PURA istheleadingcandidategeneresponsibleforthedevelopmentalphenotype inthe5q31.3microdeletionsyndrome.Denovomutationsin PURA wererecentlyreportedin 15 individuals with developmental features similar to the 5q31.3 microdeletion syndrome. Here we describe six unrelated children who were identified by clinical whole-exome sequencing (WES) to have novel de novo variants in PURA with a similar phenotype of hypotonia and developmental delay and frequently associated with seizures. The protein Pur α (encoded by PURA ) is involved in neuronal proliferation, dendrite maturation, and the transport of mRNA to translation sites during neuronal development. Mutations in PURA may alter normal brain development and impair neuronal function, leading to developmental delay and the seizures observed in patients with mutations in PURA .


Adverb placement is one of the frequently discussed but not yet resolved issues on word order variation. Numerous proposals have been made to explain the order of adverbs and other material based on semantic features or structural requirements.
The structural implementation of adverbs in the GB-tradition was made via adjunction. So adverbs undergo a quite free placement in this approach. Others consider adverbs as specifiers of functional heads. This perspective leads to a more restrictive ordering of adverbs but also to a higher amount of functional phrases. Information structure was also assumed to be one important factor: There is a clear preference to separate old and new information by focus sensitive adverbs in German or indicate the topic status of subjects and objects via subject, object < adverb. To sum up: Adverbial positions and their proper interpretation cannot follow from semantics or syntax alone but rather from the interface of these two components.
Such interface effects on adverb placement between information structure and prosody are of main interest for the thesis. Results from a corpus study for spontaneous speech and a production task experiment are presented to show a strong correlation between the prosodic prominence and adverb placement in embedded clauses in German. I argue that the pre-focal position for adverbs comes to prevent a stress clash on the phonological phrase level of two lexically headed and therefore informatively enriched phrases, namely subject and object, or object and main verb. The idea for the interface is that the match between syntax and semantics requires a higher prosodic prominence on lexical categories plus the highest prominence for focused constituents. The prosodic structure dislikes stress clashes on different prosodic levels (syllables, words, phrases) and needs a rhythmic alternation, which leads to better contrasts and a faster parsing of information. To satisfy this alternation material can be deaccented or, if possible, reordered. So, the optimal word order for embedded sentences in German is the one with accented lexical phrases (usually subject as topic and object as focus) and a non-accented adverb in-between them.


The present invention relates to a drive device for a display device including a plurality of pixels that are connected to data lines, a gradation voltage generating unit for generating a plurality of gray voltages, a voltage selector selecting an output voltage from the gray voltages, the voltage selection unit changing the level of the output voltage the voltage level conversion unit is applied to the data line, the voltage level converting units the voltage selection unit and a first switching unit for connecting the data line, and directly connected to the data line and the voltage selector claim and including a second switching, operates the first switching unit and the second switching unit at different times. Therefore, when charging or discharging the data voltage to the data line, and does not use such a separate discharging transistor or discharging amplifier, while reducing the power consumption, it is possible to reduce the area of the data driver. A liquid crystal display device, a data driver, the output buffer, the data line, the transistors


The paper contains new and highly valuable data of gas bubbles and their chemical composition in winter ice from three different lakes at the same area (Torneträsk Lake) in Northern Sweden. The sampling methodology, bubble characterization and gas analyses are technically sound and address a new and important topic. The release of greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide in the boreal and arctic region will represents an important fraction of the GHG emissions, these fluxes are mostly studied during the summer season from wet surfaces. The pulse of gases escaping during ice melt should be quantified more precisely and this study documents a fresh approach to address this problem. The authors sampled four different lakes in the same region. The study therefore allows them to assess the variability of the gas trap in bubbles


Extending the applications of digital signature schemes, authenticated encryption schemes which further satisfy the security requirement of confidentiality are suitable for the applications like the transaction of credit cards and the delivery of confidential documents over the Internet. With the combination of threshold signature schemes and authenticated encryption schemes, a so-called (t, n) threshold authenticated encryption scheme allows that any t or more original signers can cooperatively generate a valid group signature on behalf of all n members. The encrypted signature can only be decrypted and verified by the designated recipient instead of anyone else for the purpose of confidentiality. Recently, Huang et al. proposed a (t, n) threshold authenticated encryption scheme based on the factorization problem. However, their scheme is not indistinguishable even under the simplest cipher-text only attack and one malicious signer can impersonate t signers to forge a valid group signature without being detected. In this paper, we will demonstrate how these attacks count and propose an improved scheme eliminating these drawbacks inherited in Huang et al.'s scheme.


Comrade Yang Xian-zhen was the outstanding Party member coming out of the Northwest mountain region of Hubei Province;as the people of his home town,we are full of proud and admiration.On his 110 anniversary,we review his tortuous and brilliant history.Through his long and tortuous revolutionary life,he has always protected the interest of the Party and the people in his words and actions,remained a Party member's spirit of being brave to keep truth and fight against the antirevolutionary and being faithful to the Party and being brave to sacrifice his life for the cause of the Party and the People,demonstrated the noble demeanour of old revolutionists,worthy of the defender of the Party and the people.


In $F(T)$ gravity theory, a Friedman-Robertson-Walker cosmological model with $f$-essence where fermion field is non-minimally coupled with the gravitational field is studied. Using the Noether symmetry approach the possible forms of $F(T)$ gravity and the non-canonical fermionic lagrangian $K$ are determined. Cosmological solutions of the condered models describing the accelerated and decelerated periods of the universe are found.


Determinations of myoclonic (photo‐Metrazol) threshold, blood volume and cardiac output were made in a group of schizophrenic patients. The threshold was found to be significantly related to both volume and output but not to body weight. On the assumption that intravenously‐injected drugs should have broadly similar concentration‐time relationships to those following the injection of measurable blood‐flow indicators the mean arterial concentration of Metrazol at threshold was calculated for each patient. Although the quantities of Metrazol needed to elicit the end‐point response were very variable, the similarity of the calculated concentrations suggested that the true variability within the group was small. It was concluded that a more precise estimate of myoclonic threshold was obtained by this method than by those in general use.


The onset of convection, in a water layer continuously formed by melting ice from above, has been obtained by the experimental determination of the water layer depth d at which the mode of heat transfer changes from conduction to convection. This was accomplished both by determining the time at which the temperature profile of the water layer started to deviate from linear distribution and by locating the inflection point in the curve relating water‐ice interface position and time. Experimental values of d (either for melting from above or below) were found with a mean deviation of 14.1% from those by theoretical analysis of a similar problem. From the present and previous investigations [Phys. Fluids 11, 1263 (1968)], it can be concluded that the critical Rayleigh number for a horizontal layer of fluid with a density inversion is not a single value as for a normal fluid with a monotonic density‐temperature relationship, but varies with boundary temperatures.


The paper addresses the improvement of dust with sealing covers. The results of bench tests and data from other studies that confirm the feasibility of adoption of aerodynamic drag coefficient (k) as a criterion of tightness equipment.


FIELD: agriculture. SUBSTANCE: proposed a composition for enhancing crop yield and a method for enhancing crop yield using said composition. Composition comprises at least one lipo-chitooligosaccharide and one or more chitin compounds selected from a group consisting of chitin or chitosan. Method comprises treating a plant or seed with composition in an effective amount. EFFECT: group of inventions provides high crop yield. 22 cl, 16 tbl, 16 ex


Established in 1973, the Council on Population Education is a group of approximately 100 experts and representatives of the mass media which holds regular study and lecture meetings at JOICFP. Comprised of experts with a broad range of different perspectives upon population, the council is an ideal forum in which to discuss and conduct research. In its advocacy role, the council organizes special symposia, lobbies the government on population issues, and sends representatives to international meetings. Former UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Yasushi Akashi, was elected president of the Council on Population Education on April 6. He will lead the council in its research and study activities on population and related issues, as well as in its advocacy efforts to raise awareness and foster support among the Japanese public. The council is already preparing for the ICPD Plus 5 conference in 1999, which will review progress made in implementing the ICPD program of action.


Three field trials were conducted from August 2007 till December 2007, October 2007 till January 2008* and February 2008 till April 2008 at the Vegetable Research Station in Anse Boileau, Seychelles to evaluate the efficacy of one botanical and one biological method for controlling the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella L.) in cabbage (Brassica oleracea varcapitata L.) under open field conditions. The treatments were Thuricide (Bacillus thuringiensis), garlic extract and the control repeated four times in a randomized complete block design. The results showed significant differences between treatment plots, where Thuricide was applied as compared to the other two treatments. The means percentage of head damage in the first two trials for Thuricide treatments was significantly lower (9, 10%) compared to garlic extract (89, 90%) and the control (94, 98%). In the third trial, the non-treated plots obtained a maximum mean percentage of head damage of 92%, followed by 74% for garlic extract and 13% for Thuricide application. These results demonstrated that the Thuricide application is effective for controlling the diamondback moth pest on cabbage.

 Key words: Thuricide, diamondback moth, cabbage, pest.


Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) is a powerful bimodal separation scheme [1] based on regular obstacle arrays that in its basic embodiment sends particles in two different directions as a function of size. We add functionality to the technique by including gravitational forces, as a perturbation to particles transported by fluid flow, and as a way of transporting the particles through a stationary fluid.


This thesis studies how reinforced steel completes digital length design after being straightened.In general,the analysis of kinematic and dynamic to reinforced steel does not be considered the role of the flexible components in institutional kinematic. The program regards reinforced steel as a flexible body and sees friction wheel as rigid body. The contact between friction wheel and steel is the rigid-flexible coupling[3].With the simulation analysis in ADAMS,I research the problem that reinforced steel produces the slide or not in different speed and contact friction coefficient, in order to determine the design and operating parameters of the cut-to-length body and ensure the accuracy. The result has a good engineering significance in the design of the length structure optimization and operating parameters [4].


