injection 3 of the animals were given 500 mg of Ca-EDTA and the remaining animals served as controls and received no treatment. The cadmium in 24 hour urine specimens was measured by the use of a scintillation counter. In this experiment cadmium content of every fraction of serum protein was determined by paperelectrophoresis. The results obtained were the followings: In the experiment (A): 1) Cadmium could not be detectable in the urine during the whole experimental period, but it appeard in a trial in which Ca-EDTA was given intravenously at the end of the experiment. 2) Cadmium content in liver and in kidney was slighter in a group administered with Ca-EDTA than in the organ tissue of the controls. 3) There were no other marked findings between the both groups. In the experiment (B): 1) Cadmium produced anaemia, such as a decrease of erythrocytes, hemoglobin content and hematcrit value. Ca-EDTA could not arrest these symptoms. 2) Ca-EDTA accelerated to some extent the urinary excretion of cadmium. 3) Cadmium content of the organ tissues showed no significant difference between the two groups. In the experiment (C): 1) Cadmium content in the urine sample was much larger in the animals administered with Ca-EDTA than that of the controls. 2) Cadmium content in the serum was diminished by Ca-EDTA. 3) The authors could not recognize a marked difference of cadmium content in every fraction of the serum protein.


In the 1980s, several key policies were introduced to transform Malaysia from an agricultural based economy to an industrial nation e.g., the 'Malaysian Incorporated', 'Industrialization' and 'Privatization' policies. This study chronicles the early development of public relations (PR) in Malaysia and how government's key policies have lifted PR to a new height. Drawing from Malaysian experience, it is apparent that PR's role has gradually changed and expanded to suit a particular context and need, mainly to the advantage of the elites or powerful actors in society. Similarly, the development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Malaysia is largely motivated to pursue the interest of the government and business. In this case, PR role in promoting excellent practice in Malaysia and that includes its role in driving CSR would appear problematic.
This paper argues that the development of both PR and CSR is determined by the historical, social, economic and political framework of a country. Literatures affirmed that early CSR practice in Malaysia was part of PR activity undertaken by multinational firms to build relationships with the government by supporting various nation building activities (Arun 1993 in Leuven 1996). This study extends the literature by critically examining the actual role of PR in CSR through insights from real PR practitioners in the country.
The paper exposes the relationships between corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice and the scope of public relations (PR) in Malaysia. It embraced a critical approach which offers alternate readings of Malaysian PR literature which are dominantly quantitative in nature. The focus is on how historical, socio-political, economic, cultural and organizational contexts shape the practice of CSR and affect the scope and function of PR in pursuing the practice.
This study has employed semi-structured interviews among PR and CSR managers working in renowned CSR organizations in the country. In addition, the study analyses executives' messages in CSR reports and later triangulated with interview findings that helped to achieve a rich description of the topic under study.
CSR practice is a recent phenomenon in Malaysia whereby the government has been a major driver in its development. Drawing from history, economic growth is fundamental to ensure a fair distribution of wealth among multi-races in Malaysia that perceived imperative to preserve national unity. In this respect, CSR initiatives have been largely undertaken to achieve the long term survival of businesses that consequently drive the nation's economy. This has been widely accepted among business firms in Malaysia thus become ideological. At the same time, PR role in promoting the practice of CSR was found central. More often than not, such role appears to be working to the advantage of the dominant groups i.e., business and government. Nevertheless, how PR promotes mutual interests of business and society through CSR remain obscure.
Among others, CSR initiative in Malaysia could be seen as a state project that promotes government's aspiration to develop the nation. The finding of this study was a clear example that CSR development is parallel to the history, socio-cultural and values hold by a specific nation thus the practice remains distinctive in its own way.


The research on multi-agent reinforcement learning is to deal with the problem of play skill between agents,just with the concept of stochastic game.All the things of the success of single agent reinforcement learning,the mathematics basis of the game theory,and the potential applications in complex task environment make the multi-agent learning an important topic in the field of machine learning.The formal definition of basic concepts in stochastic game is given first,and then the algorithms of learning in stochastic game and repeated game are introduced.Last,the research on the applications of multi-agent learning is summarized,and the problems remaining unsolved together with the future work are concluded.


