MYCOSIS FUNGOIDES is a rare systemic disorder recognized largely on account of its dermatological features. While it may present in bizarre form it is invariably chronic, progressive and fatal; its variability of presentation often causes considerable difIiculty and delay in reaching the final diagnosis. The disease is rather more common in middle-aged men. It is generally accepted that this disorder belongs to the group labelled' the reticuloses', although there is doubt as to whether mycosis fungoides is in actual fact a disease entity. There is considerable evidence that cases initially diagnosed as such have eventually assumed all the clinical and histological characteristics of one of the reticuloses such as reticulum cell sarcoma, Hodgkin's disease or lymphosarcoma. The following case is reported as of interest since the patient was observed throughout the 3 typical stages described below. Stage I,' Generalized pruritus associated with a mildly exfoliative erythematous dermatitis and a variable degree of pigmentation. Stage II,' Infiltrative plaques on the skin. Stage III,' Tumour formation. Lymphadenopathy may be detected at any stage and the disease process may involve virtually any of the body tissues, usually in the later phases. CASE HISTORY: A woman aged 80 years was admitted to hospital complaining of progressive asthenia, weight loss, swelling of the legs and generalized pruritus. It was impossible to obtain a comprehensive history, but she had noted the above symptoms in varying degree for the past 2 years. No relevant previous history of illness was elicited. EXAMINATION: A rather emaciated woman with obvious generalized pigmentation. No buccal pigmentation was seen. No generalized adenopathy. Little of note was detected in the various systems apart from evidence of arteriosclerosis and a liver palpable I -! fingerbreaths below the costal margin, firm, smooth and not tender. B.P. 130/70. There was pitting ankle oedema extending almost to knee level. The skin was thickened, dry and lax, and showed mild generalized exfoliation. There were numerous excoriations due to scratching. There was pigmentation involving all areas, maximal over the exposed parts, varying in colour between that of Addison's disease and haemochromatosis (Fig. I a and b). The association of pigmentation, pruritus, weight loss, oedema of feet and hepatomegaly pointed to a diagnosis of a skin reticulosis, although other possibilities included Addison's disease, haemochromatosis, pellagra, atypical idiopathic steatorrhoea, leukaemia, LettererSiwe disease and Hodgkin's disease. INVESTIGATIONS: C.S.U. No glycosuria. No albuminuria. A few W.E.C. and renal epithelial cells and numerous hyaline casts. No Bence Jones proteose. E.S.R. 9 mm.jhour (Wintrobe, direct reading).


In this work the methodological foundations of mythical and the hermeneutics literary text understanding are explored as much in the psychoanalytic level as in the social-historical one. By means of a social-psychoanalytic understanding of the artistic creation, the literary form like intermediate space between the symbolization and the non-symbolization of unconscious conflicts in the text interpretation is analyzed. The counter-transference function analysis plays an essential role in the text interpretation. In this sense, not only the analysis of the relation between the interpreter and the text as counter-transferencial space is important, but also the contrast of the own interpretation with other interpretations of the text reception history. Besides, it has to be taking into account the social and cultural contexts in which the text was written and the theoretical-conceptual fundamentals where the investigation is constructed on.


In the higher education foundation experiments,due to measuring error,the experimental personnel cannot correctly analyze the rules and the results of experiments.After Introducing the method to represent the error,the cause of common measurement error and the error classification technology and other basic knowledge,the paper systematically expound the handling method of the error of the measuring result,thus establishs a set of simple practical processing technique to process the foundation experimental error of higher education,There-fore it provides a good reference for the experimental technical personnel of higher education to analyze the experimental result.


Agriculture plays a vital role in Indian economy. On considering the overall geographical space verses population in India, 7% of population is chronicled in Tamilnadu, with 3% of water and 4% of land resources. Thus an automated prediction system becomes essential for predicting the crop based on the nutritional security of the country. In this paper, effort has been made to process the uncertainties by hybridizing rough set on intuitionistic fuzzy approximation space (RSIFAS) [Acharjya DP, Tripathy BK. Rough sets on intuitionistic fuzzy approximation spaces and knowledge representation. Int J Artif Int Comput Res. 2009;1 (1):29–36.] and neural network [Hecht NR. Theory of the backpropagation neural network. Proceedings of the international Joint Conference on neural networks, 1 (1989), 593–605.]. RSIFAS identifies the almost indiscernibility among the natural resources, and helps in reducing the computational procedure on employing data reduction techniques whereas neural network helps in prediction process. It helps to find the crops that may be cultivated based on the available natural resources. The proposed model is analyzed on data accumulated from Vellore district of Tamilnadu, India and achieved 93.7% of average classification accuracy. The model is compared with earlier models and found 6.9% better accuracy while prediction.


Anti‐cyclonic eddies northwest of Luzon of the Philippines in summer‐fall are identified in the merged data products of satellite altimeters of Topex/Poseidon, Jason‐1 and European Research Satellites. The generation and propagation of the anti‐cyclonic eddies, which are confirmed by satellite ocean color data, are found to be a seasonal phenomenon that is phase‐locked to the onset of the southwesterly monsoon and the relaxation of the cyclonic wind curl in the northeastern South China Sea. The eddies originate from northwest of Luzon in summer, move across the northeastern South China Sea to reach the China continental slope in fall, and propagate southwestward along the continental slope in fall–winter, inducing shelfbreak current variations in the western South China Sea in fall–winter. The anti‐cyclonic eddy discovered by Li et al. (1998) in the northern South China Sea is found to originate from northwest of Luzon and carry primarily the South China Sea waters. It does not appear to be an eddy shed from the Kuroshio in the Luzon Strait area as alluded by Li et al. (1998) and others.


