Results of the non-destructive X-ray fluorescence analysis of bronzed under the excitation condition of X-ray tube secondery target is reported.The result are compared with the results under the condition of isotope source excitation.The final result shoes the analysis sensitivity is effectively improved using the secondary target excitation.


In cultural terms, representations of the foundering of the 'Titanic' have, in over a century since the event, assumed the proportions of a socio-economic myth. Within academic circles the disaster has widely been seen as paving the way for the onset of literary modernism, shattering the myth of Victorian/Edwardian technological progress and challenging the hierarchical grand narratives of a golden age of mechanical achievement. As Tim Bergfelder and Sarah Street observe


My partner was seduced by a robot! An excellent physician, great laparoscopic surgeon and blossoming academic urologist was lured from a "people-orientated" academic practice group by an impersonal machine of cold steel, gears and circuits. I realize that my younger colleagues embrace Facebook and Twitter as a means of social intercourse, but how does a technological automaton in another province affect my practice and my profession?

Are these dehumanizing techno-idols the future of our profession? In a recent article in JAMA, Leff and Finucane explored the "gizmo idolatry" that has swept not only urology, but the entire medical profession.1 They argue against the general implicit conviction that a more technological approach is intrinsically better than one that is less technological; there actually is strong evidence to the contrary. What are the factors promoting this techno-envy that has gripped my colleagues, making them do almost anything to belong to this new "robot club"? I am absolutely sure that it cannot be only the "bells and whistles" associated with robotic surgery; it's certainly not overall better outcomes, quicker surgery or even reduced costs. I think it is the nebulous allure of new technology that drives us from our usual rational assessment of cost and benefits. They believe it confers on them a sense that they are truly on the "cutting edge" of our profession.

The robot is certainly not about patient care, unless giving the patient what he thinks he wants based on advertisements and promotion is a part of our patient care mandate. It's certainly not about costs, since no one in Canada (or the U.S. for that matter) has ever been able to make a business plan that has the robot saving the health-care system money. And perhaps there is even harm, in terms of our duty to the public trust, in our fanatical rush to get in line for a new robot. In a potent analogy of the Titanic and the iceberg, Anthony Zietman recently pointed out that when the unpredictable yet completely avoidable collision came, it was the hubris of technology that fared worse.2 I believe we are about to witness a collision between the robotic haves and the robotic have-nots. The robotic advocates will be driven by powerful market forces, high-stakes investment and advertising, while those who will never own a robot will only have the hard, cold and unyielding laws of nature and economics to support them. Can or even should we do something to change our destiny?

We do have to acknowledge that the robot is not an experimental therapy but a legitimate form of treatment for localized prostate cancer that has some theoretical advantages over non-robotic surgery. But before we become enraptured with this approach, we must examine the benefits and the costs. No one has been able to convince me that patients operated on with a robot end up with a significantly better long-term outcome in terms of eventual cure and/or morbidity compared to standard open and/or laparoscopic procedures. The only surgically related argument my colleagues who have embraced the robot have told me is that it is sexier, more fun and easier. Seduction may be easy, fun and gratifying, but succumbing has a price—particularly if the seductress' virtues are questionable. If however, the benefits are shown to be so obvious that all patients requiring prostate surgery must ethically have it done with a robot, we must then pay for it out of available resources, perhaps regionalizing robots in geographical centres of robotic excellence. If however, the costs are too high for the perceived benefits, then we must decide not to be lured on to this bandwagon. Our idolatry of robotic technology could lead to a significant distortion of health care, a draining of scarce financial and urological resources, a redirection of hospital priorities and budgets, possible over-treatment of patients and perhaps, eventually, problems in training urological surgeons for a non-robotic environment.

I do not believe that only urologists with a robot can claim expertise, competence and pre-eminence in our profession. A combination of avarice, heroism, credulity and idolatry has imparted considerable momentum to the early adoption of this exciting technology in Canada. The robot has really seduced us. Like many affairs, we may wake up some morning and realize that the cost of our infatuation may not have been ultimately worth it. Although I now understand our fascination and idolatry with the machine and fully realize the dangers to myself and my profession, I, too, am enamoured of and even bewitched by the robot. If the mechanical lady comes calling, I fear I could be seduced as well.


Freeze‐etching observations of Candida albicans were performed. The surface structure of the cell wall was smooth. The cytoplasmic membrane and mitochondria were clearly observed. This technique provides new information.


2009 News Literacyeracy Conference Photos, set 12 (Thurs index Profile Shots) 4272 x 28481/40 sec / 5.618 mm ISO 1250 Canon EOS REBEL T3


Foam can efficiently divert acid into low-permeable and population formation to optimize acid placement. Foam diversion acidizing model has been developed form foam displacement simulation. The model currently includes critical capillary pressure model based on fractional-flow theory, bubble population correlation and Robert-Mack model. Present foam diversion model in matrix acidizing are presented in this paper and further work and improvement in this field are discussed and put forward.


The reaction of hexamethylphosphotriamide or methylphosphonic bis(dimethylamide) compounds with amidines derived from N-Benzimidazoyl imidates 1 leads to (1,2a)benzimidazolo-1,3,5,2-tiazaphosphorine-2-oxides 4 in good yields. If the condensation is realized at room temperature, N-phosphonic amidines 3 can be isolated as intermediates. The isolated compounds 2 , 3 , and 4 are identified by spectroscopic methods: IR, 1 H, 13 C, 31 P, NMR, and M.S.


A well treatment fluid containing borated galactomannan may be used to isolate a productive zone in a well having multiple productive zones. The fluid is particularly useful in treatment of wells containing a mechanical zonal isolation system in the productive zone of interest. The fluid is pumped into the well in a substantially non-hydrated form. The well treatment fluid is therefore highly effective in preferentially sealing or blocking productive zones in the formation since delayed hydration of the fluid may be controlled for up to several hours. The seal may be degraded and a productive zone subjected to re-fracturing by introducing a viscosity reducing agent into the well.


The main objective in this project is to study the seed dispersal and seed predation for the tree Pycnanthus angolensis in the Nigerian rainforest, and to evaluate the impacts of bushmeat hunting. One of the problems with bushmeat hunting is that it can disrupt the dispersal dynamics of forest trees. Bushmeat hunting is a widespread problem in the whole of Africa. The meat of wild forest animals are an important food supply and have greatly increased along with the rapid population growth the last decades. Many mammal species are severely reduced in numbers and threatened by extinction due to the bushmeat hunting, but also deforestation and habitat loss. Some of those species are frugivores and large mammals, for example primates. Since primates are important seed dispersers in the forests, they are important in the recruitment of many tree species. The loss of dispersers could ultimately lead to long-term effects of the forest structure, dynamics and plant community composition. As a result of the absence of larger frugivores, it is expected to see an increase of seed predators and smaller frugivores. Due to attracted host-specific pathogens and the high densities of fruits and seeds close to the adult tree, it is important for the seeds and seedlings to disperse some distance away, to increase the chances of maturing. The Janzen-Connell hypothesis predicts seeds dispersal of trees in lowland tropical forests. The hypothesis predicts that if the dispersal is efficient, the seed dispersal is the most efficient some distance away from the mother tree and other adult trees from the same species. According to the results there are more seeds in relationship to the seed coats in the hunted area, which indicates that less of the seeds are dispersed outside of the crown. The results of less seed-ratio in the non-hunted area could also indicate in a higher seed predation. The results also showed that there were seed predators, rodents, eating on the seeds we put out in piles, particularly mice and squirrels. These impacts will alter the composition of the species and the future forests might look different than today. This will lead to a decline of the disfavoured species, i.e. the primate dispersed species, and an increase of the favoured species. Therefore it is important to inform the local people about the future changes in their environment, due to the bushmeat hunting.