ion in weighting tasks may allow for earlier application of the multiplicative rule. Schlottmann and Christoferou (in preparation) tested this possibility by giving fourto tenyear-olds a conjunctive area task and two weighting tasks, an EV task and a novel sourcemessage task. As predicted, the younger children multiplied in both weighting tasks, but added in the area task, supporting the view that cognitive complexity may differ for different kinds of multiplication concepts in formally isomorphic situations. Thus, the multiplicative nature of children's EV judgements appears clearly established. A second point is that children's probability understanding is remarkably abstract. Even the youngest children's judgements co-vary with probability, not the physical quantity used to represent it, in contrast to the magnitude estimation hypothesis (Hoemann and Ross, 1982). Children clearly understand that probability is a relative, not an absolute quantity. They also interpret the physical probability cues selectively, adapting their meaning to the value structure of the situation. In Figure 4, for instance, judgements of the same physical game reverse, depending on which outcome carries the larger prize. Thus, children do not just associate physical targets and responses, but clearly know that the meaning of a physical cue can differ, depending on how desirable and probable the outcome is. Across-outcome EV: Subadditivity caused by a serial strategy? So far we have highlighted children's remarkable intuitive competence. However, while it seems clear that the within-outcome integration is multiplicative, as normatively required, there is doubt about the additivity of the across-outcome integration, even though addition seems mathematically simpler than multiplication. Adults (Shanteau, 1975) and primary-school-aged children as well (Schlottmann, 2001) often show subadditivities in games with two probabilistic outcomes, as in the task of Figure 3, in which both blue and yellow outcomes could carry prizes. Normatively, overall EV is the sum of the component EVs, implying that the effect of one prize is independent of


Let G=GL(N), K=GL(p)xGL(q), where p+q=N, and n be a positive integer. We construct a functor from the category of Harish-Chandra modules for the pair (G,K) to the category of representations of the degenerate affine Hecke algebra of type B_n, and a functor from the category of K-monodromic twisted D-modules on G/K to the category of representations of the degenerate double affine Hecke algebra of type BC_n; the second functor is an extension of the first one. These functors are generalizations of the type A functors from q-alg/9710037 and math/0702670, respectively.


Pan-oral submous fibrosis is a chronic, progressive, scarring, high-risk precancerous condition seen primarily in southern laiwan where betel quid chewing is popular. Accompanying symptom afld sign of trismus with oral submucous fibrosis (OSf) hinders the dental treatment and basic oral hygiene care. We present a case of pan-oral submucous fibrosis with severe trismus, 1 7.5 mm in maximal mouth opening (MMO). Patient went to our hospital with complaints of inability to open the mouth and discomfort with spicy food within recent years. Patient underwent surgical splitting o fibrous bands with diathermy blade. MMO was gained as 41mm during the surgery. Spilt-thickness skin graft harvested tram inner surface of the Rt thigh was to resurface bi\ateral lillded buccal mucosa. Buccal fat pad was for the repair of the right retromolar area. Forceful mouth opening exercise was done everyday following the surgery. 52 mm was the MMO nine months postoperatively. Both surgical scar bands relief and post-op forceful mouth opening exercise with good compliance play the important roles in treatment of the OSF with limited mouth opening.


We study Ising systems with random competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic nearest neighbor interaction on a simple cubic lattice of arbitrary dimension. We use a version of the Peierls–Griffiths argument to prove the existence of a ferromagnetic phase and derive lower bounds for the critical concentration of antiferromagnetic bonds.


The impact of the photovoltaic module temperature and natural dust deposition
 on the module front surface on the photovoltaic system performance was
 investigated. The study was conducted in the city center of Krakow, Poland,
 characterized by high pollution and low wind speed. The objective of this
 study was to evaluate the photovoltaic module power output decrease and
 energy conversion loss as a function of the dust deposition mass and cell
 operating temperature. The results show a significant decrease in
 photovoltaic efficiency when the mass deposition or temperature increases.
 The maximum mass deposition observed for exposure periods of one week on a
 single module exceeds 480.0 mg and results in an efficiency loss equal to
 2.1%. The results that were obtained enable the development of a
 correlation for the efficiency loss caused by dust deposition which is
 desired by the system designers.


The typicality of naturalism not only reflects in the theory of naturalism,but also in the literary work.By analyzing the theory of naturalism and the models of this kind of works,this thesis affirms the typicality of the naturalism.


Life contains all ifs and buts when we look into the complex organisms. But it remains definable as is evident from the simple life-forms. Life is referred to as a property of matter . The property comes to exist by the orderly arrangement of chemicals which makes matter ultimately functional , in the sense, it governs or performs various physico-chemical work during which energy is transmutated into different functions accounting for what we call "living".


Petri net is a mathematical tool for discrete event systems. Workflow analysis is one of successful application of Petri net. DECLARE relation template is one of important properties to check validity of workflows. This paper studies computational complexity to decide whether the DECLARE relation templates between transitions A and B. The problems are shown to verified in determinstic polynomial time for sound acyclic free choice workflow nets. They are shown to be co-NP hard for sound acyclic non-free choice workflow nets.