The paper presents two new remote experiments developed in the Laboratory of electric machines drives and regulation within the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Cacak, Serbia The first experiment presents the control and monitoring of eight-pole, three-phase step motor with permanent magnets. The experiment is remotely controlled by selecting the speed and direction of rotation. In the second experiment, magnetic field (pulsation, elliptical and rotating) created by two-pole, three-phase induction motor is observed and measured. Both experiments are controlled remotely by real-time video streaming, enabled by the set of video cameras.


predicates can be used to express properties of elds using integers, but reasoning about integers is di cult. We are going to employ a theorem prover to prove properties about integers. Most probably, we are going to use the Z3 theorem prover [3]. Kevin Bierho has implemented a tool called JavaSyp [1] that uses the SMT solver Z3 to formally verify Java code. We initially wanted to modify JavaSyp in order to implement Oprop, but that proved to be a di cult task. There are many details that are di erent between JavaSyp and what Oprop needs to do: JavaSyp uses borrowing and capture/release because the tool does not implement fractional permissions. Oprop does not use borrowing, but instead it uses fractional permissions. Fractions give more precision than the borrowing mechanism and we are going to implement fractional permissions. Oprop will implement the pack/unpack mechanism, while JavaSyp does not implement this mechanism. JavaSyp implements instead exposure blocks" that show how elds should be accessed. These features are closely related: when the elds of an object are unpacked (when the object proposition that encapsulated them is unpacked), we can think of them as being exposed". In Bierho 's system, there are unique" and immutable" exposure blocks. Fields can be assigned inside unique exposure blocks, with eld reads yielding the eld's original permission. Inside an immutable block, reading elds results in a weakened eld permission. The technical di erence is that in my system I do not have immutable permissions, but instead one can always write to the elds of an object (in some cases, one has to make sure that the invariant is preserved). I acknowledge that this is just an incidental di erence and the ideas of pack/unpack vs. exposure blocks are very similar. JavaSyp has class invariants, but Oprop will not have them and instead it will have invariants for objects that are shared. Our plan is to create a tool similar to JavaSyp that rst translates the code and speci cations into an intermediary language (such as those used by Dafny or Chalice, from the RiSE group at Microsoft Research [7]) and then use that intermediary tool together with Z3 to obtain the nal result. 9 Validation and Evaluation We will evaluate the usefulness of the Oprop tool and of the object proposition methodology by designing a user study where we observe how the Oprop plugin improves the e ciency of programmers. We will also try to solve the open problem Finalizers, that will be described below, using our methodology. We have already made some contributions to the speci cation and veri cation of the Composite pattern, and we will nalize the veri cation of the Composite pattern.


The development of fault tolerance techniques to enhance systems dependability is becoming an unavoidable task as IC industry enters in the nanoscale era. However, before consider the fault tolerant design, an accurate method of reliability evaluation is necessary. The knowledge of the natural error masking capabilities of a given circuit will be essential to handle design tradeoffs in the conception stage. This paper is intended to deal with improvements in the reliability computation of logic circuits using the probabilistic transfer matrix (PTM) approach. We propose an algorithm that reduces memory requirements and can improve run-time performances in the most significant stage of the PTM algorithm, keeping the same accurate reliability analysis.


The simultaneous removal of NOx and soot was studied over catalysis, such as La0.8K0.2MnO3, La0.9K0.1CoO3 and Cu0.9K0.1Fe2O4. The results showed that La0.8K0.2MnO3 catalyst showed the excellent catalytic performance for the removal of NOx and soot in the excess oxygen atmosphere. When the experiment was carried out with La0.8K0.2MnO3 assisted by plasma in the same gases condition, the results displayed that plasma improved the catalytic activity for simultaneous removal of NOx and soot, and reduced the combustion temperature of soot. As a consequence, the ignition of soot was reduced from 300℃ to 280℃, and the burning out temperature was also decreased from 425℃ to 380℃. The conversion efficiency of NOx to N2 was also improved by plasma.


After Vergil's Aeneid, no text so thoroughly informed the early imperial Roman literary imagination as Ovid's Metamorphoses (published 8 AD). This chapter examines the impact of the literary and imperial programs of the Metamorphoses on Lucan's civil war poem, for the Bellum Ciuile is the first example of largescale negotiation of the Aeneid through the lens of the Metamorphoses. I argue that Lucan draws on Ovidian subjects, themes and poetic techniques to trace fissures in the optimistic Virgilian epic paradigm.


The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy's (FE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), in partnership with private industries, is leading the development and demonstration of high-efficiency solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and fuel cell turbine hybrid power generation systems for distributed generation (DG) markets. The DOE FE DG program has three aspects: the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA), Central Power Systems, and the High Temperature Electrochemistry Center (HiTEC). NETL is partnering with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in developing new directions in research under SECA for the development and commercialization of modular, low-cost, and fuel-flexible SOFC systems. The SECA initiative, through advanced materials, processing, and system integration research and development (R&D) will bring the fuel cell cost to $400 per kilowatt (kW) by 2010 for stationary and auxiliary power unit markets. The SECA program is currently structured to include six competing industry teams supported by a crosscutting core technology program. DOE is ultimately concerned with coal-based central power plants. Advanced aspects of solid oxide technology are part of HiTEC R&D.


Calculated and observed X-ray powder patterns of three ambient temperature modifications of tridymite: L1-T O (=ordered low-tridymite MC), L2-T D (=disordered low-tridymite PO 5/10 ) and L3-T o (=ordered low-tridymite MX-1) are reported. Deviations in the diffractograms due to texture effect, stacking disorder and intergrowth of different modifications which complicate identification and indexing are discussed. Changes of unit cell dimensions due to thermal expansion and phase transitions were measured from room temperature to about 700 o C. Near 160 o C all ordered and slightly disordered tridymite polymorphs transform to monoclinic high tridymite H3-T (OS) with non-integral modulation, at about 210 o C to orthorhombic high tridymite H2-T (OC) and finally at about 400 o C to hexagonal high-tridymite H1-T (HP)


T2 esophageal cancer refers to the invasion of esophageal tumors into the esophageal muscularis propria, of which staging, treatment and prognosis are more general and controversial than other stages of esophageal cancer. Although the TNM staging system for esophageal cancer has been continuously improved, T2 esophageal cancer has not been further subclassified. The accuracy of the current staging method has also been questioned. Accurate staging has important significance for the treatment of T2 esophageal cancer and prognosis. Although treatment has improved significantly in recent years, from surgery alone to surgery-based comprehensive treatment, from postoperative chemotherapy to preoperative neoadjuvant treatment, the treatment of T2 esophageal cancer is still inconclusive. Accurate staging and proper treatment have a significant impact on the prognosis of T2 esophageal cancer. In recent years, studies on T2 esophageal cancer have progressed rapidly, and the content of research has become more and more profound. This article reviews the research progress on the staging, treatment and prognosis of T2 esophageal cancer, providing reference for further improving the accuracy of T2 stage esophageal cancer staging, the scientific treatment plan and prognosis.