Abstract There are approximately 40-50 carotenoids in commonly consumed fruits and vegetables in a typical U.S. diet. These can be divided into carotenoid epoxides, mono- and dihydroxycarotenoids, hydrocarbon carotenoids, and carotenol acyl esters. However, among these, only a selected group of carotenoids are routinely found in human plasma, breast milk, major organs, and ocular tissues. In addition, several carotenoid metabolites have also been isolated and characterized from human plasma, tissues, and ocular tissues. The proposed metabolic transformation of carotenoids in humans will be discussed. Dietary carotenoids and their metabolites have been implicated in the prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). An approach for the development of a nutritional supplement that is based on the distribution of carotenoids and their metabolites in humans will be discussed.


In studying the metabolism of ricinoleic acid in castor bean tissue, it became evident that an examination of the pathways by which fatty acids are degraded in this tissue was necessary. Since Beevers and his colleagues (2) have already thoroughly explored the 2 basic cycles by which acetyl CoA is utilized in germinating castor bean seeds, namely the tricarboxylic acid cycle and the glyoxylate cycle, much of the basic work has already been carried out with this seed tissue. This paper will further supplement the work of Beevers by describing both a mitochondrial and a soluble system which rapidly degrade long chain fatty acids to acetyl CoA which in turn then enters the glyoxylate cycle with a subsequent release of CO2.


[Objective]To investigate diabetic patients' quality of life(QOL) and related impact factors in selected communities,and to provide evidence and baseline information for intervention and evaluation.[Methods]A total of 300 diabetic patients were selected by simple random sampling from management databases of 2 community health centers in Pudong New Area of Shanghai.The response rate was 99.0%.Information on QOL and related impact factors were collected by face-to-face interview with questionnaires and analyzed by an unconditional logistic stepwise regression model.[Results]The scores of physical functioning(PF),role physical(RP),body pain(BP),general health(GH),vitality(VT),social functioning(SF),role emotional(RE) and mental health(MH) were 85,100,87.5,62,75,87.5,100 and 78 respectively.Married,understanding relevant knowledge on diabetes,good dietary and exercise habits,maintaining blood glucose level and regular health examination were the positive factors of QOL.Older age,female,extensive diabetic history,with other chronic complications and having more symptoms showed negative impact on QOL.[Conclusion]The QOL is low in selected diabetic patients.Integrated intervention is necessary to improve their QOL,including improving dietary and exercise habits,controlling blood glucose level and treating complications.


Article summarizes results of study detecting the best varieties of peas cultivated in Latvian organic farming conditions. Study was conducted with new varieties of two species of crop peas: Pisum arvense L. (Pink flower varieties) – Retrija, Almara and Vitra, and Pisum sativa L. (White flower varieties) – Lasma and Zaiga. All varieties were selected in Latvia. The best among white flower varieties in terms of crop productivity was Zaiga variety, where yield was 1.45-1.48 t ha-1. Among pink flower varieties of peas, the most productive was Almara variety, with crop productivity of 1.36-1.69 t ha-1. Retrija variety of peas excels other studied varieties by total protein content and taste properties.


The study intends to investigate the relationship between the growth of the economy and surface water pollutants in Tamil Nadu using the concept of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). The study used cross-sectional time series (panel data) data for water pollutants such as Dissolved oxygen and conductivity, BOD, Total Coliforms and Fecal Coliforms across 16 districts in Tamil Nadu for the period 2003–2019. The findings of the study revealed that there was no indication of an EKC for Dissolved Oxygen and BOD; instead, Dissolved oxygen has a monotonically declining relationship while BOD has a monotonically increasing relationship, and the first turning point is yet to be achieved for both the water quality indices. The relationship between income and conductivity found a U-shaped relationship with the turning point on Rs.131.98 billion. The existence of an Inverted U-shaped EKC relationship for Fecal coliforms and Total Coliforms with the turning point on Rs. 482.22 and Rs. 477.65 billion, respectively.


Analysis of Projected Differences 3 Data for Study 1 3 Student Opinion Survey (SOS 4-Year) 4 Survey of Academic Advising (SAA) 5 Adult Learner Needs Assessment Survey (ALNAS) 6 Method 6 Results 7 Student Opinion Survey 4-Year 7 Survey of Academic Advising 7 Adult Learner Needs Assessment Survey 8 Analysis of Explained Differences 8 Data for Study 2 8 M e t h o d 10 Results 11 Student Opinion Survey (4-year) 11 Withdrawing/Nonreturning Student Survey 12 Student Opinion Survey (2-year) 12 Entering Student Survey 12 Discussion 12 Summary 12 Student Opinion Survey (4-year) 12 Survey of Academic Advising 13 Withdrawing/Nonreturning Student Survey 13 Adult Learner Needs Assessment Survey 13 Student Opinion Survey (2-year) 14 Entering Student Survey 14 Conclusions 14 Factors influencing interpretation 14 References 16 APPENDIX A 17 APPENDIX B 21 APPENDIX C 26 APPENDIX D 29 APPENDIX E 32 APPENDIX F 38 Table 1 46 Table 2 48 Table 3 51 Table 4 53


According to short-term market respond and long-term performance change of the enterprises after refinancing equity of technical enterprises,this paper studies the influence of refinancing mode on enterprise performance,and finds out that enterprise performance is growing after refinancing equity of the technical enterprises. Hence,equity financing is helpful for financing,financing structure and development of the technical enterprises without enclosing money motivation.


Uncooled microbolometer infrared detectors are being developed for a wide range of thermal imaging applications. To design and manufacture high-performance microbolometer infrared detectors, numerical calculation and simulation is necessary. In this work, finite element methods are performed to simulate the transient temperature field of thermistor films of microbolometer infrared detectors. The varisized supporting legs' impacts on the performance of detectors are discussed. At the same time, variation of the bias voltage and the substrate temperature's impacts on total noise, noise equivalent to temperature difference (NETD) and detectivity (D*) are also discussed in details. These performance analyses are helpful for optimum design of microbolometer infrared detectors' structure and rational choice of working temperature of infrared focal plane arrays.


In this paper, we introduce the usage of enhanced Web Components to create web applications with multi-device capabilities by composition. By using the latest developments of the family of W3C standards called "Web Components" that we extent with dedicated communication and synchronization functionality, web developers are enabled to create web applications with ease. We enhance Web Components with an event-based communication channel, which is not limited to a single browser window. With our approach, applications using the extended SmartComponents and an additional synchronization service also support multi-device scenarios. In contrast to other widget-based approaches (W3C Widgets, OpenSocial containers), the usage of SmartComponents does not require a dedicated platform, like Apache Rave. SmartComponents are based on standard web technologies, are natively supported by recent web browsers and loosely coupled using our extension. This ensures a high level of reuse. We show how SmartComponents are structured, can be created and used. Furthermore, we explain how the communication aspect is integrated and multi-device communication is achieved. Finally, we describe our demonstration by outlining two example applications.


Few-layer graphene drums have been extensively studied as bulging devices to analyze their mechanical and optical properties. A controllable and efficient fabrication method of such drums is of great significance for related studies. We propose a one-step approach to fabricate graphene drums through modified mechanical exfoliation. Graphene sheets are annealed on the prepatterned SiO2 substrate with micrometer-sized holes. With such an approach, one can fabricate graphene drums with larger height using higher annealing temperature or larger holes. Larger strain within the graphene drums could also be achieved using a higher annealing temperature. The strain of the graphene drums gradually decreases over time within 24 h. The underlying mechanism is attributed to the diffusion of gas molecules initially trapped at the graphite/substrate interface. This self-consistent mechanism prevents the drums from being destroyed by the pressure difference across graphene layers in principle. Compared with the existing...


Collecting significant historical writings and re-publishing them as an edited volume is a worthy task, especially so for writings on architecture. It's time consuming. There are multiple permissions to be gained. There is the difficult process of choosing which writings to include and which to exclude. There are the complexities of outdated language and whether to abridge or publish in full. New Dreamland: Writing New Zealand Architecture is one such collection and Douglas Lloyd Jenkins is to be congratulated for bringing together twenty-eight works in a handsomely produced volume, complete with many of the drawings and photographs that accompanied the original extracts. Arranged chronologically, the writings (all published in full) range across the twentieth century with at least one work from each decade. There are well-known pieces by well-known New Zealand architects like Samuel Hurst Seager, Cedric Firth, Ernst Pliscke, Miles Warren and Peter Beaven. There is also the occasional academic work, such as Mike Austin's seminal "A Description of the Maori Marae" (1976). There are also littleseen gems like Robin Simpson's 1937 piece on workers' housing written for the Auckland University College Labour Club, which is accompanied by drawings for a block of flats that is an extraordinary and inventive hybrid of multiple versions of Le Corbusier's Pavilion L'Esprit Nouveau (1925) and Wells Coates's Lawn Road flats, Hampstead (1932-34). Three remarkable features of this anthology deliver consistency. First, there is the typically trenchant self-criticism that characterised and still characterises the discourse of New Zealand's architecture profession. These architects, especially those writing early in the twentieth century, pull no punches. Seager (1900) declared that New Zealand had 'no style, no distinctive forms of art'. Gerald E. Jones (1912) had a section entitled "Our Dreadful Architecture" and repeated former New Zealand Governor Lord Plunket's declaration that New Zealand architecture was contemptible. Frederick de Jersey Clere (1916) felt that in 'many respects New Zealanders are little more than transplanted English people'. Self-flagellation seems a well-worn path in the self-conscious search for a New Zealand architectural identity. The preparedness for frank self-evaluation in these articles is admirable and serves well as a basis to think independently for the future, a trait that persists well into the 1990s. Second, there is the emphasis on working-class housing in the 1930s. The two articles by Firth (1936) and Simpson (1937) indicate a worldliness in relation to these matters that is not just timely and well-informed but realistic. Third is the inevitable emphasis on the house as the major locus for architectural theory and experiment in New Zealand. Or is this really the case? The selection of articles in this volume certainly confirms that prevalent mantra. For in the collection, there is no hint of joyous reverie in style for its own sake, no city visions (apart from Richard Toy's 1976 musing on Auckland and the water), nor is there any hint of gloss in the adoption of modernism, nor the frisson of excitement or groan of despair at a New Zealand architecture exhibition overseas. Surely someone wrote on New Zealand's display at Wembley in 1928 or New York in 1939? One can make two criticisms of this important anthology. The first is fair, the second less so because selection for an anthology is largely determined by the necessary partial nature or messages that such a collection is able to convey. The first criticism is that the book's formal structure is not helpful in navigating its content. To begin with there is no index. For the reader who may not be from New Zealand, one needs to read it linearly to gain a picture of the country and its architecture culture. An index would have aided the reader who wished to follow themes that appear throughout the book such as timber construction, the "barn", the "bach", and modernism, or simply names like Mountfort or terms like marae that appear again and again over the decades. It would also have helped if each extract had been Book reviews and notes