In Reply.— Dr Fuller misinterprets the basis for our conclusion. Our results with fenfluramine hydrochloride are consistent with findings obtained in other studies of drugs known to influence, by various mechanisms, serotonin-mediated synaptic function. Taken together, these clinical observations suggest that "serotonergic function plays no significant role in the pathogenesis of human parkinsonism." We agree that the central pharmacologic actions of fenfluramine, like most drugs, are complex. The prevailing view, as stated in our article, is that fenfluramine acts primarily to augment serotonin system function by either inhibiting reuptake or stimulating postsynaptic serotonergic receptors. In either case, diminished serotonin synthesis presumably occurs as a secondary, compensatory phenomenon. A similar and much better studied situation occurs in the dopamine system, where dopamine agonists are well known to diminish transmitter synthesis in presynaptic dopaminergic neurons, while drugs that block postsynaptic dopamine receptors exert the opposite effect. Although at relatively high doses fenfluramine may block


This study aimed at analyzing and examining the influences of competence and motivation on the regional finance management performance using regional performance incentive/reward as  moderating variable. The employed analysis mode is PLS (Partial Least Square). The study was carried out at the regional work units in Bulungan. The sampling technique was purposive sampling. The results of this study indicates that competence and motivation variable positively influence the performance of regional financial managers. Performance financial incentive has yet to be proven to strengthen competence effect on the performance of regional financial managers, but it has proven to strengthen the influence of motivation on the performance of the regional financial managers. Thus, it can be concluded that the higher the competence and motivation of regional financial managers, the performance will increase. The employees' motivation are increasing when policymakers reward them the incentive as an appreciation to achieve better performance. Keywords   : competence, motivation, performance, regional performance incentive


The cogeneration plants contribute to the reduction in primary energy consumption. this makes an essential change by not only lowering emissions to the atmosphere but also in reduction of production costs by improving the total efficiency of conversion of fuel to the heat and electricity used by many number of industries. In the recent days, the energy crisis forces industries to look for new innovative ways to meet the need of peak electrical demand. There are numerous ways to save energy, which when planned and integrated in a proper way could bring a lot of benefits to the industries as well as to the society. one among those would be Cogeneration i.e., Combined Heat and Power(CHP) system. This paper will review the basic system of CHP and then discuss the fuel cell-based CHP system along with the power conditioning circuit (ZETA converter: DC-DC converter) used for it.


Small molecule targeted anti-cancer drugs have been a worldwide focus of research and development of innovative drug currently.In recent years,new drug products have got into the market in succession and hundreds of new compound are still in developing phase.Because of different mechanisms of action,the profiles of efficacy and safety of small molecule targeted anti-cancer drugs are different from traditional cytotoxic agents as well as their clinical development modes and trial designs.We reviewed some typical cases of clinical development such as gefitinib,critizonib and icotinib in this paper,and discussed the development strategies for different types of small molecule targeted anti-cancer drugs in order to provide useful reference for related researchers in this area.


We have developed a system which combine the functionality of a battery of tests with the flexibility of a computer analysis environment based on our Dual-Channel Self-Balancing Impedance Reactometer to detect and analysis of nonrepetitive transient events in a variety of autonomic testing and research studies in diabetes. The new computerized system "Simcomed 2001" is conceived for early diagnosis of the autonomic neuropathy.


Present day engineering activities demand precise performance of systems even under random uncertain conditions. Hence the general feeling is that the solutions have to be objective with little scope for subjectivity. However it is interesting to see that even under such situations it is the subjectivity that helps all the way commencing from the formulation of the problem to obtaining the final solutions. Such a necessary and useful subjective feature is elaborated in this paper with particular reference in the application of estimation theory to some aerospace problems. Deterministic approaches of the early period have given way to probabilistic approach that is neither a fashion nor the truth either (!) The probabilistic rules aid in modeling the situation or the scenario and the statistical approach of analyzing the flight test data with all its subjectivity provides acceptable quantitative estimates along with their uncertainties. As examples of subjectivity the various steps in the analysis of a real data with many possible ways of study and another of analyzing the flight test data of a ballistic rocket are provided.


Tourists' expectation and perception of service quality provided by travel agencies is theoretical basis to improve service quality and raise tourists' satisfaction degree. The paper, through interviews with emergency events and questionnaire, makes a study of tourists' expectation and perception. An analysis is discussed by way of IPA method. The conclusion holds that tourists care more about product service quality, business area service quality, service quality of tour guides and marketing service quality. Among them the most important one is product design quality. However, tourists are not so satisfied with overall performance. Twelve elements are yet to be improved. The key factors regarding the improvement of service quality offered by travel agencies at present are: purchasing service led by tour guides, diversity of products, reasonable price and interpretation of tour guides. This conclusion is of immediate significance to the improvement of service quality.