Understanding human driving behavior is crucial to develop autonomous vehicles' algorithms. However, most low level automation, such as the one in advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS), is based on objective safety measures, which are not always aligned with what the drivers perceive as safe and their correspondent driving behavior. Finding the bridge between the subjective perception and objective safety measures has been analyzed in this paper focusing specifically on lane-change scenarios. Results showed statistically significant differences between what is perceived as safe by drivers and objective metrics depending on the specific maneuver and location of drivers.


This article addresses the John M. Berecz incidence of and issues related to Pastoral Psychology (2002) heterosexuality, homosexuality and 50 # 3 pp. 139-146 bisexuality. It is the first article in an "In a culture obsessed with entire issue (with 16 other articles) sexuality as entertainment, the which addresses issues of sexuality followers of Christ call others to view which pastoral counselors may h uali "1 . te . thei racti uman sex ity not pnman y m terms encoun r m err p ceo f .. . b o eroticism, power or procreation, ut A comparativeanalysis is made of rather in terms of psychological social le~g theories, intimacy." (p. 139) This is Berecz' neopsychoanalytic theory and central message. He summarily biological factors for their ability to dismisses the fundamentalists on both explain sexual orientation. the left ("political-correctness police An interactive, developmental who seek to enforce their own liberal model is then presented by the authors biases with the same fervor and rigidity in which both biological and they despise in their conservative socio-cultural factors are described as counterparts.") and the right ("who feel having an interactive effect upon the sexuality is a personal matter and who development of a person's sexual prefer to confine all detailed orientation. discussions of sexuality to the privacy The Balswicks introduce the of the bedroom.") matter of human agency as an He argues that orgasms are not important aspect of counseling persons entertainment. about their sexual behavior. They "It was God after all, who conclude in part: :'A ~y ~ntegrative invented orgasms. God could have had theory of sexual. dl,:erslty wtll.hav~ to us propagate by pollination, or in some go beyond co~ldenng only biological other boring manner, but He didn't. and psychosocial factors as the only The Creator chose to meld intimacy focus. The development of moral with excitement, and even allowed us con~enceJ character and responsible to join Him as co-creators." choice is the crucial aspect of sexual . maturity and authenticity for all Bere~z l~ a. pro~es~r at . . . Andrews University tn Michigan, a persons. Whereas deficiencies In h I f th S th D Ad ti t bi h ial . . sc 00 0 e even ay ven s io-psyc O-SOCI input presents certain Ch h challenges and struggles for individuals urc. as they seek sexual congruence and authenticity, everyone must come to grips with the deeper moral and


Optimal allocation of deposits (resources) and facilities (expenditures) are among the most important strategies of banks. Optimal allocation of resources in various economic sectors leads to targeting of funds collected by banks. Optimal allocation of expenses, in addition to obtaining returns in excess of the cost of attracting resources, leads to rapid and timely response to bank customers. The purpose of this study is to provide linear programming models to determine the optimal combination of resources and expenditures of banks with the approach of reducing the cost of money. The tools used in this research are linear programming models and the data used is quantitative. The results of this study showed that all five factors (electronic banking, physical factors and conditions, service factors, communication and human factors and financial factors, respectively) were effective factors in attracting resources. They are influential in the bank, respectively.


This paper presents a Vision based Driver Assistance System (VDAS) for safe and efficient driving based on computer vision and artificial intelligence technologies. The proposed system is composed of three functions: (1) blind spot warning to assist lane change, (2) lane departure warning to inform the driver of unintended lane departure, and (3) parking assist to guide parking to driver by overlaying of parking guide line on A/V monitor in vehicle. To develop the VDAS including above three applications, the authors used two DSP chips for image processing, an ECU to control system, two cameras mounted to side mirrors and A/V monitor. In this paper, the authors show how each function is operating and descript key algorithms of each function. Evaluation results show that proposed system is useful to assist driver.


ABSTRACT:The present study seeks to examine consumer demand for fruit and vegetables and potential economic responses to changes in income and price in urban and rural Bangladesh. Despite efforts by the Government of Bangladesh to promote fruit and vegetables to reduce the incidence of noncommunicable disease, per-capita daily intake has remained as low as 211 grams compared to the minimum requirement of 400 grams. Although the existing literature indicates some regional and gender-based variation in vegetable intake, specific knowledge of this variation remains poor. Recognizing the urgency of reducing non-communicable diseases, a primary household expenditure survey was conducted during 2018-19 in selected communities of the City of Dhaka South and rural areas of Sylhet Division. The objective of the study was to determine the demand for fruit and vegetables based on household income and the price elasticity of fruit and vegetables. These estimates were made by using the nonlinear Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) model. The results revealed that expenditure on fruit and vegetables was not significantly different between male and female-headed households, while in urban areas a rise in income led to greater spending on fish, meat, fruit, and milk rather than vegetables. Pure price effect also showed that vegetables were not yet an established substitute for fish and meat. The QUAIDS model was used along with the survey data to estimate the expenditure elasticity and price elasticity of seven food groups (vegetables, fruit, rice, wheat and pulses, fish and meat, spices, milk) according to geographical region. Higher income tended to increase consumption of vegetables and rice more in rural areas (vegetables 1.01 and rice 0.81) than in urban areas (vegetables 0.94 and rice 0.15). Female-headed households did not exhibit significantly different fruit and vegetable consumption compared to male-headed households, though it is possible that greater income-generation opportunities in rural areas might increase the decision-making power of women and lead to an improvement in dietary behavior. Further policy attention should be given to public campaigns and social marketing regarding the health benefits of fruit and vegetables consumption accounting for different socio-economic and cultural norms in the rural urban areas.


Sodium thiosulfate (Na2S2O3) has been tested in a pilot plant as an oxidation inhibitor in flue gas desulfurization by lime and limestone slurry scrubbing with and without MgO and adiplc acid additives. The effectiveness of thiosulfate is proportional to the inhibitor product, defined as the product of thiosulfate concentration (M), calcium concentration (M), and the moles of SO2 absorbed per hour per liter of hold tank volume. Gypsum saturation was less than 100 percent and scaling was eliminated when the inhibitor product exceeded 0.3 × 10−6(gmol/L)3/h. Thiosulfate was relatively more effective in systems with chlorides and less effective in systems promoted by MgO. An inhibitor product greater than 10−6(gmol/L)3/h significantly enhanced dewatering of solids from limestone scrubbing. SO2 removal and/or limestone utilization were increased in systems that started with less than 10 mM dissolved calcium.