Phenol is widely used by many industries and it is one of  the highly toxic environ - mental pollutants. Bioremoval is one of the most effective methods to remove phenol compared to other physio-chemical methods. Identification was carried out using 16s rRNA sequencing. Mineral salt media with 0.5 g/L phenol as the sole source of carbon. Factors influencing phenol degradation were optimised via one-factor-at-a-time and response surface methodology. Optimum degradation was achieved at pH 7.5, the temperature of 30°C and ammonium sulphate at 0.4 g/L. Using Response surface methodology the incubation period was reduced to 36 h compared to the OFAT approach where it takes 72 hours. The effect of 10 heavy metals at various concentrations was tested. The optimum values used for tempe - rature, pH, ammonium sulphate and salinity for both the OFAT and RSM have correlated with the only pH displayed the slighted difference of 7.0 for OFAT and 7.5 for RSM. This shows the closest optimum conditions for both methods. The strain is also resistance to some heavy metals usually found in polluted environ - ments together with phenol. Therefore, it can be clearly stated that Pseudomonas sp. strain AQ5-04 is the potential candidate for phenol bioremediation and further studies in the field of bioremediation. The bacterium can degrade phenol in the presence of  between 1 to 3 ppm of the heavy metals As, Cd, Co, and Zn while growth and degradation were inhibited by Hg, Ag, Cu and Ni at 1 ppm. The isolate is a potential strain for further bioremediation studies.


Lethality or the F value is a measure used to represent the effect of thermal treatment on foods, and denotes the intensity of such a treatment as concerns the death of a certain target microorganism. The Ball method is very useful and versatile in calculating the intensity of a thermal sterilization process carried out in retorts, based on the heat penetration parameters, jh and fh, specific for each product. The objective of this study was to verify the applicability of the Ball method in calculating the F0 values for products sterilized in steam retorts, previously vented using water. Such venting is an alternative procedure based on expelling the air by filling the equipment with water. The F0 values calculated for both venting processes (water and conventional) using the Ball method, were compared with the F0 values calculated using the Generic Method. For the processes vented using water, the F0 values calculated using the Ball method have always been lower than those obtained by Generic method. The differences in F0 value obtained between the two venting processes (water and conventional) using the two calculation methods were similar, confirming the applicability of the Ball method in sterilization processes in water vented steam retorts.


The accomplisthment of teachers is the garantee of the health of students'psychology.The promotion of quality education and putting new course into effect mostly depend on teachers'accomplishment,psychology accomplishment,in particular.But so far no attention is paid to teachers'psychological health in our country. Teachers should make an effort to keep psychologicallg healthy to encourage themselves.To promote teachers'self-education,improve their self-control adility,this article analyzes the main factors that affect teachers' psychology and points out the ways to avoid psychological problems,whichwill do good to teachers'health.


An attempt was made to establish in vitro and in vivo methods for screening phototoxic compounds. For an in vitro system, light dose‐survival curves of Escherichia coli were obtained. 8‐Methoxypsoralen (8‐MOP), bithionol (BT), 3,3′,4′,5‐tetrachlorosalicylanilide (TCSA), and 3,4′,5‐tribromosalicylanilide (TBS) showed photokilling activity against E. coli, whereas hexachlorophene (HEX), trichlorocarbanilide (TCC), and irgasan CF3 were photoinactive. Above a certain critical dose of ultraviolet radiation, E. coli treated with TCSA or TBS exhibited some recovery from phototoxic effects. For an in vivo system, median erythema dose, rather than minimal erythema dose, was determined for guinea pig skin. 8‐MOP, BT and TCSA proved to be phototoxic in both the in vivo and in vitro systems, but in vivo phototoxicity was not shown by HEX, TCC, irgasan CF3, and TBS, thus demonstrating a difference in TBS phototoxicity according to the system used.


A direct synthesis of 4-aryl tetralones from aromatic alkenes and O2 under visible light irradiation was developed. An organic dye, acridinium, was used as the photocatalyst in this transformation, providing a facile and environmentally friendly platform to generate a wide range of 4-aryl tetralones.


Abstract Science museums have always been considered an important informal education resource for children. However, despite extensive literature on experience and learning in the context of science museums, the roles played by digital exhibits in children's experiences are still not fully understood. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and understand the roles of different types of digital exhibits in improving children's experiences by analyzing their average holding time (AHT). The data of children's AHT on digital exhibits were collected through observation of children's behaviours on sampled digital exhibits in the Liaoning Science and Technology Museum. In addition, effects of new interactive digital technologies and digital screens were verified. Results showed that hands-on digital exhibits are more effective than hands-off digital exhibits in attracting children's attention. Interactive exhibits with touch screens are also attractive and can hold children's experience time.


This article will first introduce the similarities and differences between traditional pipeline business model and platform business model, in the meanwhile, focus on the advantages and characteristics of platform business models. Next, the article will explore the construction, characteristics and non-replicability of Alibaba's platform business model. Finally, Apple's platform-based ecosystem and hardware refactoring and their profound impact on the company's development will be discussed.


We have been developing a hand gesture based computer mouse controlling system, whose central issue is the precise controllability and the comfort of the user. The Kinect for Windows sensor provides the data to process. We have investigated 11 different hand signs inside a special zone to choose appropriate gestures for controlling. In this paper we point out the advantages and disadvantages of the potential solutions and present the preliminary results of our system.


Experimental Three tripeptides, RCA, RSA and KSA, were designed by computer modeling and synthesized by liquid phase synthesis. The crystals of α-amylase from B. licheniformis were grown by vapor diffusion method. The crystals are 0.52.0 mm in length, 0.1-0.15 mm in both width and thickness. The crystals of the three complexes were prepared by soaking α-amylase crystals in 10 mM RCA, RSA and KSA, respectively. They were cut to 0.3 mm long and frozen in the presence of 25% glycerol. The X-ray data were collected at station BL6A to 1.75, 1.80 and 1.90 A resolution respectively. The data were processed using HKL 2000 software, giving Rsym of 6.7, 7.2 and 7.8 % respectively and data completeness of 100 %. The structures of the three complexes were solved using difference Fourier method, based on the structure of α-amylase from B. licheniformis


After World War II, the Japanese began to rebuild industrially by importing American formally rational technologies and fusing them with indigenous ones. Most importantly, they integrated formal rationality with practical, theoretical, and substantive rationalities to produce a "hyperrational" system. The synergy between these four types of rationality produced a level of rationality exceeding that found in formally rational American industry. It is argued that the growth in Japanese manufacturing can be traced to hyperrationality. In this paper, the existence of hyper‐rationality, its implications for the Japanese manufacturing sector, and possible avenues for future sociological research are demonstrated.


The invention relates to a main shaft cooling device of a high-temperature centrifugal fan. The main shaft cooling device comprises a main shaft cooling section and is characterized in that a cylindrical main shaft cooling cavity is arranged on the outer side of the main shaft cooling section, and the main shaft cooling cavity is filled with flowing cooling nitrogen. The main shaft cooling device has the advantages that a sealed space is filled with the nitrogen, then a certain distance of a shaft is completely wrapped, the temperature of the shaft is prevented from being conducted in a gradient mode, and the temperature of the shaft is lowered. Therefore, damage of a bearing base and a sealing ring caused by high temperature is avoided.


Adoptive T cell transfer has been an impressive therapy for treating cancer patients, but can be inconsequential if the transferred cells are unable to engraft and persist. Our lab has found that human CD4+ T cells that express intermediate or high levels of CD26—termed CD26intermediate and CD26high T cells, respectively—display striking antitumor activity in NSG mice bearing large, established mesothelioma. Importantly, these cells also exhibit increased engraftment and persistence compared to mice treated with bulk CD4+ or CD26negative T cells. While the multi-functional nature (IL-17, IFN-γ, IL-2, TNF-α, IL-22) and heightened cytotoxicity (CD107A, Granzyme B) of CD26high T cells can help explain their antitumor activity in vivo, their ability to persist despite their effector memory phenotype is intriguing. After further evaluation, we found that both CD26intermediate and CD26highT cells express elevated β-catenin and BCL-2, as well as decreased Caspase 3 cleavage, compared to CD4+ and CD26negative T cells. Excitingly, both CD26intermediate and CD26high T cells continued to display enhanced T cell persistence and significantly delayed tumor growth when transferred into mice bearing aggressive PANC1 pancreatic tumors. Furthermore, mice treated with bulk CD26+ T cells also displayed a better antitumor response than those treated with bulk CD4+ or CD26negative T cells. Strikingly, these effects were all seen in the absence of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells, which have often been thought to be crucial for effective antitumor responses. Overall, this data suggests that the presence of CD26 on transferred CD4+ T cells could be crucial for an effective antitumor response and can be utilized to enhance future immunotherapy strategies.