From secret police reports to captured Chinese documents, the archives in France hold many useful materials both in Paris and the provinces. One does not have to have a high level of French linguistic ability to conduct research in the French archives, but one does have to have a willingness to pursue the sources in several locations, and reach into unsuspecting dossiers. This research note will briefly discuss a few of the French archives, their range of sources and give some examples of the materials to be found in these archives. There are several reasons to explore French archives, and not only because of the celebrity of many Chinese who went to Europe such as Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi, Deng Xiaoping, Zhu De, Li Lisan, LiFuchun, Li Weihan, Xiao San, Xiang Jingyu, Cai Hesen, Nie Rongzhen, Liu Bojian,Zeng Qi, Li Huang, Chen Qitian, WangSonglu, Zheng Yanfen, Rua Lin and many others. In addition to the European Branches of the Chinese Communist Party (ECCO), there were also four other Chinese political parties· on European soil founded in the early 1920's: the European Branch of the Guomindang (EGMD); the Chinese Youth Party (Qingniandang, or QND), the Anarchist Party (Gongyushe or GYS), and the Chinese Social Democratic Party (SDP). There were also other movements and organizations on the radical right and left which are worth' exploring, such as the Young Catholic groups and the Chinese Labor Battalions. The students at the Sino-French Institute in Lyons have left almost 500 dossiers and some very rare collections of publications from the 1920s and 1930s. One could conduct a very intensive survey of the intellectual, social and political impact of the West on China from these several vantage points. 1 In this article I will discuss the Archives Nationales (Paris) ·and the colonial section (Archives Nationales-Section d'Outre-mer, Aix-en-Provence) as examples of the richn-ess of this source. As a part of the work for a book in progress, The Chinese Guomindang in Europe: A Sourcebook of Translations,-in collaboration with Chen San-ching (Academia Sinica), several archives in Asia and Europe were used.2 Introduction to the Archives Nationales(AN, Paris) The Archives Nationales are located on 11 rue des Quatres Fils-75003 Paris [Tel: 40-27-6519 or 40-27-65-20]; These archives are administered by the Centre D'accueil et


Introduction: Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is the most common congenital problems. CHD is about 25% of all congenital malformations and is the most common type of heart disease among children. It may present in different ages from birth to adolescence. Worldwide, CHD is relatively common with a prevalence ranging from 1.0-6.6 per 1000 live births. Aim of the Study: The aim of this study was to find out the pattern of congenital heart diseases among less than 5 years old Children of a pediatric cardiac center. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study and conducted in the Department of pediatric cardiology of Combined Military Hospital Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from July, 2018 to July, 2020. A total of 1000 patients from outdoor and indoor patient registry who were diagnosed and treated as a case of congenital heart disease within the mentioned period were included in the study. Result: Majority of our patients was male (58%) compared to female (42%). Among all patients, 29.80% had VSD, followed by 20.4% & 14.9% had ASD & TOF respectively and 72% & 28% of our patients had Acyanotic & cyanotic CHD respectively.VSD & TOF was the most common in patients with acyanotic & cyanotic CHD respectively. Recurrent RTI, pneumonia, heart failure, infective endocarditis, and Cyanotic spell are common complications of congenital heart disease. Down syndrome and congenital rubella syndrome are the main syndromic association in congenital heart diseases. The majority (97%) of our patients improved, and 3% died. Conclusion: Our study focuses on the congenital heart diseases of children of Bangladesh. Among the acyanotic congenital heart disease, VSD is the maximum & among the cyanotic congenital heart disease TOF is the highest in number. With early diagnosis, treatment and regular follow up, mortality rate is very low and the prognosis is excellent.


Shallow land burial of ion-level radioactive wastes at ORNL has resulted in the release of contaminants into surrounding soil, groundwater, and surface water. Multiple contaminated areas occurring in close proximity make it difficult to relate contaminant releases to a specific site. To address this issue, similar and contiguous contaminated sites within the same drainage area have been combined into Waste Area Groupings. These Waste Area Groupings were prioritized and became the focus of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act remediation process. Since the majority of the groupings are in the White Oak Creek drainage basin, the remediation strategy is to control contaminant releases from these source areas first, followed by remediation of White Oak Creek. In planning the remediation program, it became clear that until the issues of ultimate land use and institutional control, waste treatment technologies, and waste disposal facilities are resolved, final remediation objectives cannot be defined and remedial alternatives cannot be evaluated. Consequently, instead of postponing remedial actions until these issues are resolved, a strategy to control the sources of contaminant release with a serie s of interim actions was developed. In the near term, this strategy reduces off-site risk by eliminating contaminant releases andmore » controls on-site risk through institutional control. Source control will allow time to achieve consensus on long-term institutional control and land use issues to develop appropriate treatment technologies, and to construct the necessary disposal facilities without further environmental degradation.« less


The most recent checklist of Iranian mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) includes 64 species representing seven genera (Azari-Hamidian, 2007; Azari-Hamidian & Harbach, 2009). Subsequently, Oshaghi et al. (2008) found that Anopheles superpictus Grassi is two species in Iran based on the Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) sequences of rDNA, which were later listed as species A and B by Harbach (2013), and Djadid et al. (2009) recognized a new species of the Anopheles hyrcanus group ( An. hyrcanus sp IR ) from southwestern Iran, also based on ITS2 sequence data. More recently, Doosti et al. (2016) reported the occurrence of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) in southeastern Iran.


The preparation of a series of 3‐hydrazinocycloalkyl[1,2‐c]‐pyridazines 7 and some derivatives as hydrazones 8, 9, triazoles 10 and pyrroles 11 are described together with their hypotensive activity in normotensive rats.


This paper analyzes the thermal effects derived from the use of different screen shapes when shielding the magnetic field generated by underground power cables. A parametric analysis is developed to show the influence of the geometrical and the electrical parameters of the shield on the maximum temperature achieved by the power cables in order to analyze the impact of this technique on the ampacity of the line. A 2-D finite element approach is employed in this study to verify the performance of different types of screens (horizontal plate, reverse-U, and H-layout) in terms of shielding efficiency, overheating of the power cables, and operational costs.


Quantum chemical model studies have been performed for the transition metal activation of C-C bonds in ethane, cyclopropane, and cyclobutane. Both the ethane and cyclobutane reactions have been studied for the entire second row of transition metal atoms, for both equilibrium states and transition states. For cyclobutane the first transition metal series has also been studied. The cyclopropane reaction has only been fully studied for rhodium and palladium. The quantum chemical calculations include a size-consistent treatment of electron correlation of all the valence electrons with fairly large basis sets including f functions on the metal. The geometries have been fully optimized. Palladium is found to have the smallest barriers for the C-C bond breaking reaction, and the C-C bond in cyclopropane is easiest to break, in line with general experimental experience for transition metal complexes. 38 refs., 6 figs., 11 tabs.


The conference will focus on the links between Environmental Management and Innovation in the face of sustainable development. Lectures and sessions will draw a bow from visions and strategies for sustainable economies to implementation-oriented best practice solutions, presented by industries and their scientific partners. Keynotes will be provided by the wellknown international futurist Hazel Henderson, USA, as well as by Reto Ringger, founder of the Sustainable Asset Management Group (SAM), Switzerland. Beside parallel sessions in typical technical conference style, the conference will offer interactive working sessions, using new forms of communication for large groups in "World Cafe Style". Poster sessions and Multi-Media exhibitions of the Austrian "Factory of Tomorrow" program will assure an interesting and diversified program for all participants.


Environmental noise pollution, a form of air pollution, is a threat to health and well-being. The primary aim of this study was to determine noise pollution in the urban part of the city of Banja Luka in Jovana Dučića Street (Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)) by evaluating noise levels in the street. The aim of this research is also to compare the measured noise levels in the street with legislation. The measured values exceeded the level of noise allowed. Results indicated that noise level values in this area near health institution are alarming.


Final-year project as an important component of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree course at the University of Greenwich This paper describes the aims, structure, organisation and assessment of the projects offered to our final year student doing the B. Eng. degree course in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. The criteria for project progression and some recent projects are also described.


Provided is a high-accuracy behavior type eduction system wherein it is possible to educe a user's behavior type. The behavior type eduction system is provided with: a positional information acquiring unit for calculating a positional point indicating a user's position; a remaining point educing unit for setting the remaining point which indicates the position in which a user remained temporarily, and a remaining record indicating the error range of the position of the remaining point on the basis of the range in which the positional points calculated during a first period are concentrated; a typical remaining point educing unit for setting a typical remaining point which indicates the position which a user repeatedly visits, and a typical remaining record which indicates the error range of the position of the typical remaining point on the basis of the range in which the remaining points set during a second period which is longer than the first period are concentrated; and a behavior type recording unit for recording the typical remaining point and the typical remaining record as a user's behavior type data to a recording area.


Discusses the attempted and actual suicide behavior of elementary school children. Notes the incidence of childhood suicide, discusses causes, and considers implications for counselors. Suggests that counseling can help children and their families learn better coping, communication, and problem-solving skills. (ERIC-JAC)


conditions-manic depressive psychosis, schizophrenia, senile psychosis, myasthenia gravis, duodenal ulcer, ulcerative colitis, diabetes mellitus, fractures of the proximal end of the femur, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lupus erythematosus, carpal tunnel syndrome, Dupuytren's contracture, Perthes' disease, greying of the hair, arcus senilis, and baldness. In his next two papers Burch proposed an autoaggressive mechanism for dizygotic twinning and explored the implication of various autoaggressive processes for the proper interpretation of twins data. Although this all-embracing concept raised numerous eyebrows, his really controversial contribution, summarised in the last five papers, challenged the Royal College of Physicians and the Surgeon General of the United States on the supposed lethality of smoking. Burch did not believe it was possible to reach any definite conclusion about the relation between smoking and lung cancer, except the rejection of the 'pure' causal theory. Likewise he rejected the hypothesis that smoking, and indeed many other well known risk factors, caused coronary heart disease. This is summarised in a paper read to the Royal Statistical Society on 'Smoking and lung cancer: the probable inferring cause'. The beauty of this paper, reflecting admirably on the society, is that the ensuing discussion is extensively reported in 20 pages (as long as the main paper). One problem of Burch's work is the difficulty, even for those with a good mathematical background, of understanding his statistical models, analyses, and data. The second problem for many of us who listened to his enthusiastic, incisive discussions was that his theory was so all-embracing. One's reaction, more emotive than rational, was to view the theory with the same scepticism one affords to the pedlar of a panacea for all ills. He made testable predictions at the molecular level, however, and modern technology is available to tackle these. Geneticists, immunologists, molecular biologists, and biochemists would do well to familiarise themselves with Burch's stimulating thinking. As Burch used to argue persuasively at the Leeds Medical Sciences Club, 'Scepticism will carry you a long way, but when the facts fit the hypothesis so overwhelmingly, what else can you do but accept the hypothesis?'