The expected increase in building activities on the African continent and the anticipated future vulnerability of the continent in the face of climate change require investigation. This paper compares the building regulatory practices in 10 African countries to determine their responses to climate change. Various studies highlight the contribution of the built environment to total global greenhouse gas emissions, which mainly includes Water vapour (H₂O), Carbon dioxide (CO₂), Methane (CH₄) and Nitrous oxide (N₂O). Additionally, the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions, specifically CO₂ and construction activities, is generally accepted due to increased energy use (IPCC, 2019). With just 10 years left, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are unlikely to be achieved by 2030. This exploratory study aims to establish whether the built environment of the 10 identified countries are currently taking any action towards the climate change effects and, if so, to determine their response and format. The paper reviews and compares present-day built environment regulatory policies on the African continent, focusing on energy efficiency measures. The results could be interpreted as a baseline when evaluating current policies, making the study beneficial to the selected countries and the broader African built environment. The study points towards a lack of building energy codes by the biggest emitters on the African continent. As part of the recommendations, African countries are encouraged to consider revising the regulatory documents governing the built environment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the continent. Keywords: Building regulatory practices, climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency policies


SYSTOLIC PRESSURE AND CARDIAC OUTPUT After isovolumetric contraction of ventricles, aortic valve open and push the blood into aorta. This is called the cardiac output of the heart. The blood comes into aorta with pressure and this pressure stretches the aorta. Hence whenever cardiac output is increased, the pressure in major arteries thereby increase and systolic pressure goes up. If cardiac output drops, the amount of blood per systole pumped into major arteries falls and systolic pressure goes down. So if cardiac output increase, systolic pressure increase If cardiac output decrease, systolic pressure decrease


The presence of sulfur compounds in fuel oils causes concern both during refining processes (due to catalyst deactivation and corrosion) and during the fuel end-use, since the fuel combustion generates the emission of oxides. The main environmental concern from SOx emission is related to respiratory problems.Sulphur oxides (with water) also produces sulphuric acid, the main cause of acid rain and corrosion. Furthermore, when the emissions are in the form of sulphate particles, sulfur also contributes to the formation of particulate matter.


This paper analyzes on the malpractices existing in the decentralized funds management mode,and puts forward some presumptions of carrying out the centralized funds management.


This volume by William M. Gorvine contains an interesting study of the life of Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (Shar mdza bKra' shis rgyal mtshan, 1859–1934), one of the most influential masters of the enti...


In this paper, operator-based robust control system for an L-type arm vibration of crane system is investigated. Firstly, the L-type arm is divided into vertical part (arm 1) and horizontal part (arm 2), the vibration dynamics of arm 1 and arm 2 are modelled based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. Secondly, based on nonlinear operator control theory, a nonlinear control system is designed to suppress the vibration of arm 1 by controlling the motion of the motor, and an operator-based nonlinear control scheme is proposed to control the vibration of arm 2 by using piezoelectric actuator considering the hysteresis effect. Finally, using parameters of the real experimental system, simulation is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.


What does God do with the "holes" or "troumatisms" that comprise the limits of our existence, that "original solitude" whereby we are confronted with the impending annihilation of all sense? Are we left enclosed in it or does God accompany us there? This essay considers to what extent Christ's descent on Holy Saturday takes part in the extra-phenomenal "impossibility of possibility" of this original solitude. Such a consideration requires distinguishing between that "underworld" Christ descends to on the Second Day from the sin that is the proper domain of "hell." Christ descending to the underworld marks God entering our finitude so it may be transformed (Holy Saturday) rather than our faults so that we may be resurrected (Last Judgment). Philosophically, Holy Saturday, as the ab-sense and non-sense residing between Crucifixion (Good Friday) and Resurrection (Easter Sunday), exemplifies the extra-phenomenal in which nothing is manifested (phenomenology) nor signified (hermeneutics). This intermediate realm is then one in which God comes to meet us at the limit of our own finitude.


Lived experiences in organizational liminal spaces 'betwixt-and-between' have begun to attract scholarly attention, but the full potential of liminal spaces in contemporary mobile and fluid working life has remained unexamined. This article contributes to theory by showing how a liminal experience in an alternative work environment is created via three dimensions: the aesthetic experience of a different environment, situated practices, and changes to work and life rhythms. Interview material was gathered from creative professionals working temporarily in a rural archipelago environment. The results suggest that the contrast of working in a calm natural environment supported experimentation with work practices, nurtured the formation of a communitas, and spurred imagination and reflection. The arrangement's temporary nature heightened the intensity of participants' experiences. However, this intensity varied depending on work community configurations and participants' personal needs for change. This study deepens the current understanding of liminal spaces by showing how the nuances of physical and social spaces contribute to liminality and how liminality alters work rhythms. Future research should focus on how liminal workspaces can be created for individuals seeking a change in routine and increased community support.


Amperometric NO2 sensor with solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) and with a new type of carbon working electrode was developed. The electrolyte is based on 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [EMIM:TFSI] immobilized in poly(vinilidene fluoride) matrix. The analyte, gaseous nitrogen dioxide, was detected by reduction at -500 mV vs. platinum reference electrode. The sensor showed almost a linear behavior and its sensitivity was 2x10 -6 A/ppm in the whole tested range, i.e., 1 - 10 ppm. The rise/decay time was of order tens of seconds. It has been demonstrated that glassy carbon is good candidate for preparation of the working electrode. The designed topology of the sensor is suitable for screen printing technology.