Storm surges are one of the main drivers for extreme flooding at the coastal areas. Such events can be characterized with the maximum level in an extreme storm surge event (surge peak), as well as the duration of the event. Surge projections come from a barotropic model for the 1950–2100 period, under a severe climate change scenario (RCP 8.5) at the northeastern Spanish coast. The relationship of extreme storm surges to three large-scale climate patterns was assessed: North Atlantic Oscillation ( N A O ), East Atlantic Pattern ( E A W R ), and Scandinavian Pattern ( S C ). The statistical model was built using two different strategies. In Strategy #1, the joint probability density was characterized by a moving-average series of stationary Archimedean copula, whereas in Strategy #2, the joint probability density was characterized by a non-stationary probit copula. The parameters of the marginal distribution and the copula were defined with generalized additive models. The analysis showed that the mean values of surge peak and event duration were constant and were independent of the proposed climate patterns. However, the values of N A O and S C influenced the threshold and the storminess of extreme events. According to Strategy #1, the variance of the surge peak and event duration increased with a fast shift of negative S C and a positive N A O , respectively. Alternatively, Strategy #2 showed that the variance of the surge peak increased with a positive E A W R . Both strategies coincided in that the joint dependence of the maximum surge level and the duration of extreme surges ranged from low to medium degree. Its mean value was stationary, and its variability was linked to the geographical location. Finally, Strategy #2 helped determine that this dependence increased with negative N A O .


A combined experimental and theoretical study of the biphenyl (BP) crystal is presented. The X-ray diffraction data collected at 100 K were subject to Hirshfeld atom and multipole refinements of the electron density, ρ(r). A theoretical exploration of the potential energy surface (PES) of the crystal was also carried out. This investigation challenges the common assumption that the planar structure of BP in the phase I crystal is an average from two twisted configurations in a double-well potential. The theoretical computations provide compelling evidence that this structure corresponds to a minimum on the PES hence to a stable molecular arrangement. Consistently, the experiment showed no evidence of positional or dynamic disorder. The intramolecular hydrogen-hydrogen bonds detected are not repulsive. The topological analysis of the experimental and theoretical ρ(r) reveals that both the intra- and intermolecular H•••H and the C-H•••π contacts stabilize the BP crystal.


PEM fuel cells are known as low-temperature fuel cells. In comparison with other types, for a certain weight and volume, pem fuel cells are more efficient and can produce high power energy. In addition, because of low operating temperature the start-up time for these fuel cells are very short. This characteristic is very important, especially for transport applications which provide an appropriate option in substitution the internal combustion engines with fuel cells. The effect of operating factors and as a result their optimum values are essential in the performance of PEM fuel cells. In this study, data are reported for a 1cm laboratory-scale PEM fuel cell. The membrane electrode assembly, (MEA) exposed to relatively low concentrations hydrogen at 5, 15, and 25 psi and at 60, 70 and 80°C. The steady-state and transient measurements obtained in this study at low reactant stoichiometry for atmospheric conditions to show the effect of pressure and temperature. The results show that for a 300cc/min of Hydrogen flow the performance at 15 psi and and 1V provides a steady-state current density of 870 A/cm at 80 °C but only 600 A/cm2 at 60 °C.


Introduction: Refractive errors are apparently more prevalent among the high educational group and have become a huge economic and social burden.1
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted at Era's Lucknow Medical College and Hospital and included 420 medical students of consecutive 4ys (2013-2016). Refractive error was assessed under cycloplegia using Snellen's visual acquity drum and streak retinoscope. The students were categorized according to their refractive error and the prevalence was calculated.
Results: Of 420 students 54% had refractive error. Of these 77.7% had myopia, 8.4% had hypermetropia and 1.7% had astigmatism. Myopes were further divided into mild moderate & severe. It was found that 62.8% had mild, 35.4% had moderate and 13.7% had severe myopia.
Conclusion: The commonest refractive error among medical students is myopia of varying grades.