This article will focus on the missionary, nurse and midwife Bodil Biørn (1871–1960) and her humanitarian contribution among Armenian refugees in Aleppo, Syria, from 1927 to 1934. How was this faith-based relief work organized? How did it fit into the overarching goal of the international community of rebuilding an Armenian society in the Middle East? The large majority of Armenian refugees were women and children. During the war many of these women had been captured and forced to live in Muslim households. How did the Norwegian relief operation meet the needs of Armenian women who were the victims of abduction and abuse? The article will also look at how Biørn portrays Armenian women survivors and their war experiences in her published texts. The study of women during the genocide, and in the aftermath as refugees, has to a large extent been neglected. Based on the representation of Armenian women in Norwegian sources, this article will thus contribute new insights into individual women´s experiences as refugees.


Sprague–Dawley female rats were immunized with egg albumin (EA) in aluminum hydroxide gel (AHG) and with or without Bacillus pertussis vaccine (BPV). Fourteen days later, the animals were anesthetized and challenged with EA intravenously. The resultant increase in tracheal pressure was recorded as an index of anaphylactic bronchoconstriction. Ventilation with tracheal pressures of 6 cm H2O (588 N/m2) allowed maximal development of bronchoconstrictor responses to specific antigen challenge that were similar in both pithed and pentobarbital-anesthetized preparations. Forced reinflation of the lungs did not affect the magnitude of the response but did facilitate its recovery. Serum titers evaluated by 3-h and 72-h passive cutaneous anaphylactic reactions indicated that reaginic antibodies were primarily involved, although other immunoglobulins may have played a contributory role. Antigen dose-responses were similar for both the EA-AHG and EA-AHG-BPV immunized groups of animals despite lower reaginic serum ti...


For some employers, "Affirmative action" imposes a legal obhgation to hire a greater proportion of minorities than others.̂ Is there also a moral duty to hire "affirmatively"? Legal requirements do not always impose moral duties. Certain laws in Nazi Germany were immoral. Legal sanctions against Jews were also bad law. Thus, the legal force of affirmative action does not necessarily bind one's moral conscience. Also, because reverse discrimination is inevitable in any quota system of hiring. Affirmative Action, like Nazi sanctions, could also be "bad law." Choosing the less qualified on the basis of membership in a particular class also seems morally wrong.


Summary form only given. The generation of ultrashort pulses has been progressing in the recent years with outstanding advances in the shortening of pulses and the increase of their spectral regions of emission. The experiments were performed using a Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser and a CPA amplifier configuration based on a Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier and Nd:phosphate glass head delivering 1 ns chirped pulses with maximum 100 mJ energy which can be compressed to duration less to 300 fs. We use a KDP type I/Type II collinear configuration. We generate a third harmonic pulse with a spectral bandwidth of 1.2 nm.


In Timor-Leste, rice is a source of livehood and a staple food. However, it presents persistently low yield, quality, price, and value to consumers, which, allied with climate projections and pressure for higher quality and productivity, raised logistics costs, and subsidized imports, creates a need to identify drivers/inhibitors of sustainable development. This chapter investigates rice agri-food chain sustainable development by recording the main actors involved and understanding their perspectives. Interviews, questionnaires, observation, and focus group have been applied to understand how sustainable development can be triggered. Results show that actors are not accurately coordinated to find a future sustainable development. An alignment of activities, innovation, best practices, and cooperation are recommended towards a future sustainability plan as a starting point to agrifood rice development. Each element of this development should be measured and quantified in future research.


This paper tries to probe Quyuan's exile in the perspective of contemporary archaeology, history, literature, and philology, etc. It restores the historical truth by discussing the long unsettled dispute of his exile on the basis of rich new material and the previous studies of other researchers and by putting the related clues in the broader historical and culture background.


P. Shing Ho and his colleagues at Oregon State and Berkeley publish in this issue of PNAS an interesting study (1) of helical structure in the DNA hexamer GGCGCC, finding that various states that appear to be logical intermediates between A-DNA and B-DNA can be induced by methylation or bromination of cytosine or by crystal packing. Their results bear on three issues that have been argued over in the past: (i) the differences between A-DNA and B-DNA and transitions between them, (ii) the intrinsic sequence-dependent malleability of a DNA duplex, and (iii) the effects of local helix packing on DNA fine-structure.


Progress is reported on several fronts aimed at DNA sequencing using cosmids-contigs. Specifically results gained in exploiting RARE (recA-assisted-restriction enzyme) cleavage, in clone isolation by flow cytometry, in cosmid-DNA preparations, in automated interpretation of digitized gel images and in contig building via multiple complete digest (MCD) mapping are briefly described.


As the energy problem becomes more and more tense, tidal current energy is receiving more and more attention as a new energy power generation technology. In order to realize the maximum power tracking control of tidal current energy, this paper compares several common maximum power based on the principle of tidal current maximum power capture The power tracking method is improved on the basis of the traditional mountain climbing method, and a 1/2 variable step climbing method is proposed. This method can quickly and accurately achieve the maximum power tracking, and the simulation verification is performed using the matlab / simulink platform. The simulation results show that this method can improve the fastness and stability of maximum power tracking of power flow.


Background: Thalassemia major has become a public health problem worldwide, mainly in developing and poor countries, while the role of educating the family and community has not been considered enough in patients' care. Purpose: This study was done to examine the impact of partnership care model on mental health of patients with beta-thalassemia major. Materials and Methods: This experimental study, with pretest and posttest design, was performed on patients with beta-thalassemia major in Jeddah city. 40 patients with beta-thalassemia major were assigned randomly into two groups of intervention (20 patients) and control (n=20) groups. Mental health of the participants was measured using the standard questionnaire before and after intervention in both groups. The intervention was applied to the intervention group for 6 months, based on the partnership care model. Results: There were significant differences between the scores of mental health and its subscales between the two groups after the intervention (????< 0.05).
 Conclusions:  The findings of the study revealed the efficacy and usefulness of partnership care model on mental health of patients with beta-thalassemia major; thus, implementation of this model is suggested for the improvement of mental health of patients with beta-thalassemia major.


Many forces are impacting the academic landscape such as increasing competition, the inability of American families to pay for college, and the growth of for-profit universities. Accountability to external stakeholders also remains at the forefront of this discourse. Through the lens of upper administration, this paper presents an overview of the changing textile and apparel industries,discusses demographic shifts in higher education, highlights the challenges of inertia of change and provides a checklist for textile and apparel programs to future proof their discipline at their respective institutions.


A new polymer matrix, which is a macroporous copolymer resin of acrolein, styrene and divinylbenzene, was synthesized. By means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and surface test (ST), the topographies and the pore structures of the polymer resin beads were then characterized. From this polymer matrix a new chelating resin containing furan-2-thioacid hydrazone as functional group was further prepared through the reaction of furan-2-thioacid hydrazine chelating agent with the active aldehyde on the matrix. Its adsorption properties toward noble metal ions were investigated, showing that the said resin can selectively adsorb gold, palladium and platinum, whose exchange capacities are 1.2mmol/g, 0.37mmol/g, 0.28mmol/g dry resin respectively.


Purpose To compare the outcome following conservative or surgical treatment for displaced fracture of the medial process of the calcaneal tuberosity. Methods 14 men and 4 women aged 20 to 44 years chose to undergo conservative (9 feet) or surgical (10 feet) treatment by a single surgeon for closed displaced fracture of the medial process of the calcaneal tuberosity. The injury mechanism was a fall from a height of <1.5 m; the mean time from injury to treatment was 3 (range, 1–7) days. Conservative treatment comprised immobilisation in a plaster cast. Surgical treatment involved fixation with a half-thread cannulated screw for large fragments (in 6 feet) or a mini-plate for comminuted fragments (in 4 feet). At the final follow-up, the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle and hindfoot score was evaluated. Results The conservative and surgery groups were comparable in terms of age, gender, and fracture displacement. The mean follow-up duration was 20 (range, 14–24) months. All patients had bone union; none had implant loosening or breakage. One patient with surgical treatment developed skin numbness at the medial aspect of the heel that resolved following neurotrophic drug treatment for 3 months. The surgery group achieved earlier full weight-bearing (5.8 vs. 7.5 weeks, p<0.001) and return to work (5.9 vs. 8.2 weeks, p=0.048), but comparable AOFAS score (89.0 vs. 88.2, p=0.4). Conclusion Surgery for displaced fracture of the medial process of the calcaneal tuberosity enabled earlier full weight-bearing and return to work but comparable AOFAS score.