FISHER, J. B., GOH, C. J. & RAO, A. N., 1989. Non-axillary branching in the palms Eugeissona and Oncosperma (Arecaceae). The south-east Asian palms, Eugeissona (Calamoideae) and Oncosperma (Arecoideae) are multiple-stemmed. The morphology and development of branching in two species of each genus were examined in Singapore, Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula. Cultivated seedling and adult plants of 0. tigillarium were also observed in Florida. A new shoot arises most often from a longitudinal abaxial groove at the base of an enclosing leaf sheath. In some instances, especially in E. tristis, the enclosing leaf has two equal, adjacent grooves such that any distinction between an original mother shoot and a lateral daughter shoot is impossible. No axillary buds occur in Eugeissona which is hapaxanthic. In Oncosperma, which is pleonanthic, axillary buds are absent from young pre-flowering stems, but an inflorescence bud occurs in the axil of each leaf in older aerial stems. Early ontogenetic stages of vegetative branching, as seen in sectioned apices, indicate that a new vegetative shoot is present on the abaxial base of the first (youngest) leaf primordium. There is no ontogenetic evidence for the displacement of an originally axillary meristem as previously described for the palm Salacca (Calamoideae). Shoot development in Eugeissona is interpreted as a putative dichotomy of the apical meristem in which the meristem centres commonly develop unequally. In Oncosperma the smaller sucker bud meristem may be described as an abaxial leaf base bud, but ontogenetic variations indicate this form of branching is close to dichotomous branching. These new examples of non-axillary branching are compared to similar cases previously reported for palms and other monocotyledons.


Background: Water supplied by vendors furnishes a valuable service for communities with limited or no access to piped water. Oftentimes the consumer will not be aware of the source of the water and...


It has important significance to carry out real-time supervision on Major Hazard Installation(MHI) to avoid accident occurrence.At first,the key technologies of ArcIMS Java Connector and AJAX to develop WebGIS were studied,then the model and the way of accomplishment to the development of MHI WebGIS were poposed which based on the combination of ArcIMS Java Connector,AJAX technology and MHI business logic.The technologic realization of real-time information publishing was emphased on.The system had many functions,such as the query,analysis,forecast,process information presentation,assistant decision etc.Finally a good result was gained after the system was applied.


Coronavirus infection is a group of infectious diseases caused by various coronavirus serotypes (SARS-CoV, SARSCoV-2) and is extremely dangerous for human body and health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, neurological disorders, which were manifested by such symptoms as dizziness, headache, ischemic stroke, and intracerebral hemorrhage, were noticed in patients. As statistics show, these manifestations of neurological disorders were observed mainly in patients with vascular pathology, coagulopathy, and in critical conditions. Stroke is the main cause of neurological disorders and death; therefore, it requires a more detailed analysis of the course of pathology, patient management, and preventive measures against the background of the novel coronavirus infection.


Objective
To investigate the manifestations and diagnostic value of imaging examinations in pancreatic cystic neoplasm.

Methods
Clinical data of 95 patients with pancreatic cystic neoplasm who were admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital, College of Medical Sciences, Zhejiang University between January 2014 and December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Among the patients, 37 were males and 58 were females, aged 10-80 years old with a median age of 54 years old. Sixteen cases were diagnosed with serous cystic neoplasm (SCN), 11 with mutinous cystic neoplasm (MCN), 21 with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), 12 with cystic solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN), 24 with cystic pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm (PNEN) and 11 with cystic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The informed consents of all patients were obtained and the local ethical committee approval was received. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) manifestations of the patients with pancreatic cystic neoplasm were analyzed, and the diagnostic accuracy was calculated.

Results
SCN was characterized with multiple small cysts. MCN was characterized with a clear border, single lumen and thick wall lesion, mainly occurred in the pancreatic body and tail. IPMN was characterized with lesions connected to the main pancreatic duct. Dilation of varying degrees in the main and branch pancreatic duct dilation were observed. Cystic SPN was characterized with gradual enhancement, but the enhancement intensity was lower than that of pancreatic parenchyma. Cystic PNEN was characterized with evident enhancement in arterial phase. Cystic pancreatic adenocarcinoma was characterized with insufficient blood supply complicated with surrounding tissue invasiveness or distal metastasis. The diagnostic accuracy of CT and MRI was the lowest for SCN (29% for CT and 14% for MRI), and highest for cystic PNEN (89% for CT and 100% for MRI).

Conclusions
Due to the nonspecific clinical manifestations of pancreatic cystic neoplasm, imaging examination remains the main method for the diagnosis. It has high value for the diagnosis of most pancreatic cystic neoplasms and the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant tumors.

Key words:
Pancreatic cyst; Neoplasms, cystic, mucinous, and serous; Diagnosis, differential


FIELD: process engineering. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to production of microporous multilayer membranes and may be used for fabricating storage battery separators. Proposed membrane comprises microporous layer made from polyethylene resin, and microporous layer made from polypropylene and thermal resin with fusion or vitrification temperature of 170°C or higher. Or, membrane has microporous layer made from polyethylene resin, and microporous layer made from polypropylene and inorganic filler with relation between filler particle long and short axes making 2 or more. Content of inorganic filler makes 0.1-15 wt % per 100% of resin component in mixed layer of polypropylene/inorganic filler. EFFECT: well-balanced permeability, mechanical strength, anti-thermosetting properties. 8 cl, 3 tbl, 9 ex


We report a term neonate presenting after birth with shock and cyanosis for which he was intubated. Echocardiography showed no contractions of the left ventricle. Systemic circulation was provided by the right ventricle via shunting through the arterial duct. Left ventricular dysfunction was confirmed by electrocardiography and increased troponin T levels. Hemodynamics quickly improved, and the child could be weaned of the ventilator without residual problems. We concluded that the patient suffered from transient myocardial ischaemia. At 3 weeks of life, we performed delayed‐enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DE‐MRI) of the heart which did not show signs of permanent macroscopic damage of the myocardium.


An 80-year-old man living in Frejus in southern France had a cellulitis on the right arm (Figure 1). The patient had no fever, chills, systemic symptoms, or other clinical signs. He felt a slight pain in his arm during the night and while folding his arm, he crushed a spider. The spider's body was immediately recovered and then identified by an entomologist (Figure 2). This typical skin lesion and the spider identification defined this spider bite as an envenomation by a Loxosceles sp. spider.1 The outcome was good after only antalgic treatment.

Figure 1.

Skin reaction after a Loxosceles sp. spider bite, showing the red, white, and blue sign (arrows), day 0–13, southern France.

Figure 2.

A, Enlargement of the head and eyes of the spider in B. Identification of the genus Loxosceles was based on six eyes in a curved row on the upper part of the body (prosoma). The species L. rufescens can be suspected because of the geographic location ...