A new paradigm of sensor planning is presented based on a hierarchically distributed perception net (HDPN) proposed as a general sensing architecture. In the proposed parametric sensor planning, the uncertainties are propagated in HDPN, and the sensing parameters of HDPN are iteratively modified so that HDPN ultimately generates the desired accuracy of outputs at a minimum sensing cost. The structural sensor planning aims at self-organizing an optimal configuration of HDPN by exploiting redundant sensing. Simulation study and experiment are conducted by applying the proposed parametric sensor planning method for the accurate self-localization of a mobile robot operating in a known environment with multiple range sensors. The proposed paradigm provides a formal, yet general and efficient method of representing and solving a sensor planning problem for an integrated sensor system.


Approximately one-third of the food produced (about 1.3 billion ton), worth about US $1 trillion, is lost globally during postharvest operations every year. India, being agricultural dominated country, large amount of agricultural products is cultivated each year, but due to lack of proper storage facilities considerable amount of agricultural products like grains, onions, potatoes gets spoiled /rote due to atmospheric moisture. India has incurred post harvest losses to the tune of 502,389 metric tons of rice and 133,206 metric tons of wheat. Indian farmers incur Rs 92,651 Crores per year in post-harvest losses. The main spoiling factor is moisture. Also in case of air conditioning systems like fish storages, vegetable storages with heavy latent loads, removing the moisture content prior to cooling of air will drastically increase cooling power of system. All of these factors become the reason of high power consumption and loss of food products. Through this project we are trying to build an economical machine that can facilitate food storage in humid countries like India.


Forensic development in developing Asia contributes to social welfare and more community development. Forensic science while identifying the health disorders of individuals and groups in the in the society, it plays as the savior of many at risk. Therefore, generally speaking, accessing modern means of identification through forensic science facilities, better humans will survive at any level. As social frames constantly prone to change, circumstances change too. Therefore, forensic needs to intervene to appraise the atmosphere. That is; the individuals and societies. While social change is widely occurring, social welfare in various fields is inevitable. Because of people's interaction with their physical and social environment, it makes them dependent on social welfare. Change of human needs throughout life needs specific provision of welfare.


The Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) is a wonderful tool for exposing your students to another region of the world and helping them realize their own potential for making a difference. This is accomplished through entering a partnership with a Peace Corps volunteer working in the field. Within a single school year, your students can choose, help fund, and follow the progress of a small-scale development project in a village hosting a Peace Corps volunteer. Throughout the year, they will be engaged in a cross-cultural exchange with the people of the village. The Peace Corps Partnership Program has been around almost as long as the Peace Corps itself. Soon after the first volunteers went overseas in 1961, many reported a need for more money to help the villages in which they were working. Villagers desperately needed basic improvements in their quality of life-for example, wells, schools, and health care facilities--that were beyond their ability to provide for themselves. The Peace Corps responded by developing a program through which a volunteer could apply for money to support a finite, small-scale development project. Over time, more than 4000 such projects have been funded by schools, civic and religious groups, and individuals. In 1999 alone, some 151 projects were funded to the tune of $487,967. Corcoran High School students in Syracuse, New York, have funded a Peace Corps Partnership Project annually since 1983. These projects have included one each in Asia and Eastern Europe, three in Latin America, and eleven in Africa. Our current project is helping to build a maternity ward for the people of Gonse and ten surrounding villages in Burkina Faso. The project is being managed by the Corcoran International Relations Club and supported by students in Global History and Geography classes. The total cost of this project is $7,854. We raise funds by selling student-created note cards (this year's theme is children's faces) and peace theme t-shirts printed for us by former students (Holy Shirt! Inc.). Being situated next door to John T. Roberts School (K-8) has enabled us to combine efforts in supporting projects. The younger students at Roberts have conducted penny drives; for example, in 1991 they collected 65,000 pennies to purchase a Braille writer for the first school for the blind in all of central Africa. This project, for which we raised $8,500 in construction funds, was coordinated by Rod (Corcoran 1979) and Megan Fick. Many young people in the Central African Republic develop river blindness (falaria) from the bites of a small fly; this school aims to help them live independent lives. Another advantage of working with the Roberts School is the opportunity it gives our students to teach younger children what they have learned from partnering with a Peace Corps volunteer. Our students have developed lesson plans about other cultures--language, children's games, foods, and so on--using artifacts sent back to us by volunteers. Choosing a Project How do students select a project to support? The choice involves exploring what development really means--what is helpful and what isn't--and each project has provided us with invaluable lessons about this. In considering whether to fund a water well in a village in Benin, students learned that its women had to walk seven kilometers round trip each day to get water from a river bed. The well we funded was lined with concrete rings, had a winch to bring up buckets of water, and had a long concrete trough to carry water to cattle pastured some distance away. The health factors involved in determining how to build this well provided students with a lesson in itself. The Peace Corps Partnership Program publishes a list of available projects on a monthly basis (see "Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP)," for details about how to apply). Proposed projects go through a rigorous screening before they make the list. A project must be one that villagers need and want--not just one that the Peace Corps volunteer thinks would be good for the village! …


Using the data from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and Wind spacecraft, we statistically studied the Parker spiral angle (PSA) of the solar wind magnetic field from 1998 to 2019 at 1 au. The PSA occurrences over both a Carrington rotation (CR) and a year can be well fitted by a Gaussian distribution. However, large-scale magnetic structures, such as interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs), can significantly deviate the PSA distribution of a CR from the Gaussian distribution. The PSA distributions of each CR and each year are affected by the solar activity: They are more concentrated at a relatively higher average PSA at solar maximum. There is also a weak anticorrelation between the yearly solar wind speed (v sw) and the average PSA. MESSENGER, Venus Express, and ACE observations at different heliocentric distances within 1 au show that the dominating polarities of the heliospheric magnetic field change greatly from year to year even when the solar activity is on the same level. Our results suggest that the PSA distribution in addition to the sunspot number can provide some new information on the magnetic field variation of the Sun.


An analytical solution, based on linear plate theory, shows that the maximum tensile stress in an LCD‐TV panel loaded at the center and simply supported at the four edges depends on several independent factors, namely i) glass thickness, ii) nature of the load, whether static or dynamic, iii) constraints on the center deflection, and iv) details of the cell structure, such as the size, spatial density and properties of the cell spacers and their response to the load. In the case of static load, a thicker panel will experience higher stresses than a thinner panel for identical values of center deflection. In the case of dynamic load, i.e. impact by a spherical ball, the thicker panel will also experience higher stresses than a thinner panel for identical values of center deflection. Experimental data based on strain gages and fractographic analysis of fracture origins are in progress to examine the pros and cons of thick vs. thin glass panels from a mechanical durability point of view. Dynamic loading can induce higher stresses than static loading and hence is a more sever test for mechanical durability.


FIELD: electric-optics. SUBSTANCE: multijunction semiconductor device has p-type layer, n-type layer which is made of amorphous semiconductor or of amorphous semiconductor with inclusions of monocrystals, and layer which prevents diffusion. Diffusion-locking layer is disposed between p- and n-type layers; and has thickness of 5 to 500 Angstroms, preferably 10-200 Angstroms. Semiconductor device described may reduce deterioration of quality caused by diffusion of atoms of doping material, which is present in p- and n-type layer, into the other layer. EFFECT: improved quality of energy conversion. 1 dwg, 3 tbl


Bureaucracy and Political Power. By B. C. Smith. Sussex and New York: Wheatsheaf Books and St. Martin's Press, 1988. Pp. 237. Bibliography and index. £12.95 (cloth)

Organizing Governance: Governing Organizations. By Colin Campbell and B. Guy Peters, eds. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press. 1988. Pp. 388. $34.95 (cloth)


The EMC Society has suffered losses of three major contributors to our EMC discipline. One was a part of the founding members of the Society and two were major contributors to the application of EMC principles. I am saddened to report that Sam Burruano, who was one of the founders of the EMC Society which was called the Professional Group on RFI back at the start in 1957, has passed way. In the same time period, "Bud" Hoeft, who contributed much in the area of connector and cable shielding and its application to shielding of aircraft also passed as did Dave Hanttula who first practiced EMC at a startup company called "Apple".


Human alpha-2-macroglobulin is a well-known proteases inhibitor against a broad spectrum of proteases. It also plays important roles in immunity, inflammation, and infections. Here, we report cryo-EM structures of human alpha-2-macroglobulin of the native state, the transformed state induced by its authentic substrate, human trypsin, and serial intermediate states between the native and the fully induced state. These structures exhibit distinct conformations, which reveal a dynamic transformation process of alpha-2-macroglobulin acting as a protease inhibitor. The results shed light on the molecular mechanism of alpha-2-macroglobulin entrapping substrates, and help to understand how alpha-2-macroglobulin possesses variant physiological functions.


. Neuroscience is in a period of explosive growth. To address the implications of the new findings for religion and science, Zyvon in 1996 published fifteen articles in this field. Although the authors'explorations of neuroscience and religion are various, three issues in particular are addressed repeatedly: (1) the nature of human identity, or hallmarks of humanness; (2) the nature and origin of religious consciousness; and (3) our means of discovering or constructing order and integration in the brain/mind, in the environment, and holistically. With these categories as templates, this article correlates the findings of the Zygon neuroscience contributors of 1996.