Major views about the business cycle are tested by using NIPA data of the US economy for the years 1929-2013. Direct acyclic graphs (DAGs) are used for identification purposes, i.e., as tool to elucidate causal issues. Re-sults show that (a) investment is not autonomous, as it is stimulated by profits and consumption, and damped by government spending; (b) profits are reduced by past investment; (c) both business investment and profits have negative effects on government spending which consequently appears as an endogenous rather than as an exogenous variable. Regularities identified in the data are sufficient to generate the cycle. Considering the results, the "regularity" of the business cycle, and the fact that after growing between 2008 and 2012, profits stagnated in 2013 and declined in 2014, it can be concluded with reasonable confidence that a recession will occur in the next few years.


Introduction: Longitudinal growth of vertebrae occurs in the growth plates, which are composed of three zones (reserve (R), proliferative (P) and hypertrophic (H)) [1,2]. Growth plates are sensitive to their mechanical environment [3,4]; mechanical growth modulation has key implications in infant and juvenile progressive musculoskeletal deformities, such as idiopathic scoliosis and hyperkyphosis in the spine. Very few modeling studies integrates growth plates of growing bones/vertebrae to investigate their potential impacts on stress distribution and bone growth [5,6]. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a detailed finite element model (FEM) of a personalized pediatric osseo-ligamentous lumbar spine integrating vertebral growth plates and their three zones. Methods: The geometry of lumbar vertebrae was reconstructed using serial CT-scans of pediatric patients. Relationships between bone radiodensity, material density and mechanical properties [7] provided mechanical properties of vertebral solid elements. The resulting FEM's were then deformed using a free form deformation technique (dual kriging) to fit the 3D reconstructed anatomical landmarks (24 per vertebra) of a specific patient (fig 1). Growth plates and intervertebral discs were generated parametrically based on vertebral endplate profiles and the relative positions between adjacent vertebrae. Growth plates were assumed to be 2 mm thick with 48 % and 31 % of their total thickness respectively used for the hypertrophic and the proliferative zones [1,8]. Mechanical properties were defined as 2.0 MPa for the proliferative zone and 0.2 MPa for the reserve and hypertrophic zones [9,10]. Discs and growth plates were modeled with solid elements, ligaments and annular fibres with cable elements and facet joints with contact surface-to-surface elements. Geometrical validation was performed using a set of reference specimens with geometrical accuracy of 1.1 ± 0.8 mm [11]; their anatomical landmarks served to deform vertebral FEM's. Comparisons of geometrical parameters were completed with a Student's t-test. Mechanical validation was completed on L1-L2 functional unit FEM, by comparing its mechanical behavior to experimental results on adult cadaver spines [12]. To do so, loading conditions used in the cadaver spine experiments were modeled and simulated with the FEM of this functional unit (growth plates were given annulus material properties). A preload of 100 N was applied and combined with either flexion, extension, axial torsion or lateral bending moment (2-10 Nm range). Finally, the validated L1-L2 FEM integrating growth plate mechanical properties was used to simulate the same loading cases as well as a 500 N compression to study the behavior of the pediatric lumbar spine. Results: For geometrical validation, the Student's t test indicated no significant difference between each vertebral FE model and its corresponding reference specimen (P-value ranging between 0.323 and 0.336). Calculated errors remained under 1 % and less than 0.1 degrees or 0.13 mm for angular and linear parameters respectively for 83 % of the parameters. The mechanical behavior of L1-L2 functional unit indicated overall lower flexibility in flexion (fig. 2a). In both extension (fig. 2a) and lateral bending (fig. 2c), the FEM was stiffer for moments under 6 Nm and more flexible over 6 Nm. Clockwise axial torque results (fig 2b) indicated comparable flexibility under 4 Nm, and more flexibility than expected thereafter. Counterclockwise axial torque curves showed a greater range of motion than the experimental results. Simulations of the pediatric lumbar spines indicated for all loading cases greater stress values in the proliferative zone of the growth plate as compared to the reserve and hypertrophic zones (fig. 3). Higher stresses were also located in regions further from the neutral axis. Discussion: Based on geometrical validation results, the developed approach allows good modeling of vertebral geometry. The flexibility of the L1-L2 functional unit is comparable to experimental results. Complete validation should also include other lumbar functional units and eventually experimental studies of pediatric lumbar spines integrating growth plates. Greater stresses in the proliferative zone are related to the higher elastic modulus of this zone [13]. More simulations are required to investigate effects of mechanical properties and thicknesses of the growth plate zones on pediatric lumbar spine mechanics. This modeling approach could be used to study the effect of mechanical stresses on bone growth, progressive musculoskeletal spinal deformities and their orthopedic treatments.


Burghardt's book is the latest in a number of recent important contributions by biologists and psychologists to the study of animal play [e.g., Bekoff & Byers, 1998; Pellegrini & Smith, 2005; Power, 2000]. This spate of books is an indicator of the importance assigned to play in animal behavior and development, dating back to Darwin [1871] and Groos [1898]. More recently, E.O. Wilson [1975] identifi ed 'play' as one of the most important areas of study for sociobiologists. Robert Fagen [1981] took up the challenge in his brilliant monograph Animal Play Behavior. The study of play in humans has been less systematic. Aside from Rubin, Fein, and Vandenberg's [1983] chapter in the Handbook of Child Psychology, Vol. 4 play has not been center stage in the human development literature for the past 20 years, though recent books by Power [2000], Pellegrini & Smith [2005], and Sutton-Smith [1997] have included discussions of both human and nonhuman play. Why the recent neglect of play from the human development community? It is probably multidetermined. One factor might be the waning of Piagetian theory, in which play was central [e.g., Piaget, 1962, 1966]. Another might be the recent research conducted by biologists, such as Bekoff, Byers, Wilson, and Burghardt. This work may well have dampened the interest in the cognitive and psychosocial roots of play that was an important element in earlier strands of work. To psychologists, the play research in animals conducted by biologists may smack of biological determinism either proximally, like hormonal infl uences on behavior, or more distally, like natural selection infl uences. But it is on this point that Burghardt's book should be interesting to students of human development. Burghardt straddles both worlds: he is a professor in the Departments of Psychology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (at the University of Tennessee), as well as being trained by E. Hess [1970], an ethologist also interested in human development. Burghardt rightly, I think, notes that in order to understand a behavior, such as play, and its role in development, one must ask at least


The MPEG-7 dominant color descriptor (DCD) is an effective, compact, and intuitive representation of salient colors in an image region and is very useful for content-based image retrieval and indexing applications. However, the original quadratic histogram distance measure (QHDM) for MPEG-7 DCD similarity matching does not fit the human perception very well. It may cause incorrect ranks between regions with similar salient color distributions. In this paper, a new merged palette histogram similarity measure is proposed to provide an alternative for the QHDM. The new similarity measure is based on a merged color palette as a common color space to define histogram intersection. Experimental results show that this new similarity measure provide better accurate and perceptually relevant image retrieval for MPEG-7 DCD.


The modular multilevel converter-based unified power flow controller (MMC-UPFC) is able to operate under unbalanced grid conditions with symmetric component decoupling. However, the constraint of the voltage limit of UPFC is not considered and no protection schemes are investigated to protect the UPFC from overmodulation under unbalanced grid conditions. To solve this problem, this paper proposes the cascaded control scheme for MMC-UPFC based on voltage limit control and symmetric component decoupling to balance the ac current of the transmission line. With appropriate transformer connections for MMC-UPFC, the negative- and zero-sequence currents are suppressed by the corresponding inner current loops. Considering the voltage limit of MMC, the operating ranges of UPFC-MMC under balanced and unbalanced grid conditions are investigated in both mathematical derivation and point scanning methods. The results are depicted and analyzed in 3-D vision. Based on the analysis of operating regions, the voltage limit control is proposed to protect the MMC from overmodulation and to maximize the controllable region under unbalanced grid conditions. Finally, the final cascaded control structure is constructed. The simulation results obtained in PSCAD/EMTDC are provided to validate the effectiveness and robust performance of the proposed control strategies.


With reference to the built-in-self-test(BIST)of analog-mixed signal AD converters,on-chip sine stimulus based on sigma-delta modulated techniques was studied.The research was mainly focused on the software implementation.By designing Sigma-Delta modulator,and analyzing the attributes of output bitstreams,we provided a scheme for shortest bitstreams selection and their optimization.In this paper,a 12-bit ADC was chosen to be tested.The output bitstreams with the required signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)were generated,which verifies the feasibility of the method.