Infections with herpes zoster virus, herpes simplex virus, and Panton-Valentine toxin-positive Staphylococcus aureus can be misdiagnosed as necrotic arachnidism.1 Nevertheless, the characteristic red, white, and blue sign visible for the first few days (Figure 1) has been associated with loxoscelism. This sign is a consequence of erythema, ischemia, and thrombosis observed from the periphery to the center of the lesion. Loxosceles rufescens was suspected because it is endemic to Mediterranean regions (L. reclusa is not endemic to this region).2


ABSTRACT The container shipping industry is receiving growing attention in driving the performance of global supply chains. This phenomenon has accelerated supply chain integration (SCI) within the industry. Although SCI could offer numerous benefits, it is often quoted to be implemented easier in theory than in practice. The high failure rate that is associated with SCI is often not addressed in the literature. Grounded on resource-based view (RBV) theory, this paper is aimed at identifying the critical success factors (CSFs) and examining their influence on SCI and supply chain performance (SCP). Survey questionnaires were administered on 164 container shipping firms. The constructs were validated empirically using confirmatory factor analysis and were subsequently analysed using structural equation modelling. The proposed CSFs in this study are found to be positively corelated with SCI, which, in turn, is positively correlated with SCP. This paper has contributed to both theory and practice by applying RBV theory to identify the key resources and capabilities that are necessary for SCI in the container shipping industry.


Abstract Travelers encounter new sales people as they enter a hotel. Proxemics models suggest that if a seller invades a buyer's intimate space without a relationship, buyers react negatively and withdraw. In addition, the gender of the seller plays a role in the encounter. This study examines the impact of conversational distances and the image of the salesperson on expected satisfaction levels for a new service. The current study does lend support to the theory that social distances are important in developing relationships with the buyer and the personality of the seller has the most impact at intimate distance levels. When gender is added to the conversational distances, there is an added emphasis on the image of the salesperson with social distances reflecting a more positive image for same sex dyads. However, the results remain inconclusive on whether distance impacts the expected product satisfaction levels for a new service. The importance of proxemics and its effect on travelers during the initial sales contact in hotels is a factor in which little scientific study has been done, and yet there are valuable implications for this work.


The present invention relates to a turbine flowmeter sensor adjustment devices and methods. A method is disclosed herein a turbine meter is calibrated by adjusting the position of and apparatus for electromagnetic sensor. In one embodiment, the turbine flowmeter comprising a flow tube, a plurality of electromagnetic pickup and the positioning plate. The electromagnetic pickup is configured to rotate within the flow indicator detects the flow tube. The pickup is secured to the positioning plate. The positioning plate is configured to provide the pickup adjusting the lateral position relative to the flow tube.


It is very common to use a polyline as cookie cutter to split regions and polylines, however the tools of MapInfo wasn't defined and errors always occur when using these tools to handle some maps. In this paper the author brings forward a new method which can split regions by a polyline as cookie cutter. Compared to the tools which the MapInfo offers, the paper analyzes the characters, advantages and shortcomings of this method. Besides, some codes were put forward to illuminate how to put it into practice, which also prove this method is effective.


This study describes the development of two methods for delivering exogenous materials into Euglena gracilis, a unicellular flagellate organism. We report that the use of Pep‐1, a short cell‐penetrating peptide (CPP), or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) can mediate fast and efficient intracellular delivery of exogenous materials into E. gracilis, achieving cellular entry efficiency as high as 70–80%. However, compared with human cells, the penetration of this algal cell with CPP requires a much higher concentration of purified proteins. In addition, upon convenient treatment with DMSO, E. gracilis cells can efficiently adsorb exogenous proteins and DNA with 10% DMSO as the optimal concentration for Euglena cells. Our results provide more options for the E. gracilis transformation 'toolkit box' and will facilitate future molecular manipulations of this microalgal organism.


The invention relates to a protease K and application thereof. The protease K has a nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No. 2 and an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No. 1. The protease K screened in the invention cuts carboxyl-terminal peptide bonds of aliphatic amino acids and aromatic amino acids, can be used for preparing chromosome DNA for pulse electrophoresis, western blotting and removal of nuclease in preparation DNA and RNA, can also be used for extraction of non-protein components in tissue for degradation of foreign matters containing protein, e.g., DNA vaccine and heparin preparation, and has an industrial production application value. A screened protease K gene can be used for transformation of engineering bacteria so as to obtain recombinant bacteria expressing protease K.


Taxol, a kind of terpenoid secondary metabolite produced by Taxus and its endophytes, is an effective anticancer drug that manufacture relies mainly on the extraction of Taxus. In order to solve the resources shortage, a lot of work has been done to develop the alternative method. This review summarizes the recent advances in the cell culture of Taxus and the combinatorial biosynthesis of taxol. It will have reference value on the further study of taxol biosynthesis.


China's modern tragedy in a spirit of China's modern social "internal and external problems," the reality of soil, a sense of crisis, protests and deep sense of the pain experience, and other characteristics, Modern Literature in the specific performance:as a type of tragic drama was clearly advocated that traditional narrative literature in the "happy" ending be broken and heroes of the tragedy and its noble characteristics can be fully displayed. In a certain sense, the tragedy of modern China is the spirit of modern Chinese literature of the important performance, but also classical Chinese literature from the important transition to a modern characterization.


A new ethanol/gasoline on-line mixing injector was presented and simulated for avoiding the shortcoming of poor water resistance and short storage and transportation period of gasohol.The simulation results showed that the spray process of on-line mixing injector was similar as gasoline injector,and the proportion of ethanol was determined by diameter of ethanol tube and opening duration of up-solenoid valve and down-solenoid valve.High efficiency and low emissions of engine might be completed by changing ethanol/gasoline mixing ratio on real-time.