Keywords: Medical students, Myopia, Refractive error.


ii Preface Post processing of magnetic resonance (MR) images generally make use of cubic interpolation to estimate values off of the Cartesian grid, as it does not suffer from the artifacts caused by linear and nearest neighbor interpolation yet is not as computationally expensive as sinc interpolation. In this thesis, we look to investigate whether recent advances in generalized interpolation techniques can be extended to improve MR image quality, while keeping in mind the relative computation cost of competing techniques. We start with head to head comparisons of interpolation techniques on compounded rotations of controlled, simulated data. Next, the impact on phantom and in-vivo data sets when this higher order interpolant is used along with complex data in image magnification is demonstrated. Finally, the non-rigid transformation mapping of MR gradient distortion correction is considered and how this separable one-dimensional technique from the prior chapters and references behaves when extended to a non-separable application. iii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the guidance and support from my committee throughout the course of this thesis, Dr. Polzin, Dr. Johnson and Dr. Richie. The encouragement from family and friends has been very important to me, especially from my wife, Brooke, and parents, Bill and Sue. Thank you. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners started to become part of clinical radiology practice in the early 1980s. As an imaging modality, MRI is comparable to X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) in its ability to measure cross-sections of anatomy. They differ in what is being imaged however. While x-rays are sensitive only to changes in electron density, MR is mostly used to measure hydrogen, as humans are made up mostly of water and fat, each molecule consisting of hydrogen. The MR scanner is capable of manipulating tissue contrast by weighting images to be representative of proton density, transverse and longitudinal relaxation rates. Beyond measuring the amount of signal in tissue, the complex acquired data can be used for phase sensitive applications, such as flow and fat-water imaging. was issued for the image processing technique to correct for nonuniformity in the MRI gradient subsystem needed for spatial localization. Described is the use of a separable low order polynomial interpolation scheme as it performs a better approximation than nearest neighbor and linear and does not have the high compute time of sinc, the optimal solution. Also described are hardware alternatives for which implementation is undesirably complicated and expensive. These limitations …


The author describes the word formative features of cardinal numerals in the Nganasan language, ascertains that word formation is the most important means of language vocabulary replenishment, and tells that cardinal numerals behave quite actively forming both nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and other categories of numerals on the word formative level in the Nganasan language.


This paper explores the methodological problems inherent in the design of first version of the PortalTecnoCiencia as an example of system of scientific information. The used documental treatment model in the classification and in the analysis of existing web pages in its directory of information resources are presented. The incorporated value-added information services are described too. Also are presented the solutions adopted for the management of the computer system. Originally this first version of PortalTecnoCiencia was an initiative of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), conducted by a group of computer scientists and information specialists belonging to the Centro Tecnico de Informatica (CTI) and the CINDOC.


The solubility of nitrogen in ferritic iron-chromium alloys with mass contents of between 6.08 to 23.94 % chromium was measured in the temperature range 1523 to 1773 K. Combining the results with published data for the nitrogen solubility in iron-chromium, improved parameters describing the chromium-nitrogen interaction were derived. The Gibbs free excess energy can be described by G N E (Cr) = (-773000+91.0211.T).y Cr +(983800-208.705.T). y Cr 2 - 220200. y Cr 3 . Calculations of the nitrogen solubility using this equation and calculations using parameters published by the Swedish Institute of Metals Research differ the more the higher the temperature. A repeated analysis of measurements of the nitrogen solubility in ferritic Fe-Cr-Mn alloys using the Gibbs free excess energy derived in this investigation for the chromium-nitrogen interaction leads to the manganese-nitrogen interaction energy G N E (Mn)+G N E (Cr,Mn) = (-668200+262.801.T).y Mn - 596500. y MN 2 + 617900.(y Mn 3 + 3/2 y Mn 2 y Cr + 1/2 y Mn y Cr 2 ) - 326100. y Cr y Mn .


The maximum agriculture benefits are obtained through rational allocation of water resources of six main canals in the Dujiangyan Irrigation District with the background of water resources scarcity.The model of optimal water distribution for the irrigation district is established,and the particle swarm optimization algorithm(PSO) and modified particle swarm optimization algorithm(MPSO) are applied in this model.Compared the simulation results of these algorithms with those of Genetic Algorithm(GA),it is indicated that PSO and MPSO can gain better effect of agricultural benefit through optimization,and the efficiencies of water resources utilization are improved.


. Tremendous progress has been made recently in modelling the morphology and kinematics of centers of galaxies. Increasingly realistic models are built for central bar, bulge, nucleus and black hole of galaxies, including our own. The newly revived Schwarzschild method has played a central role in these theoretical modellings. Here I will highlight some recent work at Leiden on extending the Schwarzschild method in a few directions. After a brief discussion of (i) an analytical approach to include stochastic orbits (Zhao 1996), and (ii) the "pendulum effect" of loop and boxlet orbits (Zhao, Carollo, de Zeeuw 1999), I will concentrate on the very promising (iii) spectral dynamics method, with which not only can one obtain semi-analytically the actions of individual orbits as previously known, but also many other physical quantities, such as the density in configuration space and the line-of-sight velocity distribution of a superposition of orbits (Copin, Zhao & de Zeeuw 1999). The latter method also represents a drastic reduction of storage space for the orbit library and an increase in accuracy over the grid-based Schwarzschild method.