Similar to reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, shear walls are a popular lateral load resisting system for reinforced masonry (RM) structures. There are several failure modes for RM shear walls. One of the possible failure mechanisms is the diagonal shear failure. The shear behaviour of RM shear walls at the plastic hinge zone is more complicated than RC shear walls due the interaction between the nonlinear responses of their constituent materials, namely; concrete masonry blocks, mortar, grout, and steel reinforcement. This paper is part of a research program investigating the shear behaviour of fully grouted RM shear walls subjected to the combined effects of axial load and in-plane cyclic lateral excitations. Three full-scale fully grouted rectangular RM shear walls were tested under axial compressive stress of 0.0, 1.0, and 1.5 MPa, respectively. The test results of the three tested RM walls are presented and discussed to evaluate the influence of the axial compressive stress on the in-plane shear performance of RM shear walls.


In the field of Energy Harvesting, it has been demonstrated that, under the proper conditions, nonlinear configurations of the harvester can provide better performance, compared to linear resonant oscillators. In this paper preliminary results of investigation on a system for energy harvesting from wideband vibrations are shown. The harvester adopts a nonlinear snap-through-buckling (STB) configuration and two piezoelectric transducers, placed near the inflection points of the potential energy function that underpins the dynamics of the system. The device is demonstrated to be capable of scavenging energy from vibration sources in the range 0.5-4 Hz, but could be exploited up to 10 Hz with an acceptable loss of efficiency. The bandwidth of the device is compatible with applications where the vibrations occur at low frequencies e.g. in the case of a running human. Powers about 60μW with root mean square accelerations of 5 m/s2 at 4 Hz have been measured.


An idea of hybrid column system which consists of strong column and week wing walls as energy absorption elements was proposed at 13 WCEE meeting. The idea is as follow; the column with wing walls is so rigid to the horizontal drift, and the week wing walls generate multiple clacks earlier at small deformation and absorb much energy. Eventually the column with wing walls does not response so much in horizontal displacement, and it survives damage. This system is supposedly more applicable to the too much flexible steel frame structure. This paper shows the test results of hybrid steel columns with wing walls made of week precast mortal panel and the earthquake response analyses to verify the idea of the hybrid steel column system. It was confirmed that the earthquake displacement response could be much reduced by the wing walls that work as a response control device.


In the beginning of 2016 the politicians in the city of Stockholm made a decision to renovate the city's civic hall. The building accommodated, among a variety of businesses, a public arts school a ...


In December 1939, Dr. Hermann Lufft composed a remarkable memorandum proposing that all of the Jews in occupied Poland be relocated to Warsaw and that the city be transformed into a modern city of light industry, complete with new housing, schools, and parks. While this proposal did not influence Nazi "Jewish" policy, it illustrates both the wide range of thinking at the time about the "problem" of the Jews and the willingness of German intellectuals to offer the Nazi regime their expertise and skills.


Why is homosexuality denied according to theological dogmas? This article aims to evaluate the reasons for this denial, presenting them based on their own texts equivalent to doctrines, dogmas, orthodoxy. To this end, it will use the Holy Scriptures, the theological discourses addressed to biblical understanding, and all pertinent material that can satisfactorily substantiate and respond to the title-assertion. Moreover, there is also the need to seek a greater understanding of the issue of homosexuality regarding its onslaught in favor of its socioreligious recognition as an accepted sexual orientation whose subjects wish to actively participate as members or ministers of churches, free of any prejudices. Through a descriptive approach and bibliographic review, we will seek to understand all their refutations to biblical texts, investigating the compatibility of their interpretations at the level of impartiality. It is necessary to address the need to improve biblical-theological knowledge (without which it will not be possible to continue the investigation to refute or accept the theses raised in this problem) as well as the need to improve the understanding about the claims concerning the issues involving homosexuality. It is essential to respond bilaterally to all questions in favor of a consensus among the parties involved so that all argumentative contradiction is eradicated, giving rise to the definitive acceptance of one or another position. The principles of acceptance or non-acceptance arise in order to provide a vehicle with material and immaterial solutions. The final purpose of this article is to meet this demand for intelligibility about the problem so that, once recognized, it can be effectively solved in favor of all those involved in the problem situation.


This thesis examines the ancient sculptural portraits of poets in relation to the literary reception of their works by investigating a range of contexts for, and interactions with, these objects. Contemporary scholarship has found it productive to examine biographical material relating to ancient poets as evidence for early reception. This thesis explores how the ancient portraits of poets take part in the constructions of these authors, and how they are integrated into the reception of ancient poetry.
Recent scholarship has cast doubts over the methodologies conventionally used to relate portraits to the biographical reception of their subjects: there are strong arguments that an individualistic character-based approach to these objects can mislead us about how they were perceived in their various ancient contexts. This thesis takes a different approach by considering the archaeological contexts and literary interactions in which we find these objects, from fourth-century BC Athens to sixteenth-century AD Ferrara.
I show how, through these contexts and interactions, the sculptural portraits of poets can engage in keys ways with the literary reception of their subjects: Hellenistic communities use portraits to strengthen their connections to prestigious poets; Roman aristocrats use portraits of poets to signal engagement with Greek culture and therefore elite status; poets are positioned within literary histories and canons through programmatic assemblages; later poets focus on portraits in order to explore their relationships to their predecessors; finally, early modern writers present these portraits as offering an engagement with an absent poet that complements reading the poet's works. These, then, are the three main concerns of this thesis: communities, canons, and receptions.
The case studies examined in this thesis show that the portraits of poets have been engaged in literary reception from antiquity to the present, and that they have raised persistent questions about presence and absence in literary encounters.


The Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) had warned the state legislature that its highways and bridges would continue to deteriorate without increased funds for inspection, maintenance and construction. Such reports were ignored until the Mianus River Bridge collapse in 1983 prompted enactment of the Infrastructure Renewal Program, funded by a Special Transportation Fund for $5.5 billion over 10 years. A little over $1 billion is earmarked for bridge rehabilitation. Because ConnDOT did not have the manpower, the Commissioner cut all red tape and appointed two civil engineering firms as Consulting Liaison Engineers (CLE's) to supervise 40 design firms to begin the work on an emergency fast track basis. Now in its third year, the program is successfully rehabilitating roads and bridges, including local ones, in every part of the state.


In this paper, we study ill-posedness concepts of nonlinear and linear operator equations in a Hilbert space setting. Such ill-posedness information may help to select appropriate optimization approaches for the stable approximate solution of inverse problems, which are formulated by the operator equations. We define local ill-posedness of a nonlinear operator equation F(x) = y 0 in a solution point x 0:and consider the interplay between the nonlinear problem and its linearization using the Fréchet derivative F′(x 0). To find a corresponding ill-posedness concept for the linearized equation we define intrinsic ill-posedness for linear operator equations A x = y and compare this approach with the ill-posedness definitions due to Hadamard and Nashed


Self-assembled molecular capsules are formed on crystallisation of calix[5]arenesulfonic acid resulting from treating calix[5]arene with sulfuric acid; the calix[5]arenesulfonic acid molecules dimerise via hydrogen bonding through the sulfonic acid groups, shrouding two hydrogen-bonded sulfuric acid molecules as the supermolecule [(H2SO4)2}⊂{(calix[5]arenesulfonic acid)2].


]le to the nursing, I can only say that the whole system rCa appears to be entirely inadequate, and that tor no and?!1' s^nce there are a thousand civilian nurses in England are f ^aPe willing and thirsting tor the work ; and there Jljfi things for which the taxpayer would so willingly pay. on ier^? there have been seven sisters on day duty, and two at nights for the whole of our (500 beds, spread out over a


In this study, we compared the effects of Calendula and Alpha ointment in the treatment of burn wounds and compare its results with silver sulfadiazine (SSD). Seventy-five male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups, and similar burn ulcers were produced on anterior surface of thigh of rats. The first group of rats no treatment was applied, base gel was applied topically to group II, in groups III-V, Alpha, SSD and Calendula preparations were applied, respectively. Wound healing, contraction and histopathological evaluation were evaluated at the end of 7, 14, and 21 days. Alpha ointment was equally effective as Calendula gel, and had better efficacy compared to SSD for all markers of wound healing at days of 7, 14 and 21. Alpha and Calendula preparations are less expensive drugs and significantly improve the quality of wound healing and scar formation and are more appropriate treatment choices than SSD. Therefore, we recommend them as alternative to SSD, especially in patients with low economical backgrounds or in those who show adverse reactions to SSD.


NHS England has proposed abolishing clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) by April 2022 and moving their functions to statutory integrated care systems.

A document outlining NHS England's legislative recommendations proposes that integrated care systems become "a statutory corporate NHS body . . . that additionally brings CCG statutory functions into the ICS."1

Until now, NHS England has avoided recommending a wholesale NHS reorganisation to achieve its vision for integration. But it said that the covid-19 pandemic had "increased the appetite for statutory clarity for [integrated care systems] and the organisations within them."