The fragmentation of the school's knowledge is configured in a harmful way to the teaching, making it harder to the student, the appropriation of knowledge and the construction of a contextualized vision that would allow them a critical perception of reality. In the trials of overcoming the fragmentation, we observe as possibilities, the usage of strategies faced with the traditional program, the inclusion of History and Biology's Philosophy (HFB) and the insertion of practical and joinable classes. Therefore, some reflexions are presented that emerged from the strategies development to the proposal of practical classes during the internship program, with freshmen groups from the High School in a public school. Strategies were developed to the cellular biology contents and its human aspects. Our challenge was made of the planning starting from the Teaching Strategies, in a perspective of reaching the Biology from the "Constitution of the Biologic Knowledge) and from practical activities that emphasize the usage of experiments and construction of models. Although many difficulties may have appeared during the process, the motivation and the envelopment shown by the students confirm the didactic potential of the strategies in the classroom and the modality of the teaching in practical classes


Like most domains of science, the study of the mind has been tackled at many scales of analysis, from the behavior of large groups of people (economics and ecology), to the diffusion of ions across cellular membranes (molecular biology and biophysics). At each of these scales, researchers often believe that the critical phenomena of interest, and the most powerful explanatory constructs and mechanisms, reside at their scale of analysis, with finer scales argued to be incapable of predicting the interesting phenomena, while coarser scales are purported to miss critical mechanistic subtleties. Here we argue by analogy that, for better or worse, researchers at all scales are correct: phenomena at each scale of analysis are intractable from other scales; thus, while reductionism is a useful scientific goal, it will not obviate the need for macroscopic research, constructs, and formalisms. At what scale should we study human behavior and the brain processes responsible? Fields at adjacent scales of analysis find themselves in similar disagreements, with every field condemning more abstract scales of analysis for failing to describe "how" various processes work, and more minute scales for missing the forest for the trees. Conveniently, the purportedly appropriate scale of analysis for studying "mechanisms" of mind and behavior usually coincides with that of the speakers' own research program. Computational cognitive scientists argue that understanding the brain requires a more abstract description of the organisms goals and available information, and claim cognitive psychologists face an insurmountably under constrained task in trying to describe the function of the whole organism by cobbling together isolated algorithms. Cognitive psychologists in turn condemn computational cognitive scientists for working with idealized learning models and glossing over specific errors and deviations from these idealizations found while studying particular psychological mechanisms.


prov.e.nance (prov'e-nens) n. Place of origin, source. [LAT. Provenire, to originate.]I HAVE WRITTEN AT LEAST ONE previous column where I featured extended excerpts from the second of Manuel Garcia's Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing in two volumes.1 The first volume was published in 1841 and the second appeared in 1847. Volume 1 is primarily the progressive method, and Volume 2 is a performance guide on how to interpret and sing the operatic literature being performed in the first half of the 19th century (much of which is still in the repertory). The only complete translation of both volumes in English was published by Donald V. Paschke in 1975.2 Unfortunately, it is long out of print and very difficult to find. There were versions of the Garcia method published in English over the years, but they are edited and abridged and leave out some of the most interesting things that Garcia had to say, particularly in Volume 2. The following excerpt does not appear at all in the 1924 translation done by Albert Garcia, grandson of the author, and is only available in the Paschke translation. It presents very useful information on the form of Italian verse and guides the singer in how to deliver the text and the music most effectively. It is clear from Garcia's words that singers have much more leeway in how to make the score work for them than we are led to believe by contemporary coaches and conductors. I encourage you to study the excerpts carefully.This is the seventh section of Chapter 1; the text is taken from the Paschke translation. The figures are scanned from my personal copy of an old parallel French and German edition which is undated, but I believe it to be the date of the second volume (1847). I have not attempted to translate the wording in the figures, but the text clarifies them sufficiently.7. DISTRIBUTION OF THE WORDS UNDER THE NOTESThe simplest practical rule is that which shows how to apply one syllable to each isolated note, or to each group of slurred or beamed notes. This rule rests on this fact, that each syllable cannot be rendered by less than one note, whereas it can embrace an undetermined number of consecutive notes.* When each syllable is sung to a group of notes, these notes are joined by one or several beams if their value will permit that method, or by a slur if that value excludes the use of beams; in this latter case, each group represents only one syllable.But, as the connections between the syllables and the notes are not always exactly indicated in the written music, in order to correct the errors which are encountered, one will have recourse to the fundamental principle that we formulate thus: have the common accent of the line fall on the down-beat of the second, third or fourth bar, according to the length of the phrase or member of the phrase relative to the verse.**In fact, the composer himself, in the greatest number of cases, has the common accent of the line fall on the down-beat of the second, third or fourth bar; and the reason for this is that these down-beats mark the limit of the member of the phrase or of the melodic line. Only the meeting of this down-beat with the common accent can indicate the rhythmic cadence. Also one never sees a weak syllable corresponding with this down-beat. The adjustment with which it is concerned will thus consist of replacing that accent on the beat which corresponds to it, then to place the other necessary accents of the line on the other strong beats, more rarely on weak beats. Examples: [Example 1]In the following aria of Handel, the translator has distributed the words badly. Handel: Samson, Aria. [Example 2]The observation of this precept assumes the profound knowledge of the prosody of the language in which one sings, as well as of its laws of versification.ITALIAN VERSEThree principal laws preside over the formation of Italian Verse:The first determines the quantity of syllables which come into each kind of verse;The second fixes the number of long or accented syllables which must indispensably be found in each kind of line, and the places which they occupy [numero e luogo degli accenti]. …


Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity of gastric lavage specimen for observation of acid fast bacilli and isolation of mycobacterium in patients proved to be suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. Patients and Methods: A total number of 886 hospitalized patients in different hospitals of Urmia City were tested for pulmonary tuberculosis. Fifty-three patients were eventually enrolled in the study and one gastric lavage specimen was taken from each patient. Results: Among these fifty three, 44 had positive gastric lavage results and 43 were positive on culture, while both positive results of smear and culture were matched in all patients proved to be suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. The highest positive rate was in 20 to 49 and 20 to 29 years for the culture and smear respectively but the lowest culture positive rate was in those patients who were in children and those over 60 years of age. Conclusion: Gastric lavage can be a valuable alternative specimen instead of sputum for diagnosis of tuberculosis in children and elderly patients if both smear and culture results are applied.


This paper suggests a comparison across various techniques of pulse width modulation (PWM) such as phase shift PWM (PSPWM), phase disposition PWM (PDPWM) and sine PWM (SPWM) applied across three phase cascaded HBridge inverter to yield seven level output in order to obtain a low distorted output waveform. Simulation has been carried out to analyse the comparison result in the form of waveforms and total harmonic distortion (THD) where it is found that that SPWM delivers lower THD and is reliable for the elimination of harmonics in the system comparatively.


Surveillance video has become an important multi-media application in recent years, with development trends toward wide viewing angles and high definition. At the same time, transmission of surveillance video over the Internet and storage in the cloud are becoming increasingly popular. However, it is extremely challenging to transfer surveillance video with both a wide viewing angle and a high resolution over the Internet because of 1) the tradeoff between a wide viewing angle and high-surveillance object resolution for a single camera, 2) the large throughput requirement, and 3) the fluctuating delay and bandwidth of the Internet. In this paper, we present a reference-frame-cache-based surveillance video transmission system (RSVTS), which delivers wide-viewing-angle and high-definition surveillance video over the Internet in real time using multiple rotatable cameras. First, we develop an efficient video mosaicing method for merging two (or more) surveillance videos together. Second, novel reference frame selection and update algorithms are proposed for the RSVTS encoder to reduce the amount of encoded data. Third, we implement a reference frame cache on both the sender and receiver sides to increase video quality by increasing the probability of video decoding. We conduct a performance evaluation using a simulation system that integrates RSVTS and ns-3. Compared with the H.264/SVC and H.264/AVC schemes, RSVTS achieves appreciable improvements in enhancing the video peak signal-to-noise ratio and bandwidth conservation.


Objective To observe the effect of calcium sensing receptor(CaSR) on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion(I/R) injury in rats and to explore the underlying mechanism.Methods Thirty Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups:sham group,I/R group and calcimimetic group(Gdcl_3 group).The rat myocardial I/R injury model was established by ligating and then reperfusing the left descending coronary artery(LAD).The levels of serum nitric oxide(NO),malondialdehyde(MDA),superoxide dismutase(SOD) and lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) were measured.The pathological I/R changes in the myocardium were evaluated by light microscopy and electron microscopy.Results In I/R group,there was significant increase in the levels of serum MDA and LDH as well as decrease in the level of serum NO and SOD activity compared to sham group.Significant increase in serum MDA and LDH level and decrease in serum NO and SOD activity were observed in Gdcl_3 group in comparison to I/R group.In Gdcl_3 group,there were patchy necrosis of muscle fibers with neutrophil infiltration,myofilament disruption,mitochondria damage,nucleus shrinkage and chromatic margination,indicating that myocardial damage of Gdcl_3 group was more severe than I/R group.Conclusion CaSR activation may be partly associated with the myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury by increasing oxidative damage.