Two kinds of amino-functionized, triphenylamine and fluorene based copolymers, PFT-N and PTFF-N, were synthesized by palladium-catalyzed Suzuki coupling reaction. The corresponding quaternized polyelectrolytes PFT-NBr and PTFF-NBr were obtained through post-polymerization. The quenching behaviors of PFT-NBr and PTFF-NBr in methanol were investigated by the titration of Fe(CN) 4- 6 . All of these polymers were investigated as emitting layer in multilayer PLEDs. Devices' performance together with electrochemical properties of these polymers indicate that both of the hole and the electron injection capabilities of them were improved due to the simultaneous introduction of the triphenylamine segment and the aminoalkyl (ammonium) group.


Probabilistic multi-hypothesis tracking is an approach to simultaneously associate measurements to their unknown origins and estimate the states of the originating objects. This paper discusses some aspects of using PMHT within an automatic system for detection and tracking of maneuvering targets. With focus on closely spaced targets, some related previously published proposals are discussed and refined. Results obtained by an automatic tracking system using PMHT are presented.


Objective Arrhythmias are one of the main causes of postoperative morbidity after thoracic surgery.The aim of this study was to evaluate whether video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery decreases the risk of postoperative arrhythmias compared with traditional open lung lobectomy.Methods 138 consecutive patients were enrolled from January 2011 to February 2012,after five age and risk factors matched,68 patients undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery and 70 patients undergoing traditional open lung lobectomy were eligible for analysis.The rhythm was documented preoperatively and postoperatively with standard electrocardiogram (ECG) recording and ECG monitoring.All patients followed 3 months after hospital admission.Results There was a 17.6% incidence (12/68) of postoperative new-onset arrhythmias undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery and 18.6% of patients (13/70) undergoing thoracotomy,but the difference was not statistically significant.In both groups,atrial fibrillation was the most common arrhythmia (60%).There was no significant difference in the other morbidity (P >0.05) and mortality rate(P =0.57,1.5% vs 2.9%) between the two groups.Conclusion New-onset arrhythmias,most frequently atrial fibrillation,are common after lung lobectomy.Regardless of surgical approach,postoperative arrhythmias after lobectomy occurred with equal frequency.New insights in the pathophysiology of postoperative thoracic arrhythmias and advances in prevention and therapy are need future study.

Key words:
Carcinoma, non-small-cell lung ;  Arrhythmia;  Thoracoscopy ;  Thoracic surgical procedures


Rules provide the functionality for constraint enforcement and view maintenance. A provably correct mplementation of both issues based on rules, requires onfluent and terminating behaviour of the rule set. Iowever, little work has been done so far on the static letection of these properties. In this paper, a design heory for rule sets in an 00DBMS is developed. This paper introduces two predicates, viz., Terninat e(n) and Independent, which imply respectively ermination and confluence. Both predicates are char~cterised under two kinds of rule execution seman,ics: set and instance based. The decidability of he predicates is proven and it is shown that set and nstance based semantics coincide whenever the rule let is independent and terminates. Moreover, sufficient conditions of low algorithmic complexity for both 17erminate(n) and Independent under both kinds of senantics are given.


We solve Schwinger-Dyson (SD) equation for the color superconducting (CS) gap in nonlocal gauge which justifies the ladder approximation in subleading order calculation. The gap prefactor increases about 1.6 times to the leading order gap determined in Landau gauge.


HIV-AIDS is the most dreaded challenge that the today's medical world is facing! An estimation reveals approximately 15 million children have been orphaned worldwide by HIVAIDS. Shockingly, around 1800 children under-15 age-group are added to the newly infected figure, mainly by mother to child transmission. HIV is akin to the description of Rajayakshma characterized by involvement of multiple Srotas and presenting with diarrhea, cough, and fever and similar other symptoms. Needless to say this points towards plethora of clinical infections of Aids. Also the literature elaborates many of the radical cures for this serious sickness which include oral medication and are claimed to be very effective. At this juncture exploring effective treatment for this dreadful disease is the need of the day. The specific observation confirms the shivagutika as enhancing the vyadhikshamtva more to add this best response to shivagutika in comparison to ART is found to be superior. Further the reduction in Hb%, the complication of hepatitis; gastritis developed in treated with ART proves the supremacy of shivagutika is the treatment. More than anything the definite significant increase in cd4 count confirms the efficacy of shivagutika in Rajayakshma/ HIV infection. From this observation it can be definitely said that shivagutika can be prescribed as an effective treatment in Rajayakshma / HIV infection.