Strategies for Reducing Nonprofit Organizations' Employee Turnover by Tamara Searight MS, Walden University, 2014 BS, SUNY University at Buffalo, 2008 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration Walden University April 2019 Abstract Employee turnover is an inherent challenge encountered by managers at nonprofit organizations. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies some community-based organization managers used to reduce employee turnover in western New York. Five organizational managers were selected who had successfully implemented strategies to reduce employee turnover. Herzberg's 2-factor theory was the conceptual framework for this doctoral study. Data collection occurred through semistructured interviews and review of organizational documents. Data analysis involved collecting data, organizing the data into codes and themes, and interpreting and revealing information about the themes. Member checking and methodological triangulation increased the validity and reliability of the study. The 3 themes that emerged from the study were building positive relationships to promote communication, offering employee training and advancement, and recognizing that compensation is an important factor but does not influence employee behavior. Recommendations for action include redesigning processes to change organizational culture and implementing strategies to mitigate employee resignations. The findings from this study may contributeEmployee turnover is an inherent challenge encountered by managers at nonprofit organizations. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies some community-based organization managers used to reduce employee turnover in western New York. Five organizational managers were selected who had successfully implemented strategies to reduce employee turnover. Herzberg's 2-factor theory was the conceptual framework for this doctoral study. Data collection occurred through semistructured interviews and review of organizational documents. Data analysis involved collecting data, organizing the data into codes and themes, and interpreting and revealing information about the themes. Member checking and methodological triangulation increased the validity and reliability of the study. The 3 themes that emerged from the study were building positive relationships to promote communication, offering employee training and advancement, and recognizing that compensation is an important factor but does not influence employee behavior. Recommendations for action include redesigning processes to change organizational culture and implementing strategies to mitigate employee resignations. The findings from this study may contribute to social change, because organizational managers could use the study results to reduce employee turnover, which could lead to increased service quality in communities. Strategies for Reducing Nonprofit Organizations' Employee Turnover by Tamara Searight MS, Walden University, 2014 BS, SUNY University at Buffalo, 2008 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration Walden University April 2019 Dedication To my husband, Maurice, thank you for supporting and believing in me. You took on more responsibilities so that I could concentrate on completing my study, and I appreciate you for that. I am grateful you are my life partner. To my children, Malaya and Malik, I am truly blessed to have you in my life. During my doctoral process, you have been my motivational forces to overcome obstacles. I cannot imagine making it through this challenging journey without you. I will love you all forever. Acknowledgments First and foremost, I want to thank the Lord Jesus Christ for getting me through the DBA process. I give him the praise as HE truly gave me the knowledge and determination to strive to overcome obstacles. Although I had to make sacrifices, HE knew what was best for me to endure the challenges of this program. I also would like to thank Dr. Janie Hall, my study chair, for her guidance and motivation. At times I was discouraged, but you gave me the academic push I needed to complete my study. Your emails inspired me to overcome disappointments and let me know you believed in me. I would like to thank Dr. Janet Booker, my second committee member, and Dr. Lisa Cave, University Research Reviewer, for improving my study with your great feedback. A thanks also goes to Dr. Linda Searight for mentoring me through this doctoral journey. You have also encouraged me and given me hope that I can successfully complete this challenging program. The guidance you provided me was truly remarkable. Additionally, I would like to thank the scholarly peers I have met in virtual classrooms and at residencies. All of you enlightened me and gave me many different perspectives on various topics. Thank you for broadening my vision to understand aspects I was not knowledgeable about. All of you have played major roles in my doctoral completion, and I could not have successfully completed this DBA process without you.


This paper reports rotating ring-disk electrode techniques employed for the investigation of the electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate induced by underpotential-deposited cadmium on Au and Ag surfaces. Based on Albery's kinetic analysis it has been concluded that for concentrations of nitrate in the millimolar range, the reaction products depend on the {ital p}H of the solution. Specifically, for {ital p}H = 3, the reaction yields predominantly nitrite, whereas for {ital p}H = 1, the process proceeds beyond the nitrite stage to generate products which do not undergo oxidation on a Au ring electrode polarized at potentials as high as 1.0V {ital vs.} SCE. Additional evidence in support of these results was provided by exhaustive bulk electrolysis experiments. The lack of linearity of some of Albery's diagnostic plots could be accounted for quantitatively by a numerical integration of the differential equations which govern disproportionation-type reactions at rotating ring electrodes. Good agreement was found between theory and experiment using independently determined values for the rate constant of disproportionation of NO{sub 2} in solution.


The interior controllability of Petrowsky equation in a bounded domain is studied in this paper.By construct-ing functionals which are low-semi-continuous,strictly convex and coercive,some necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained to guarantee the controllability and the approximate controllability,which are more direct than what are obtained by the multiplier method.


Excessive post‐epidural fibrosis is a common cause of recurrent back pain after spinal surgery. Though various treatment methods have been conducted, the safe and effective drug for alleviating post‐epidural fibrosis remains largely unknown. Metformin, a medicine used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, has been noted to relieve fibrosis in various organs. In the present study, we aimed to explore the roles and mechanisms of metformin in scar formation in a mouse model of laminectomy. Post‐epidural fibrosis developed in a mouse model of laminectomy by spinous process and the T12‐L2 vertebral plate with a rongeur. With the administration of metformin, post‐epidural fibrosis was reduced, accompanied with decreased collagen and fibronectin in the scar tissues. Mechanistically, metformin decreased fibronectin and collagen deposition in fibroblast cells, and this effect was dependent on the HMGB1/TLR4 and TGF‐β1/Smad3 signalling pathways. In addition, metformin influenced the metabolomics of the fibroblast cells. Taken together, our study suggests that metformin may be a potential option to mitigate epidural fibrosis after laminectomy.


Hybrid (C3H/A) male mice which had received isologous pituitary implants developed mammary tumors. Since the incidence of spontaneous tumors in these mice is extremely low, the fact that thirteen out of 47 (27 per cent) mice given implants developed mammary tumors is highly significant. The histology was comparable to that found in corresponding tumors in the female.


The compute and control for adaptive optics (cacao) package is an open-source modular software environment for real-time control of modern adaptive optics system. By leveraging many-core CPU and GPU hardware, it can scale up to meet the demanding computing requirements of current and future high frame rate, high actuator count adaptive optics (AO) systems. cacao's modular design enables both simple/barebone operation, and complex full-featured AO control systems. cacao's design is centered on data streams that hold real-time data in shared memory along with a synchronization mechanism for computing processes. Users and programmers can add additional features by coding modules that interact with cacao's data stream format. We describe cacao's architecture and its design approach. We show that accurate timing knowledge is key to many of cacao's advanced operation modes. We discuss current and future development priorities, including support for machine learning to provide real-time optimization of complex AO systems.