Objective To evaluate the effect of shen song yang xin( SSYX) on neural remodeling after myocardial infarction in rabbits. Methods New Zealand White rabbits were randomly assigned into myocardial infarction( MI) group and MI +( SSYX)( 0. 4g / Kg. d- 1) group after successful establishment of model of MI. Sham operation group were not ligated in the same part of heart. Eight weeks after treatment,rabbits were sacrificed and samples were obtained from peri-infarcted and non-infarcted area. Nerve density were assessed by GAP43 and TH immunohistochemical technique. The nuclear transcription factor( NF-κB),endothelin-l( ET-1),nerve growth factor( NGF),interleukin-1β( IL-1β),tumor necrosis factor- α( TNF-α) and p75-NTR mRNA expression were examined. Results Compared to sham operation group,the densities of immunostaining positive nerve fibers were significantly higher and expressions of NF-κB,ET-1,NGF,IL-1β,TNF-α and p75-NTR mRNA significantly increased in MI group( P 0. 05 for all). Compared to MI group,the densities of GAP43 and TH positive nerve fibers decreased and expression of NF-κB,ET-1,NGF,IL-1β,TNF-α and p75-NTR mRNA were lowered in MI +( SSYX) group( P 0. 05 for all). Conclusion SSYX inhabits neural remodeling,which may be correlated with the inhabition of proinflammatory response and NGF signaling.[Chinese Journal of Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology,2014,28( 1) : 59- 62]


Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have unique characteristics, which are expected to have an impact on members of the family. However, research concerning the effects of ASD on family members has focused predominantly on ASD's impact on parents and less on its impact on siblings, especially in the context of Sri Lanka. This research attempts to address this gap and advance the understanding of the Behavioral and Emotional (B&E) adjustment of siblings of children with ASD. The study utilized a quantitative research design using a sample of 80 mothers of children with ASD, selected using convenient sampling from hospitals and institutions located in the Colombo and Gampaha districts. Mothers completed a Demographic Questionnaire, Socio-Economic Status Questionnaire, Parental Stress Scale, and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. The study found that B&E adjustment of the majority of the siblings was within the 'Normal' range (54%), which shows that siblings were well adjusted behaviorally and emotionally. However, closer to half of the siblings (46%) either had a risk (i.e., scored within the 'Borderline' range) or were experiencing adjustment difficulties (i.e., scored within the 'Abnormal' range). When siblings were analyzed according to the domains of the SDQ, the majority scored within the 'Borderline' range for peer problems, which indicates that siblings are at risk for peer problems. Additionally, the study found that out of all the selected family factors, Maternal Stress due to rearing a child with ASD and ASD severity was positively associated with sibling B&E adjustment difficulties. Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Siblings; Behavioral and Emotional Adjustment; Family Factors


The effect of wild blueberries on signaling pathways participating in the vessel response to phenylephrine (Phe) was examined in 20 week‐old SHRs after eight weeks of a control (C, n=10) or an 8% wild blueberry (WB, n=10) diet. Phenylephrine‐induced vasoconstriction was examined in aortic rings in the absence or presence of the sGC inhibitor 1H‐[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3‐a]quinoxalin‐1‐one (ODQ, 10−5M) or prostaglandin I2 (PGI2) synthase inhibitor tranylcypromine (TCP, 10−4M). The maximum force of contraction (Fmax, g) and vessel sensitivity (pD2) in response to Phe were determined.


A study on earthquake damage assessment is very important for the government to manage the disaster, in particular to rapidly respond and judge the situation systematically according to damage scale. Thus the National Emergency Management Agency in Korea is building the Earthquake Disaster Management System. In so doing, the National Institute for Disaster Prevention in Korea has made the related research on seismic fragility functions since 2005. Since the earthquake damage is evaluated in large region, this paper classified each structure according to the status and characteristics of structures, developed fragility functions on the classified structures, and applied the functions to the system. Fragility functions for bridges and railroad systems and others have been developed so far. Also, various methods such as capacity spectrum analysis and inelastic dynamic analysis are used in development of applicable fragility functions to Korea.


And barium magnesium aluminate of the present invention is characterized in that substantially has an average size of 80 to 400 nm in the form of a liquid suspension of the single crystal particle adult. Aluminate to form a liquid mixture containing a compound that is part of the aluminum compound and the other elements of the aluminate composition; Drying the mixture by atomization; Calcination in a reducing atmosphere, the dried product is produced by a process comprising the step of wet grinding the product. Aluminates of the present invention can be used as the phosphor.


The work was carried out in the Basic Unit of Cooperative Production Camilo Cienfuegos of the urban farm of the municipality San Miguel del Padron, in the province Havana, with the objective of studying the effect of the irrigation with waste waters on the yield of the cultivations sorghum (white variety C-21) and corn (Tusón variety), to increase the production of grains, dedicated to the animal feeding in the urban agriculture. The studied treatments was T1: irrigation with waste waters and upland conditions. The utilized system was of sprinkler irrigation (sprinkler 5022 of 960 L⋅h-1 spaced 12 m x 12 m). A dose net total of 1 775,4 m3⋅ha-1 of waste waters was applied, distributed in 31 irrigation; it was possible to increase the yield significantly in grains of the cultivations sorghum and corn with values of 4,29 t⋅ha-1 and 1,73 t⋅ha-1 respectively. The sorghum variety reached got a better use of the applied water with yield average 1,59 kg⋅m-3 with regard to the corn that obtained a value of 1,09 kg⋅m-3.


It is studied that the feasibility of shredded tire which is recycled from waste tires that will be used in the sewage disposal.The batch adsorption of phenol from aqueous phase under different conditions using shredded tire was investigated.The shredded tire is shown a good sorbent by which phenol can be reduced hugely as a result of adsorption(the phenol remove ratios ranged from70%to 83.19%).It is demonstrated that the removal efficiency is affected obviously by the phenol concentration,temperature,shredded tire size,quantity of shredded tire,which is benefit from low phenol concentration,high temperature, large size of shredded tire;while it is influenced less obviously by the presence of inorganic compound.


As the rapid development of computer room management technology,highly secure,highly efficient and low cost computer equipments management is becoming a goal for computer room management by all the people.This essay is focus on computer room environment,centralize control and network management which introduce some new technology and new equipment in computer room management,it also discuss the realization of computer room networking management.


Regions form one of the fundamental categories of geographical thought and analysis and yet are far from being fixed spatial entities. Analysis of the East Midlands in the 19th century highlights three important aspects of regional development. The first aspect is that causality was not unilinear. Industrialisation reinforced strong local specialisms and allegiances rather than generating the wider integrated regional economies and identities seen in other industrialising areas. The second aspect is the importance of scale. There was no preordained size for a region: coherent economic and cultural units in the East Midlands operated at a more localised level. The third aspect is the significance of temporal continuity, seen in the persistent centring of economy, social cohesion, and identity onto established urban centres, despite the coalescing forces unleashed by industrial and technological change.


Teachers' institutes for public elementary school teachers in Ontario began to be implemented in the middle of the nineteenth century as a result of the efforts of Egerton Ryerson Superintendent of Schools for Canada West as Ontario was then known. They were based on similar practices that Ryerson had observed on an educational tour in 1845 during which he visited the United States, the British Isles and a number of western European countries including Germany. After initial failures, the passage of the landmark School Act of 1871 provided the context for educational state officials to redouble their efforts to have teachers regularly attend teachers' institute meetings to further their professional development. After a series of revisions to the regulations and the appointment of a director in 1885, incidents of teacher absence began to be documented and reported to central state authorities. This resulted in a variety of disciplinary actions that culminated with the temporary suspension of Luella Dunn's – a teacher in rural Ontario – teaching certificate. Using the evidence available in the reports of inspectors, teachers' institute agendas, newspaper accounts and the annual reports of the Minister of Education, the author attempts to show that Luella Dunn and other teachers who ran foul of the regulations were produced as individuals through the effects of power. Through the regulations and procedures that defined their operation, teachers' institutes became important sites for the elaboration of pedagogy. In this role, the author will explore how teachers' institutes were a means for instilling what Minister of Education George Ross (1883–1899) termed a "self‐culture" of the teacher.


When designing a task-based language curriculum, it is essential to conduct a needs analysis (NA) to gain insight into the needs and goals of the student population (Long SLA and TBLT 6). This article illustrates the steps of the process by which an NA was designed and implemented in two university-level B2 level oral communication French as a Second Language courses to investigate students' perceptions of the TBLT approach, students' motivations, needs and desired outcomes in order to develop task-based syllabi. This article also addresses the challenges of responding to the needs of a diverse student population in order to determine thematic content and to design the authentic real-life tasks that would appeal to different individual students while taking into account the sociolinguistic and cultural context of the Francophone province of Quebec. The NA consisted of an analysis of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), an online questionnaire given to both students ( n = 48) and teachers ( n = 8), and semi-structured interviews with students ( n = 8). Despite the apparent heterogeneity of the participants in the two general purpose oral communication language classes, results suggest common, domain-independent goals and themes that would sufficiently cater to the needs and objectives of each individual in the group while also meeting the academic requirements of a university-level course.


Introduction. The foot is the foundation of health, performing essential functions for ensuring human life. The foot's disorders and deformities significantly limit the body's capabilities and reduce the quality of life, starting from childhood. A necessary condition for prevention is the assessment and control of the feet, including educational activities. The importance of such studies increases with hygienic studies of innovative forms of education. Materials and methods. The study involved 220 7-9 year children (104 boys and 116 girls), studying in an innovative form of education that implements the mode of dynamic postures sitting at a table and standing at a desk. Plantographic studies were carried out using a copy print of the trace "Bauerfiend" (Germany). For the analysis of plantograms, the Striter method was used. Various symmetrical (two-sided) and asymmetric (one-sided) combinations of right and left foot states were evaluated (11 variants in total). Results. The features of the prevalence of symmetrical and asymmetric forms of states of the longitudinal arch of the foot in students aged 7-9 years are determined. Symmetrical forms of foot conditions were found in 64.1% of children, asymmetric-in 35.9 %. The prevalence of normal bilateral arch of the foot was observed in only 28.6 % of children, flat feet-in 13.2 %, flattening-in 17.3%, elevated arch-in 4.1 %, hollow foot-in 0.9 % of children. In the course of training from the 1st to the 3rd grade in dynamic poses, positive dynamics of the feet states was noted 1.8 times more often than unfavourable. The features of the dynamics of the state of the feet were revealed: the frequency of flat feet did not change, the increased arch of the right foot decreased by 3.5 times, the left - by 11 times; the flattening of the right foot increased by 1.6 times, the left foot - by 1.8 times. It is pointed out that it is necessary to identify asymmetric states of the feet that have a prognostic value in the formation of disorders of the musculoskeletal system in children, including in educational activities. Limitations. The criteria for inclusion of children in the study were the age from 7 to 9 years and the absence of acute diseases at the examination. Conclusion. The obtained data should be considered when conducting and analyzing the results of foot examinations in the process of preventive medical examinations of the child population.