Abolishing CCGs is one of two options proposed—the other is a less radical move to create "a statutory committee model . . . that binds together current statutory organisations." But NHS England indicated that its preference was to make …


The aim of this study was to investigate the valuable impact damage parameters from quasi-static indentation testing to access the low-velocity impact behaviour of ex-situ toughened composites by comparing low-velocity impact and quasi-static test results (the same boundary conditions). In terms of the delamination damage threshold load and indentation depth, quasi-static tests predicted the impact damage resistance well. However, only very conservative estimates of maximum load due to the final fibre failure under higher energy level were achieved. This phenomenon is attributed to two factors. First, energy during quasi-static indentation event is completely transformed or absorbed by the laminate, where it is stored elastically in panel bending or absorbed by the creation of damage, without the energy in the form of vibration, heat, inelastic behaviour of the impactor or the supports. Second, strain rate effect may have a remarkable influence on the fibre failure but on undamaged and delaminated damage.


Abstract Zinc (Zn) sorption by six Alabama soils, virgin and cultivated was studied. Sorption data was collected at 10° and 30°C and plotted according to the Langmuir, Freundlich, and BET equations. The differential isosteric heats of sorption, AH, were used to aid in the interpretation of the data. The high pH soils sorbed more Zn compared to acid soils. Zinc sorption increased with an increase in temperature indicating that the sorption process was an endothermic reaction. All of the soils gave curvilinear lines when plotted according to the Freundlich equation. The same was true for the Langmuir equation except for the two high pH soils which gave one straight line. Deviation from the ideal Langmuir model was interpreted to be due to the variation in heat of sorption, AH, due to surface heterogeneity. However, the BET equation gave the best fit for the data, yielding one straight line for all soils. The Langmuir sorption maximum, b, was correlated with some selected soil properties. The results indicat...


In this paper, correlations between electric discharge machining conditions and output of the AE sensor, which has been developed by one of the authors, are experimentally investigated. In the experiments, while three machining conditions of electric discharge voltage, current and capacitance are varied, peak values of output voltage of the AE signals are measured. From the experimental results, it is found that the peak value of the AE signal is proportional to the second power of the machining voltage and proportional to the capacitance of the condenser. However, the peak value of the AE signal is indenpendent of the discharge current. These relations are in good agreement with the discharge energy.


Mobile agent computing is being used in fields as diverse as artificial intelligence, computational economics and robotics. Agents' ability to adapt dynamically and execute asynchronously and autonomously brings potential advantages in terms of fault-tolerance, flexibility and simplicity. This monograph focuses on studying mobile agents as modelled in distributed systems research and in particular within the framework of research performed in the distributed algorithms community. It studies the fundamental question of how to achieve {\em rendezvous}, the gathering of two or more agents at the same node of a network. Like leader election, such an operation is a useful subroutine in more general computations that may require the agents to synchronize, share information, divide up chores, etc. The work provides an introduction to the algorithmic issues raised by the rendezvous problem in the distributed computing setting. For the most part our investigation concentrates on the simplest case of two agents attempting to rendezvous on a ring network. Other situations including multiple agents, faulty nodes and other topologies are also examined. An extensive bibliography provides many pointers to related work not covered in the text. The presentation has a distinctly algorithmic, rigorous, distributed computing flavor and most results should be easily accessible to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in computer science and mathematics departments. Table of Contents: Models for Mobile Agent Computing / Deterministic Rendezvous in a Ring / Multiple Agent Rendezvous in a Ring / Randomized Rendezvous in a Ring / Other Models / Other Topologies


On-chip frequency upconversion of a near-infrared (NIR) Kerr comb in a χ(2) and χ(3) system provides a convenient route to extending the comb spectra into the visible band. Yet to date, only limited visible or near-visible comb lines have been obtained using this scheme. In this work, we demonstrate the generation of multiple near-visible comb lines based on spectral translation from a broadband NIR Kerr comb. This physical process is implemented in an aluminum nitride (AlN)-on-sapphire microring, where we achieve a wideband frequency upconversion by incorporating the phase-mismatched fundamental and first-order near-visible modes. Upon tuning the pump into the resonance with sufficient power, we attain a broadband NIR Kerr comb and 153 corresponding near-visible comb lines in 720–840 nm with a reasonable efficiency over 4.1 × 10−5%. The wideband frequency upconversion can be adapted to on-chip frequency stabilization of self-referenced microcombs, as required for precision optical clocks and frequency metrology.On-chip frequency upconversion of a near-infrared (NIR) Kerr comb in a χ(2) and χ(3) system provides a convenient route to extending the comb spectra into the visible band. Yet to date, only limited visible or near-visible comb lines have been obtained using this scheme. In this work, we demonstrate the generation of multiple near-visible comb lines based on spectral translation from a broadband NIR Kerr comb. This physical process is implemented in an aluminum nitride (AlN)-on-sapphire microring, where we achieve a wideband frequency upconversion by incorporating the phase-mismatched fundamental and first-order near-visible modes. Upon tuning the pump into the resonance with sufficient power, we attain a broadband NIR Kerr comb and 153 corresponding near-visible comb lines in 720–840 nm with a reasonable efficiency over 4.1 × 10−5%. The wideband frequency upconversion can be adapted to on-chip frequency stabilization of self-referenced microcombs, as required for precision optical clocks and frequency me...


A simple heuristic derivation is given for the universal jump in the superfluid density ρ s at the transition temperature T c of a two-dimensional superfluid. It is based on the mathematical equivalence of the Hamiltonians of two systems: (i) a superfluid sandwiched between two parallel boundaries that are boosted adiabatically from rest to a finite velocity, and (ii) a two-dimensional two-component Coulomb gas (considered as a set of parallel line charges in three dimensions), sandwiched between two oppositely charged parallel capacitor plates


This article presents the computation of Lyapunov quantities for a nonhomogeneous cubic Lienard equation. The number of limit cycles of Lienard plane with polynomial of degree three is obtained. Evidently the analysis of system behavior near boundary of the stability domain requires the computation of Lyapunov quantities which would determine system behavior in the neighborhood of boundary.


Measured optic flow fields are always somewhat erroneous and/or ambiguous. First, we cannot compute the actual spatial or temporal derivatives, but only their estimates, which are corrupted by image noise. Second, optic flow is intrinsically an image-based measurement of the relative motion between the observer and the environment, but we are interested in estimating the actual motion field. However, real-world motion field patterns contain intrinsic statistic properties that allow to define Gestalts as groups of pixels sharing the same motion property. By checking the presence of such Gestalts in optic flow fields we can make their interpretation more confident. We propose an optimal recurrent filter capable of evidencing motion Gestalts corresponding to 1st-order spatial derivatives or elementary flow components (EFCs). A Gestalt emerges from a noisy flow as a solution of an iterative process of spatially interacting nodes that correlates the statistics of the visual context with that of a structural model of the Gestalt. 1 Local motion Gestalts Velocity gradients provide important cues about the 3-D layout of the visual scene. Formally, they can be described as linear deformations by a 2×2 velocity gradient tensor T = [


The invention relates to an additive for a mineral solidification aqueous mortar composition. The additive basically consists of a water redispersible polymer powder and b) a cellulose-ether powder. The invention also relates to the application of the additive in the preparation of mineral solidification aqueous mortar composition, and a mineral solidification mortar composition obtained by the additive.


The article is sanctified to generalization of legal mechanism of process of purchase and sale of lot lands in Ukraine.On the basis of analysis of normative grounds of purchase and sale of lot lands in Ukraine certainly, that it has a process two sides (auction or agreement), basic signs that determine maintenance of process of purchase and sale of lot land are set: pattern of ownership, subject, that acquires right, terms of the use of lot land, desire of parties of agreement, presence of arrest or other obligations in relation to lot land.Certainly, that more simple and less expense on time procedure of purchase and sale of lot land looks on a civil agreement. Normative principles of process of purchase and sale of lot land are determined as a result of combination of requirements of the Landed code of Ukraine and Civil code of Ukraine.On the basis of analysis of land and civil legislation the actions of salesman of lot land – legal of peculiar subject are systematized - in case of her sale on a civil agreement as an algorithm of actions. It is marked that lot land can be the article of agreement in relation to a purchase- sale only if she answers the requirements of civil legal relationships (presence of cadastre number and registered right of ownership). Attention is accented on the choice of notary and preparation of necessary documents.The authors establishes the multifactorial nature of the process of selling a land plot (or the right to it) at an auction. The authors identifies the entities participating in land auctions and establishes that the main instrument for implementing land auctions is an electronic trading system owned by the State. Based on the generalization of the provisions of the Land Code, the author formulates the procedural procedure for the sale of a land plot on a competitive basis.A comparative analysis of the processes of selling a land plot under a civil agreement and at an auction is made, which shows that the procedure for selling a land plot at an auction is more complicated and time- consuming than when it is sold under a civil agreement with the participation of a notary.The authors emphasizes the importance of the state significance of the procedure for sale and purchase of land plots and rights thereto.