Adapting to the impacts of climate change requires a mix of strategies ranging from the technological, to the social and behavioural, to the managerial. Aspects of the adaptation agenda will require a legal foundation in order to give them legitimacy and enforceability. It is important not to overstate the potential role of law vis-a-vis other interventions, while also recognising that legal instruments can contribute to societal adaptation in significant ways. This chapter examines the need for, constraints on, and characteristics of legal and, specifically, legislative frameworks for adaptation. The following section identifies the circumstances in which adaptation is enhanced or facilitated by a legislative foundation. Section 12.3 outlines some of the challenges to adaptation law-making, while section 12.4 distils from the Australian experience of coastal adaptation planning some common elements and characteristics of effective legislative frameworks.


Turkey's relations with its Black Sea neighbors are a product of both historical antecedents and future perspectives, of state-to-state ties and of Turkey's perception of itself as an "energy hub." While domestic factors drive important parts of Turkey's policy toward this region, powerful external actors, including the United States, the EU and especially Russia are key factors in understanding the dynamics of Turkey's relations with this part of its neighborhood.


This paper mainly presented the conception of elevator's quality which should include the quality of products, engineering and services. The elevator should be evaluated by the safety, reliability, precision, stability, beauty, quality of service, green to protect environment. To achieve these objects, we should select the elevator exactly.


ABSTRACT The Singaporean government has employed immigration primarily from China and India to boost the country's working age population and contribute to its economic growth. In this paper I examine the integration of high-skilled migrants from India at the national level and in local urban spaces. I study the role of the state, natives and the immigrants in the integration process, as well as the effectiveness of Singapore's integration policies. Challenges to immigrant integration include hostile reactions from natives, differences in cultural mores between immigrants and natives, and a lack of transparency on the effects of government policies on local populations.


Queensland Rail is investing $324 million in a new 4.1 km Robina to Varsity Lakes passenger rail line on the Gold Coast which will help meet one of Queensland's fastest growing regions transport needs. It is the first step in the progressive extension of the line to Coolangatta and the Gold Coast Airport. Project construction started in July 2007 for completion in 2010 and involves unique challenges and opportunities. Challenges include the remediation of a landfill to build a sustainable, state of the art eco-station at Varsity Lakes to form part of a transit-oriented development, a cut and cover tunnel which requires blasting adjacent to an frail aged care facility and up-market residential development, and the provision of additional stabling facilities to service the new Gold Coast Skilled Park Stadium. This relatively short distance also includes 3 road bridges, cutting through a man made lake and tying in with the existing Gold Coast duplication project which is also underway. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E218118.


We describe the eastern and western Himal- ayan syntaxes, which are large-scale antiforms situated at geodynamically similar locations and the meta- morphic evolution of which is coeval in the India-Asia collisional history. To understand the mechanical plau- sibility of the structural interpretation, we present two- dimensional finite-element modelling of lithospheric folding. The models reveal the coeval development of adjacent synformal basins, analogous to the Peshawar and Kashmir basins on both sides of the western syntaxis. Similarities between geological data and calculated models indicate that lithospheric buckling is a basic response to large-scale continental shortening and an efficient mountain building process.


Abstract The article critically discusses the effects of current reform trends within the church and in university policy. «Bildung» for the pastorate includes considerably more than mere acquirement of competences.


Web Pages contains enormous amount of data that is visible to all types of internet users. Web Pages is built using HTML and it is possible to capture the layout of a web page by converting to a canvas. You only look once algorithm is the best algorithm for object detection. In this study, a YOLOV3 model was created to detect pornographic content, educational content, and gaming content using the Canvas of the web pages saved into JPEG format. The images were annotated using Microsoft Vott. The YOLOV3 model was trained using the pre-trained weights of ImageNet. The accuracy of the YOLOV3 for detecting adult content in pornographic web page canvas has an accuracy of 84% while the educational and gaming web page canvas has an accuracy of 53%. For the safety of readers, the images presented in this paper were blurred or we covered portions of the canvas that showed sexual nudity.


Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that puts patients into extreme states of mind known as mania and depression. These mental states are very harmful to the lives of the patients as their day to day actions are disrupted. This project aims at identifying the symptoms of the patients who have extreme moods to determine if they are bipolar using sensors and smart phones. Patients with mental illness tend to exhibit symptoms like reduced physical activity, changes in mood, drastic changes in sleep pattern, inability to cope with stress and withdrawn from socializing. These changes can be monitored using sensors and the data collected is compared with the data collected from healthy individuals. A classification algorithm is applied to the data collected to classify the symptoms and detect if the person has bipolar disorder or is just showing subtle signs of mood swings.