Nuclear ubiquitin‐proteasome system plays a crucial role in regulating the gene expression, transcription, and DNA repair. Proteasome inhibition causes significant changes in the transcription factors recruitment, and histone modifications. The focus of the present report is to elucidate the mechanism by which the proteasome is regulating the epigenetic phenomenon, and the effect of ethanol feeding on this regulation. Liver gene profiling analysis of rats given proteasome inhibitor, PS341, showed that several genes, such as Gstm2, p53, and Gadd45a and b, were up regulated, and several genes, such as cyclin D1, ADH1, and ALDH, were down regulated. In addition, the expression of histone acetyltransferase p300, MYST, and the histone deacetylase HDAC 4, 5, and 6 were also changed, indicating that histone acetylation changes occurred when the proteasome was inhibited. Histone H2B, which ubiquitination controls histone H3 methylation, was significantly up regulated by proteasome inhibition. In addition, methionine metabolizing enzymes, such as BHMT and MAT1a, were significantly down regulated, suggesting a low level of the methyl donor SAMe production. This study reflects the critical role of the proteasome in regulating vital pathways in the nucleus, in particular, the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate gene expression and DNA repair. Supported by NIH/NIAAA grant 8116.


This article shows the construction of an inexpensive potentiostat, considerations and criteria to be taken for manufacturing it. General purpose and low cost electronic devices were used in this proposal. Excellent results for square wave voltammetry (cyclic voltammetry) were gotten against a commercial potentiostat, this technique is basic and very widely used in the field of electrochemistry.


Abstract Purpose: This study aimed to compare obesity indices with impedance analyzed body composition data, and to investigate the association between impedance analyzed body composition data and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Methods: 123 prepubertal children (49% girls 3-to-8- year-old, 51% boys 3-to-9-year-old) who are below or equal to body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) 85th percentile were retrospectively reviewed. Height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, serum lipid profiles, fasting plasma glucose and serum insulin were measured. Body fat percentile (BFP), fat-free mass (FFM) were measured by BIA and fat mass index (FMI), fat-free mass index (FFMI) were calculated. We investigated the relationship between metabolic syndrome indicators and body composition measured by BIA. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was defined as including more than or equal to three of the metabolic abnormalities according to the modified National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. Results: The overall prevalence of MetS was found to be 15.4%(19/123). The prevalence of MetS, MetS indicators, and body composition measured by BIA were not significantly different between males and females. BMI z-score was positively correlated with BFP, FMI and FFMI (r=0.51, P=0.001; r=0.63, P=0.001; r=0.29, P=0.001, respectively), so was waist-to-height ratio (WHR) (r=0.57, P=0.001; r=0.70, P=0.001; r=0.33, P=0.001). Homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index was associated to BFP, FFM, FMI, and FFMI (r=0.305, P=0.003; r=0.359, P=0.001; r=0.331, P=0.001; r=0.24, P=0.018, respectively). Regression analysis showed chronological age (CA) and BMI z-score affect HOMA-IR (β=0.61, P=0.001; β=0.93, P=0.002, respectively) and CA was considered as a potential risk factor of MetS (Odd ratio of 3.09 and 95 % confidence interval of 1.25–7.65). Conclusion: BIA seems to be a good tools for measuring obesity but not a good tool for predicting complications of obesity in prepubertal children. Further study is needed on the risk factors for complications of obesity in prepubertal children.


In Portugal, the houses for the road conservation workers were built since the second half of the 19th century. However, it was the government of the Estado Novo that gave them the characteristics they have nowadays and made them part of the Portuguese road heritage. Although it is possible to identify some typologies in these buildings, their appearance is generally heterogeneous. The houses of the roadmen in Algarve are an exception, because they are the only ones with an almost absolute uniformity. However, they are now at risk of disappearing for having lost their function. With them, a part of the history and memory of the road construction and conservation work will be lost. The reuse of these buildings, as part of a project for cultural tourism, is probably the only way to preserve and reveal, not only the roads and houses of roadmen, but also the memories and the heritage of the region in which they are located.


A four vector computerized semi-automatic speaker identiflcation system has been developed. The ultimate purpose of this machine approach is to permit field identification of unknown talkers -- rather than to carry out speaker verification tasks in controlled environments. The four vectors presently utilized consist of 11-45 parameters each; they include analysis of 1) fundamental frequency (17-25 parameters) ; 2) power spectra (11-23 parameters) ; 3) vowel formants (32-45 parameters), and 4) temporal features (15-24 parameters). Vectors 1, 2, and 4 have been subjected to considerable laboratory analysis -- for both large and small populations and under both ideal and distorted conditions. Some testing of vector 3 and of combinations of vectors also has been conducted. The results have been encouraging and the combined identification power of these vectors, both in laboratory and field ("simucrimes") experiments, currently is under evaluation.


Recently, the digital and LSI based miniaturization technologies drastically have changed the hearing aids from the conventional single function of amplification to multiple functions. However, since the conventional hearing aids mostly control the flat gain at the center of a frequency band divided every octave to recover the auditory loss of users, so that the discontinuous gain tends to deteriorate the hearing quality due to the unnatural saw-teeth figured error. This paper proposes a solution of digital hearing aid which can be independently controlled at each audiogram test frequency and provide superb voice quality with less noise due to continuous variable gain characteristics in a wide dynamic range. The simulation results show the outstanding effect of the proposed scheme in the voice quality improvement which potential hearing aid users have considered to be a key to satisfy them.


A series of trivalent europium ions (Eu3+) and alkali metal ions (Li+, Na+, K+) co-activated molybdate phosphor AMoO4 (A=Ca, Sr) was fabricated by solid-state reaction, which could be used as supplementary lighting material for white light emitting diodes (LEDs). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns show that the lattice parameters decrease and the diffraction intensity remarkably increase when Eu3+ and Na+ ions are doped into the phosphor. The excitation and emission spectra of samples are investigated. The excitation spectra cover the region from 240nm to 500nm and have an excitation peak at 470nm, which indicate that this phosphor can be excited effectively by the emission of GaN-based LED; the emission spectra show the samples can emit red light whose peaks are located at 616nm and 624nm. The influence of alkali metal ions dosage (molar fraction) on the luminescent properties of AMoO4: Eu3+ is investigated and the results indicate that 0.25 is the appropriated dosage. The reactive time and temperature have obvious effect on the luminescent properties. The luminescent intensity will reach the maximum when it was sintered at 800℃ for 3h.


Six hundred and seventy isolates of Magnaporthe grisea collected from 13 provinces in China from 1998 to 2003 were tested for their mating type and fertility with four standard tested isolates. Results showed that two mating types, MAT1-1 and MAT1-2, exist in China. The percentage of fertile isolates was 40.3% on average, amongst the fertile isolates, 21.9% forMAT1-1, and 18.4% for MAT1-2. The rate of perfect stage formation was very different among the tested isolates. Since both mating type genes had already been cloned, a PCR assay was carried out to determine the mating type of all tested M. grisea isolates, it wasfound that MAT1-1 was 62.5% and MAT1-2 was 37.5% among the 670 isolates. In most of the tested regions, two mating types existed together. It was suggested that though the sexual stage rarely occurred in natural condition, the sexual recombination might still be a potential mechanism for the genetic diversity of Magnaporthe grisea.


Semiconductor nanowires (NWs) represent a unique system for exploring phenomena
at the nanoscale and are also expected to play a critical role in future electronic and
optoelectronic devices. For some functional NW-based devices, it is essential to have
control over position, size and directionality of NWs for homogeneous and predictive
performance. Moreover, the growth of device-quality NWs with high purity should
abstain from conventional nucleation schemes that employ foreign catalyst such
as gold. Recent progress in selective-area epitaxy (SAE) technique has allowed
position controlled catalyst-free growth of NWs, where semiconductor substrates
are masked by dielectrics with nano-aperture patterns. This is a kind of template
method, which involves a combination of bottom up (epitaxial growth) and top down
(lithography) approaches. However, the current approaches for the nano-patterning
are mainly based on electron beam lithography (e-beam), which is expensive and
not suitable for large scale productions. In this master's thesis, we demonstrate the
molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) of catalyst free InAs NWs on Si (111) by different
techniques. The first technique adapts a fully bottom-up approach for selective-area
molecular beam epitaxy (SA-MBE) growth of catalyst-free InAs NWs. Specific to
this work, the inexpensive, versatile and simple colloidal lithography technique is
applied for opening nano-apertures in a SiO2 layer deposited on Si substrates, and
methods to have control over the size and density of patterns were studied. In the
second approach, epitaxy of non-ordered catalyst-free InAs NWs was demonstrated
on substrates without lithography patterning. This is realized by generating pinholes
in the SiO2 layer using wet etching.