Abstract : In this thesis, NOGAPS and COAMPS model data are fused with Alexander (2005) algorithm to determine its usefulness in enhancing satellite-based aircraft icing analysis. This is a follow on to Cooper (2006) research where MM5 and ETA were used. Using historical NOGAPS and COAMPS data (T, Td and RH) accessed from the GODAE server, several storms from 2004 were fused with available MODIS imagery from the same storms to produce an enhanced icing product. Pilot reports (PIREPS) were used as a validation tool to determine where icing was taking place during the storms analyzed. A comparison was made between the MODIS-based icing potential and the model-based icing potential. The two icing potentials were fused together to produce an enhanced icing product. Statistical analysis using ROC curves was performed on the various combinations to determine which product combination gave the best results. Two different available Tmap (Alexander and CIP) were used and had mixed results. Contrary to what Cooper (2006) found where weighting RH and the Alexander Tmap produced the best results; this study found that equal weighting of T and RH and the CIP Tmap produced the same or better results than weighting RH. This study also found that NOGAPS combined with the MODIS algorithm provide the best icing potential results.


A low-speed experimental investigation has been conducted on a 5.8-percent scale Hybrid Wing Body configuration in the NASA Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel. This Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) configuration was designed with specific intention to support the NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project goals of reduced noise, emissions, and fuel burn. This HWB configuration incorporates twin, podded nacelles mounted on the vehicle upper surface between twin vertical tails. Low-speed aerodynamic characteristics were assessed through the acquisition of force and moment, surface pressure, and flow visualization data. Longitudinal and lateral-directional characteristics were investigated on this multi-component model. The effects of a drooped leading edge, longitudinal flow-through nacelle location, vertical tail shape and position, elevon deflection, and rudder deflection have been studied. The basic configuration aerodynamics, as well as the effects of these configuration variations, are presented in this paper.


This thesis is an attempt to show the errors of pronunciation that occur in "Seleksi non Stop Natal Mileneum-Lagu and Dialog". By conducting this research, the writer wants to Investigate: first, the kind of errors that are made by the little singers in this cassette; second, the frequency of pronunciation errors; third, find out the possible causes by comparing with Indonesian language considering first language (Mother tongue) has a great effect to influence the children?s second language. All the data are gathered in "Seleksi non Stop-Natal Milenium-Lagu and Dialog" cassette. The writer, carefully and epeatedly, listen all the words which are sung by two little singers in this cassette. After that, she separates all words which are spoken improperly and writes down their phonetic transcription with the aid of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). She uses Standard American English with the aid of American English Dictionary considering that this form is more common among Indonesian People. The next step is classifying them in terms of consonant and vocal by excluded all the prosodic features. When the classifications are done, she, eventually, commences to study all errors in each word carefully. After analyzing the data, the writer finds that most errors in consonants are found in terms of alveolar and in vowels are found in terms of central-middle. Errors appear in initial, middle, or in final position. Based on the analysis that she makes, she concludes that the Indonesian language as the singers? mother tongue indeed influences almost all words in the cassette. Almost all words are pronounced using Indonesian spelling system by singers and they nativize all sounds, which are not found in Indonesian phonetic system. Another kind of errors is they tend to delete sounds which are not familiar with them or difficult to pronounce They might fail to perceive sound that they listen and use the sound that has the closest auditory effect. Regarding, these data are gathered in terms of lyrics in songs, the rhythm of songs also take a role to the existence of errors. Besides, all of the pronunciation errors are also caused by the ease of articulation phenomenon.


Electroencephalograph has been used in some Environment Control System to help severe disabled people to improve their quality of life. This paper studied the difference of correlation dimension of alpha wave between eye opening and eye closure and proposed a method to control device on and off using correlation dimension of alpha wave. By modifying Grassberger and Procaccia method, the correlation dimension could be achieved automatically. The experiment showed that correlation dimension of alpha wave could be used to distinguish eye opening and closure and help severe disabled people.


Taking Guangzhou Vocational Technical Institute of Industry Commerce Library as an example,and based on the analysis of the survey of the readers' satisfaction,the paper has discussed ways to improve the college library service.


ObjectiveWe briefly discuss the history of acupuncture and its postulated mechanisms of action, but our primary objective is to discuss the evidence for acupuncture's efficacy in low back pain as well as approaches of newer study protocols to define more clearly the true usefulness of this alternative modality in low back pain. MethodsPubmed online search of all articles and other literature in the past 50 years related to acupuncture efficacy in low back pain, including case reports, randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses. ResultsLower back pain and its associated incapacitating sequelae constitute an important healthcare and socioeconomic problem. There have been multiple, generally poor quality studies on the efficacy of acupuncture for this multi-factorial pain condition. Although newer studies seem to show promise, effectiveness has not been clearly demonstrated. ConclusionsThere is a paucity of high-quality research assessing efficacy of acupuncture in the management of LBP. Nonetheless, it continues to play a significant role in our clinical practice, not as a sole therapeutic modality but rather as an adjunct to a multidisciplinary integrative approach of LBP management. Most of the published articles about acupuncture in the biomedical literature consist of case reports, case series, or intervention studies with designs inadequate to assess its efficacy. Thus it is imperative that further research be performed, both preclinical to help elucidate the mechanisms underlying acupuncture, and clinical to justify its clinical application.


The present study examines the relationships between manufacture procedures, manufacture results and customers loyalty. And investigates key drivers that establish maintain customers loyalty. The survey instrument the form of a questionnaire to the function managers of manufacturing firms in Taiwan. These firms are listed in the Business Weekly (Taiwans leading business magazine) as the top manufacturing firms of 2013. There is analysis of confirmatory factor in 410 questionnaires were conducted. LISREL with structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test and analyze the hypothesized relationships of the research model. This study empirically demonstrates the importance of the Manufacture procedure and Manufacture Results dimensions of manufacture quality on Customers Loyalty behavior. Both Manufacture Procedure and Manufacture Results quality are important determinants of Customers Loyalty.


Every year, 9 million children worldwide die before the age of five. Directly or indirectly, one out of every two of these deaths is due to malnutrition. Malnutrition is especially devastating during the first 1,000 days of life, from an infant's conception to its second birthday. Even when it does not kill, malnutrition causes irreversible damage that lasts into adulthood (high morbidity, physical and mental disabilities). This damage is passed on from one generation to the next, and has serious consequences for development. Malnutrition during this period is partly caused by the inadequate intake of nutritionally appropriate foods that are complementary to breast milk, and it can lead to food-borne diseases (diarrhea, parasitic infections) and/or the reduced bioavailability of micronutrients. The timely use of appropriate complementary foods and/or food supplements is generally recognized as a necessary prerequisite for preventing malnutrition. However, encouraging mothers to buy or prepare appropriate food products at the appropriate time is a challenge that has oft en been addressed without major success in developing countries.


The invention relates to the technical field of industrial wastewater purification treatment and particularly relates to an industrial wastewater coagulant and a preparation method thereof. The industrial wastewater coagulant comprises the following components in parts by mass: 12-22 parts of aluminium hydroxide, 12-22 parts of ferric hydroxide, 12-22 parts of ferric chloride, 20-25 parts of hydrochloric acid, 10-25 parts of phosphoric acid, 0.8-2.7 parts of polymethacrylamide, 0.8-2.7 parts of polyethylacrylamide, 1.5-4 parts of starch, 0.5-2 parts of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, 0.2-1 part of modified activated carbon and 38-50 parts of water. The industrial wastewater coagulant provided by the invention has good and strong condensation effect and wide application range, and is capable of treating various types of raw water and industrial wastewater. After being treated by the coagulant, water is stable in property and normal use of water is not influenced.


The origin of yoga dates back to the Vedic era, when the Indian saints stressed the importance of meditation among their disciples to concentrate on studies. They started practising 'yoga' and it started to spread in other countries due its spiritual and physical importance. The 'Rigveda' though, stresses on the importance of yoga and despite the fact that it is valued by many people till now, it started gaining momentum after the declaration of the International Yoga Day on 21st June 2015. Considering its importance, first yoga university was opened in 2013 in Gujrat. Many schools introduced a yoga teacher and a period for yoga practice in the schools. The corporate or the service sector where the employees have to bear the long working hours without the opportunity to move in different directions, have no strict law related to practice of yoga. Generally, the employees either sit or work in the same posture with only a break for taking lunch. Yoga is widely practiced on 21st June but there is no provision for its practice on the other days. If yoga is introduced in the workplace as a norm, it will help the employees in remaining fit; mentally and physically both, which will result in maximum productivity from their end and the same will ultimately affect the organisation positively. The need of the hour is to understand the importance of yoga in the workplace to maintain a healthy workforce to get the desired outcome.