1) Mannucci PM. Abnormal hemostasis tests and bleeding in chronic liver disease: are they related? No. J Thromb Haemost 2006;4:721-723. 2) Patel IJ, Davidson JC, Nikolic B, Salazar GM, Schwartzberg MS, Walker TG, et al. Consensus guidelines for periprocedural management of coagulation status and hemostasis risk in percutaneous image-guided interventions. J Vasc Interv Radiol 2012;23:727-736. 3) Spector I, Corn M, Ticktin HE. Effect of plasma transfusions on the prothrombin time and clotting factors in liver disease. N Engl J Med 1966;275:1032-1037. 4) De Pietri L, Bianchini M, Montalti R, De Maria N, Di Maira T, Begliomini B, et al. Thrombelastography-guided blood product use before invasive procedures in cirrhosis with severe coagulopathy. A randomized controlled trial. HEPATOLOGY 2016;63: 566-573.


This paper represents the status quo of the experimental teaching for high frequency electronic circuit, and points out the drawbacks of traditional experimental teaching. On this basis, propose hierarchical teaching contents and their corresponding experimental capacity-building programs, so that teachers can take different teaching methods and teaching evaluation systems in accordance with different levels of experimental teaching contents to cultivate students' experimental attitudes in practice. Consequently, not only the experimental teaching would achieve a favorable result, but students' experimental practical skills also are trained and upgraded during the reforms and experiments.


Zircon U‐Pb SHRIMP ages and crustal Sm‐Nd signatures are reported for metasediments, meta‐volcanics, and a variety of pre‐ and post‐tectonic granitoid intrusives in the Eastern Fold Belt of the Mt Isa Inlier. These enable tracing of the broad crustal evolution of the rocks, erection of a chrono‐stratigraphic framework in the Eastern Fold Belt, and correlation of these rocks with those in other parts of the Mt Isa Inlier and in other Proterozoic inliers of northern Australia. The SHRIMP results and Sm‐Nd model ages provide quantitative information related to the provenance history of the metasediments and the sources and crustal interactions of magmatic rocks. Most of the latter have Nd Tdm of 2270–2200 Ma, suggesting similar source(s) to the metasediments and gneisses (2360–2140 Ma). The Nd TDM model ages are younger than those found in the Kalkadoon‐Leichhardt Belt, suggesting that the Eastern Fold Belt crust received less Archaean source input. Rocks of Barramundi age (1870–1840 Ma) are not found in the...


The crystal structure of the synthetic DNA do- decamer d(CpGpCpGpApApTpTpCpGpCpG) has been refined to a residual error ofR = 17.8% at 1.9-A resolution (two-o'data). The molecule forms slightly more than one complete turn of right- handed double-stranded B helix. The two ends of the helix overlap and interlock minor grooves with neighboring molecules up and down a 21 screw axis, producing a 190 bend in helix axis over the 11-base-pair steps ofthe dodecamer. In the center ofthe molecule, where perturbation is least, the helix has a mean rotation of 36.9° per step, or 9.8 base pairs per turn. The mean propeller twist (total dihedral angle between base planes) between APT base pairs in the center of the molecule is 17.30, and that between COG pairs on the two ends averages 11.50. Individual deoxyribose ring conforma-


Following revisions to the Tri-Patty Agreement for W o r d Site cleanup, which specified vitrification for immobilization of the low-level waste (LLW) stream to be derived from retriWal and pretreatment of the radioactive defense wastes stored in 177 undergrod tanks, commercially available melter technologies were tested during 1994 to 1995 as part of a multiphase program to select reference technologies for the new LLW vitrificationmission. Seven vendors were selected for Phase, 1 testing to demonstrate vitrificationof ahigh-sodium content liquid LLW simnlant. The tested melter technologies included four Joule-heated melters, a carbon electrode melter, a combustion melter, and a plasna melter. Various rlry and slurry melter feed preparation processes were also tested. The technologies and Phase 1 testing results were evaluated and a prelimim y technology down-selection and recommendations for Phase2 testing completed. This paper describes the Phase 1 LLW melter vendor testing program and the tested technologies, and summarizes the testing results and the preliminary technology recommendations.


There has recently been developed a method of formalising any fragment of the propositional calculus, subject only to the condition that material implication is a primitive function of the fragmentary system considered. Tarski has stated, without proof, that when implication is the only primitive function a formulation which is weakly complete (i.e., has as theorems all expressible tautologies) is also strongly complete (i.e., provides for the deduction of any expressible formula from any which is not a tautology). The methods used by Henkin suggest the following proof of the Theorem. If in a fragment of the propositional calculus material implication can be defined in terms of the primitive functions, then any weakly complete formalisation of the fragmentary system which has for rules of procedure the substitution rule and modus ponens is also strongly complete.