Note: This untitled paper was found in two typed copies among the books and papers in Kenneth Burke's personal library in July 2006?one copy folded into a heavily used Loeb edition of Aristotle's Rhetoric, the other in a small file cabinet in the library.1 The two copies are nearly identical carbon copies, probably typed by Burke's wife Libby; the original has not been found.2 The paper includes brief discussions of persuasion, identification, and dialectical symmetry (hence the current title), plus brief critiques of behav iorism and general semantics, with specific reference to Alfred Korzybski's notion of the structural differential. It was probably written in the mid-1940s, after the second edition of Korzybski's Science and Sanity and The Philoso phy of Literary Form, both published in 1941; perhaps at roughly the same time as the more extended discussions of behaviorism and Korzybski in A Grammar of Motives, published in 1945; and before the full development of Burke's ideas about persuasion, identification, and dialectical symmetry in A Rhetoric of Motives, published in 1950. The paper might have been prepared for a public lecture or for circulation among Burke's literary friends, as a brief commentary on some of the key concepts in A Rhetoric of Motives, while he was completing A Grammar of Motives or perhaps shortly following its publication. If so, then it might have been written as late as 1947.3 This paper suggests that Burke's concept of identification was in part a creative response to current issues in behaviorism and general semantics, formulated in sympathy with George Herbert Mead's observations on identi fication, communication, and community in Mind, Self, and Society and The Philosophy of the Act and in opposition to Korzybski's general semantics and his structural differential. Moreover, and more important, this paper suggests that the final section of A Rhetoric of Motives, titled simply "Order," is essential to a complete understanding of Burke's ideas about persuasion and identification since only in this last section does Burke show how competing points of view


On the basis of land resource survey,present condition of land utilization and dynamic monitoring,land resource evaluation,total plan of land utilization,eco-environmental problems of land-using and land managing information system,present condition of "3S" technology application in land resource management is explained in this paper.Combining with "3S" technology developement,application trend of land using is studied in this paper


In this study, the effects of the tuber size and different vibration positions of the planting unit on seed tuber distribution pattern with a full automatic potato planter were investigated. In the experiments Marfona potato variety were used as a seedling material. Experiments were conducted on 3 different tuber sizes and the different vibration positions of the planting units at the low, non-vibration and high levels. Seed tuber distribution pattern was investigated by the ratio skips, doubles and coefficient of spacing. As a results of the research, it has been seen that, tuber size and vibration positions affected the seed piece distribution pattern.


Introduction: Hypokalaemia may be hazardous. Methods: Potassium was measured in 9,297 patients in HOPE, & was <3.5 in 137. Results: The combined primary outcome (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke) increased with hypokalemia (22.6% vs 15.5%, p 0.023, hazard ratio 1.44). Hyperkalemia conferred no hazard Hypokalemia was more prevalent in women, in hypertensives, & with diuretics. Ramipril benefit was independent of potassium. Less patients on ramipril had hypokalaemia (p = 0.005), including those on diuretics (3.8% v 6.5%, p = 0.07). Conclusion: In high risk people hypokalemia increased the risk for cardiovascular events, while hyperkalemia did not. Ramipril was not associated with increased risk with hyperkalemia, but mitigated the diuretic induced risk of hypokalaemia; the latter may increase with increased diuretic use after ALLHAT. A diuretic/ACE-Inhibitor combination appeared safe, & may be even more popular after the ANBP-2 trial, which contrary to ALLHAT favoured an ACE-I over a thiazide. HPS & ASCOT favour statins in addition.


The causes of all kinds of breakout for CSP continuous caster in Liangang were analyzed.Moreover the concerned measures preventing breakout were proposed.


Summary-An innammatory aneurysm is defined as an abacterial special typectarheroscleronc aneurysm.The macroscopiccharacteris tics are: a porcellaneous appearance, excessive thickening of the aortic wall, and perlaneurysmaladhesions. Chronic inflam matory infiltrations, which are localized in the adventitia. can be found via microscopy.With computed tomographythe thick entng of the aneurysmal wall can be demonstrated besl. The appearance of an inflammatory aneurysm in magnetic-reso nance tomography isdescribed in one peuenr.


The drip irrigation belt needs to punch the inner dripper during the production process. If the drip hole is missed or misaligned, it will affect the growth of crops when it is used. The existing hole position detection methods are not efficient online drip irrigation. The method of hole quality detection. This algorithm uses the OpenCV module to convolve the image with filters such as Gaussian functions to obtain the low-pass filtering result of an image for edge detection, and then uses the deep learning edge detection algorithm DexiNed (Dense Extreme Inception Network: Towards a Robust CNN Model for Edge Detection) performs deep edge detection on the blurred image, and generates the corresponding edge detection graphics, and then uses the Hough transform algorithm to locate the drip groove and drip hole, and compare with the preset value, Judging whether the drip hole is qualified. Through the algorithm experiment, the overall detection effect is very good. This paper proposes a quality detection algorithm for drip irrigation tape based on deep learning and machine vision, which can achieve fast and accurate hole quality detection.


Class disruptions caused by unwanted student behavior account tor lost instruction time and reduce the amount ot learning that can take place within the school setting. There were three purposes of this study. I he tirst purpose was to determine how detentions and suspensions were used to discourage disruptive and unwanted student behavior by southern Illinois high school administrators responsible for student discipline. A second purpose of the study was to determine the extent ot satistaction ot southern Illinois high school administrators responsible for student discipline with current discipline procedures being used. I he third purpose ot the study was to identify discipline procedures other than detentions and suspensions that southern Illinois high school administrators responsible for student discipline perceived as successful in changing unwanted student behavior. A survey instrument was designed by the author to retrieve intormation concerning the types and methods ot discipline used to reduce unwanted student behavior. Southern Illinois high school administrators responsible tor student discipline were asked to respond to questions concerning detentions, suspensions, length of time a student must serve, when these consequences must be served and who monitors these consequences. Respondents were also given adequate space to enter intormat1on about discipline procedures other than detentions and suspensions they were using which had been successful in discouraging unwanted student behavior in their schools. Ninety-eight percent of responding southern Illinois administrators reported using detention as a consequence for unwanted student behavior. A teacher was usually hired to monitor those students who received detentions. A majority of the schools required students to stay before or after school for a period of 30 minutes. If a Saturday detention was required, the student was typically there for a period of three and a half or four hours. Eighty percent of responding southern Illinois high school administrators reported that they believed detentions discouraged unwanted student behavior. Most of the respondents also indicated that changes in detention procedures had been made during their tenures as administrators. All responding southern Illinois high school administrators reported using suspensions to control student behavior. Seventyfour percent of those administrators used both in-school and out-ofschool suspensions to discipline students. Eighty-eight percent of the administrators indicated a belief that suspensions did discourage unwanted student behavior. Schools were about evenly divided on individuals responsible for monitoring in-school suspensions amoung an administrator, a faculty member and a


Abstract : A system which is either working or under repair is modeled as an alternating renewal process. Data is in the form of a finite number of independent lifetimes and repair times. Several semi-parametric estimators of the probability that the system is up at a finite time t are studied via simulation. The estimators are based on an exponential approximation to the true system availability at time t and use empirical Laplace transforms of the lifetimes and repair times. Keywords: Bootstrap confidence intervals, Tables data, Random variables, Theses.


Address for Correspondence: Dr.D.Krupa Daniel, Associate Professor of Anatomy, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou P.R, China. Phone no.: +86-15626441489. E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. *1 Associate Professor of Anatomy, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou P.R, CHINA. 2 MBBS-4th Year, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou P.R, CHINA. 3 MBBS-2nd Year, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou P.R, CHINA. Background: A flexible flatfoot is considered to be a variation of a normal foot. Any deviation from the anatomical plantigrade foot is a deformed foot. Some of the deformities of the foot are: Flat Foot. The normal concavity due to the medial longitudinal arch is absent. High Arch Foot A normal foot has a medial longitudinal arch which is higher. Materials and Methods: A total population of 625, in age ranging from 5 year to 9 years in Kanchipuram district was chosen. Each individual was made to sit and the foot was brought in contact with the Foot Impression gaining Kit on white sheets in standing posture. Results: The flat feet and high arch feet evaluation was obtained by means of foot prints and the plantar arch index was established. The mean values of plantar arch index within the age group were stable and ranges from 0.72 to 0.73. With plantar arch indices greater than 1.15 was regarded as flatfeet and less than 0.10 was regarded as High arch feet. Discussion: In normal feet with presence of an arch, the stress will be distributed in an even manner so that the person will not experience any kind of pain. Under an abnormal condition that occurs due to lack of stretching of muscles, bones and tendons, there will be absence of arch among these people. In this condition, all the weight will be concentrated in smaller area on the feet and generates a lot more pain than normal. This condition might occur in both children and adults. In some people both feet will be flat and in some only one foot will be flat. Conclusion: Flat foot is highly prevalent in the ages between 5-9. The average values for plantar arch indices are stable and ranges from 0.72 to 0.73 in our sample regarded as Normal foot. Plantar arch index > 1.15 is regarded as Flat foot. Plantar arch index < 0.10 is regarded as High arch foot.


In this paper we describe the system proposed by Telefonica research for the Spoken Web Search (SWS) task [3] within the Mediaeval 2013 evaluation. This is the third year we participate in the evaluation and this time we have submitted a system based on the recently proposed Information Retrieval-based Dynamic Time Warping (IR-DTW) Algorithm. This algorithm performs a pattern matching search at frame level similar to the DTW algorithm, but with advantages in memory usage and the possibility to with preindex the search corpora and use fast retrieval techniques. Results obtained this year have been poorer than expected, most probably due to the use of a global voice activity detector that was not adequate to the varying nature of the dierent acoustic conditions in this year's search corpora.