The objective of this article was to know the findings about the quality of life (QL) in surviving patients through the review of empirical studies published in the period from 2012 to 2017 in the databases of Sciencedirect and Proquest. A documentary descriptive study was conducted, in which the following words were used as search descriptors: quality of life, ictus, and ACV were used for the research. 1679 articles were initially identified, 44 of those were selected based on their fulfillment of the inclusion criteria. The articles were analyzed according to the methodological design, the characteristics of the participants, the measurement instruments, the main results obtained and the limitations reported. A total of 44 studies were found, o 97% were quantitative, with the observational cross-sectional design with the most prevalent relational scope. The main issue addressed in the studies was the factors associated with CV; being functionality, neurological status and depression, the most reported predictive variables. It is expected that in the future, the research about the (this) topic will be made through mixed investigation or with observational, longitudinal designs, that include participants younger than 18; will perform evaluations (assessments) with specific scales, and will delve into the effect of cognitive and psychological variables, and care process in the life quality.


Intent Statement The policy was developed to assist child care staff by providing guidelines for the detection and reporting of suspected cases of child abuse and neglect. The policy applies to all staff, substitute staff, volunteers and parents in the child care setting. All who work with children are legally required to report abuse and/or neglect and cannot shift the responsibility of reporting to anyone else.


Five new aza-crown ethers have been prepared by the condensation of 2,6-bis[(2-formylphenyl)oxymethyl] pyridine with different diamino compounds in hot methanol, the bis-Schiff bases without isolation were reduced with NaBH4 to afford the corresponding aza-crown ethers. The liquid membrane transport of alkali cations using the five new macrocycles as the ion-carriers was also studied.


DESCRIPTION Capsular contracture is a common complication following breast augmentation. Although the etiology is unknown, it is hypothesized that subclinical infection contributes to the process. Surgical treatment strategies must take this into account to avoid recurrence.


Background/Objectives: The diagnostic role of parathyroid gland ultrasonography in secondary hyperparathyroidism 1 International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Volume 118 No. 19 2018, 545-561 ISSN: 1311-8080 (printed version); ISSN: 1314-3395 (on-line version) url: http://www.ijpam.eu Special Issue ijpam.eu


Abstract Several lithium Ruddlesden–Popper compounds are investigated by TEM (ED and HREM) in the series Li 2 La x (Nb 2 n −3 x Ti 3 x − n )O 3 n +1 ( n =2, 3, and 4, for x =0.833, 1.78, and 2.25, respectively) and Li 2 Sr 1.5 (Nb 3− x Fe x ) O 10− x (for n =3; x =0 and 0.115). These studies confirm the crystal structures previously established from single crystal X-ray diffraction data: they consist of perovskite layers separated by Li + ions in distorted tetrahedral coordination. After the HREM study, for all the examined compounds, an irreversible structural change is evidenced leading to a unique model (space group I 4/ mmm ) characterized by the preservation of the perovskite layers and by a substantial shrinking of the c parameter ( perpendicular to the perovskite slabs). In the hypothesis of the conservation of the cells contents, this phenomenon is explained by a concomitant change in the Li + coordination which becomes octahedral.


In the current era, services delivered through digital channels make up the majority of business transactions compared to those carried out through traditional channels such as branch offices. Starting with the theme "DigitalisMe", Pegadaian launched a digital-based service called Pegadaian Digital. This study aims to empirically explore the service quality of Pegadaian Digital and their impact on customer satisfaction at PT Pegadaian (Persero) Pondok Labu Branch. This is a quantitative research, and the sample in this study amounted to 160 customers who are users of Pegadaian Digital services. The data collection process uses google forms and scanned barcodes that are distributed in each unit of the Pegadaian Pondok Labu Branch. The data were analyzed using the Partial Least Square (PLS) method, and the results show that: (1) Reliability has an effect on customer satisfaction (2) Efficiency has no effect on customer satisfaction (3) Security has no effect on customer satisfaction (4) Responsiveness has no effect on customer satisfaction (5) Web design has no effect on customer satisfaction.


We propose a new class of divergence measures for Independent Component Analysis (ICA) for the demixing of multiple source mixtures. We call it the Convex Cauchy-Schwarz Divergence (CCS-DIV), and it is formed by integrating convex functions into the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. The new measure is symmetric and the degree of its curvature with respect to the joint-distribution can be tuned by a (convexity) parameter. The CCS-DIV is able to speed-up the search process in the parameter space and produces improved demixing performance. An algorithm, generated from the proposed divergence, is developed which is employing the non-parametric Parzen window-based distribution. Simulation evidence is presented to verify and quantify its superior performance in comparison to state-of-the art approaches.


Ahlam Shibli was born and works in Palestine, and Tanya Habjouqa was born in Jordan and works in East Jerusalem. I begin, rather unfashionably, with these biographical details because, in these cases, the muchabused academic phraseology so dear to literary and cultural studies students, 'the politics of location', has been literalized, realized and embodied by these two women photographers. The two have produced photographic biographies of a space that is perhaps the world's most famous space of dispossession in their series Unrecognized and Occupied Pleasures respectively.1,2 The series represent iconic work in the visual register of dispossession. Shibli's series is set in 'Arab al-N'aim, a Palestinian Bedouin village in Galilee, and Habjouqa's in the West Bank area. What follows is a set of responses to these highly acclaimed artists. Shibli and Habjouqa map the necropolitics3 of West Bank: life not necessarily extinguished but exposed to death on a daily basis. Necropolitics is the denial of conditions of life even when it does not seek immediate annihilation. In the violent geography of West Bank, Gaza and 'Arab al-N'aim, we see an apparatus devoted to the assertion of power over life with the possibility of the production of death.' 'Exposing' life to death could be in terms of everyday life lived under constant sniper fire, exposure of entire groups of people to inclement weather and denial of food and water, raids and random arrests, starvation and inade-


It is shown that a pyroelectric signal from a transparent transducer, Z-cut LiNbO3, depends on the surface state of the measured sample, a Si wafer. The signal of the Si wafer with the native oxide deviates markedly from the normal pyroelectric signal. Also, we develop a three-dimensional theory of 1he transparent pyroelectric transducer method in photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS). We discuss the cases in which the pump beam illuminates the sample not only directly, but also through the transducer. It is shown that the theoretical calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental data of both PA amplitude and phase signals of Si. This result indicates that the validity of our theoretical model is verified experimentally.


The present paper deals with studies on the morphology, infraciliature, silverline system and the morphogenesis of the fresh-water scuticociliate Uronema nigricans. The characteristics of several known species of the genus are biometrically tabled.In the light of the development of its infraciliature and nuclei, 11 morphogenctic stages are described. The buccal ontogeny of U- nigricans can be expressed as follows:for the proter: PM→PM, Sc; for the opisthe: PM→ PM,M1,M2;Sc; Sc→M3 The results demonstrate that the stomatogenesis of this species (genus) is very similar to that of Parauronema and Philasterides.Based on the morphogenetic features some scuticociliates are discussed (Tab. 3). According to that, a new family, Paralembidae nov. fam. is established.


Fruit flies are a major threat to the mango industry in Ghana. Effective control of these flies requires understanding the dynamics in the population of the species present. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the population dynamics of fruit fly species associated with mango in the Guinea Savanna Agro-ecological zone of Ghana. Traps baited with methyl eugenol, terpinyl acetate, and trimedlure and the killing agent Dimethyl 2, 2-DichloroVinyl Phosphate were used to trap the flies. A total of 6,889 fruit flies belonging to the genera Bactrocera and Ceratitis were captured during the study. Ceratitis cosyra was the dominant species recorded in traps and from incubated fruits during the dry and main fruiting periods of January to April, while Bactrocera invadens was the dominant species recorded during the wet and towards the end of the mango season of May to November. Populations of C. cosyra were positively correlated with temperature but negatively correlated with relative humidity, while populations of B. invadens were positively correlated with relative humidity but negatively correlated with temperature. These findings demonstrate that fruit fly management in the study area should be targeted at C. cosyra during the dry periods and B. invadens during the wet season.


he success of spontaneously emerging innovation networks has sparked interest in deliberate efforts to build new networks and strengthen existing ones. This note describes both spontaneous and deliberately created innovation networks, discusses the factors related to success, and offers lessons and guidelines for creating new networks or supporting existing ones. To support the emergence and consolidation of innovation networks, avoid imposing formal organizational arrangements. Promote policies that provide incentives (beyond simple subsidies for participation) and an enabling environment for innovation (especially, creating market and social opportunities for innovation). Consolidate the innovation capabilities of networks through policies that support action-research and decentralized experimentation with centralized learning, the construction of local and distant interactions, and resources for participatory assessment of innovation capabilities. Finally, build capabilities of members of innovation networks by strengthening innovation capabilities in private firms and civil society organizations, building the capacity of actors willing to be catalytic agents, and promoting cultural changes in public institutions that foster their participation in innovation networks.