We investigated the use of ornithinc α-ketoglutarate in treatment of rats bearing Morris hepatoma 7777. Rats reccived dicts contatining eithcr ornithine α-ketoglutarate, which has been used in other catabolic states (i. c, injury .scpsis), or an isonitrogenous, isocaloric diet containing glycine. Untrated tumors grew to a mass of 11g/100g body weight over the 3-wk period after implantation and induced progrcssivc anorexia, negative nitrogcn balance, and body and tissue wasting. Compared with glycine,ornithine α-ketoglutarate had no effect on tumor growth, but also did not alter the catabolic effects of the tumor on its host. We hypothesized that capture of amino acids by the tumor limited the efficacy of supplemental nutrition here and in published reports in which tumor burden comprised 4 ~ 30% of body weight. Tis is supported by our observation that at 3 wk of implantation the rate of protein deposition plus amino acid oxidation by the tumor was equivalent to ~ 70% of the host's daily protein intake. To parallel the clinical situation in which tumor burden is small at diagnosis and initiation of treatment, the same diets were tested in rats treated by excision of the tumor at a limited stagc of the disease. Rats received 3 d preoperative nutrition with ornithine α-ketoglutarate or glycine, and continued on the same diets for 3 or 6 d postoperatively. Compared with glycino-fed rats,ornithine α-ketoglutarate-fed rats showed a more positive nitrogen balance, higher concentrations of glutamine and branched-chain amino acids in muscle,and accelerated protein deposition in small intestine (P 0. 05). Our results explain the lack of success of nutritional support in untreated cancer and underline the need for clinically relevant animal models for further studies.


This paper analyses the environment and the change model of local institutional innovations, which play a very important role in our transition economic period,after the WTO rules as a exogenous variable join in the framework. In the new institutional constraints of WTO rules,some new characteristics have appeared in the differences of central and local institutional innovation. Local government has to face the push from expected revenue and the stress from finance and other things,however,it has to innovate in ideology,government itself,law,society and marketing so as to apply to the new environment.


The main objective of this study was to explore the visual content and discourse present in three Ontario universities' Instagram profiles, particularly their profiles dedicated to student recruitment and admissions. The study looked at the Instagram content published by top-three high application volume universities: McMaster University (macadmit), Ryerson University (whyryerson), and University of Toronto (futureuoft). The data collected was composed of photos, videos, and captions from all three universities from September 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 inclusive. The results showed that visual assets highlighting the institution, portraits of students, and event/advertisements were the most occurring types of Instagram content. In addition, there was a high use of event/advertisement style in the accompanying captions. When the visual assets and captions were juxtaposed against each other, there was a high incongruence between the pairing which can be laborious for readers who will need to consolidate the visual and text information.


In the analysis of survival data with parametric models, it is well known that the Weibull model is not suitable for modeling cases where the hazard rate is non-monotonic. For such cases, log-logistic model is frequently used. However, due to the symmetric property of the log-logistic model, it may be poor for the cases where the hazard rate is skewed or heavily tailed. In this paper, we suggest a generalization of the log-logistic model by introducing a shape parameter. This generalized model is then applied to fit the lung cancer data of Prentice (1973). The results seem to improve over those obtained by using the log-logistic model.


PURPOSE: To prepare new oligopeptide compounds exhibiting selective inhibiting effect on the proliferation of hemopoietic cells. CONSTITUTION: The new oligopeptides are compounds represented by formula I or II (wherein A cm is an acetamidomethyl group) and their acid addition salts. This preparation of such a compound represented by the formula I or II comprises: forming an intermediate comprising a protected form of the peptide of the compound by performing stepwise peptide chain extention starting from a C-terminal amino acid derivative, with continuous active ester linkage of α-amino groups and base-catalyzed de-liberation of them while blocking unreacted amino and carboxyl functional groups by groups eliminable by mild acid-lysis and protecting the mercapto group of a cysteine residue by an acetamidomethyl group; and then, deblocking the resulting intermediate by mild acid-lysis to prepare the objective compound. COPYRIGHT: (C)1993,JPO


Gas-cooled fast reactor(GFR) is one of generation Ⅳ candidate reactor systems,featured with versatile usage because of high temperature,and economy because of fuel breeding.For a reference GFR core design,the criticality and burnup characteristics for the single assembly model and full core model were calculated through the coupling of MCNP and ORIGEN,and the differences in the calculation precision and calculation time were compared between the fine structure model and homogenized assembly model,respectively.As a result,the necessity and feasibility to adopt the homogenized assembly method in the GFR whole core burnup calculation were explained and discussed.


An imager based upon an etched liquid-crystal Fabry-Perot (LCFP) dispersive element is able to simultaneously sample four distinct resolution elements in the region 800 nm - 1100 nm, and tune in milliseconds to any one of 30,661 possible four-color scene images with a spectral resolution of 0.67 nm. Independently tunable quadrants of a single LCFP etalon are created by etching a transparent conducting layer on the etalon substrate, and one image from each quadrant is formed on a focal-plane array detector. Designed to weigh less than 20 lbs. in production, the portable, solid-state camera system is designed to provide fast RGB images of transient spectral phenomena, but many applications are possible. The fourth image in each four-element image is intended to be a background channel for contrast enhancement in bright background environments. The LCFP hyperspectral imager provides high-spectral resolution, allowing detection of short-lifetime atomic spectral line emissions characteristic of excited or ablating constituents against a bright, broadband, greybody background. High luminosity via the characteristic Fabry-Perot étendue advantage and an f/0.9 optical system accommodate the tactical need for a lightweight device with a small footprint. The LCFP dispersive element is tuned with battery-pack power, 0- 10V DC and mA current. The LCFP hyperspectral technology is easily adapted to Doppler imaging by enhancing the etalon gap and sampling over a narrower instrument passband. Operation in the MWIR and LWIR is also possible. The camera design creates multi-spectral images with a small but simultaneously sampled data-cube of narrow bandwidth.


Silvergrass is a natural biological material with high mechanical strength and toughness and has potential as a raw material in wood-based composites. Structure and mechanical properties of fiber cell walls of silvergrass stalk in nanoscale were measured by nanoindentation. Silvergrass fiber cells have multilayered structure and diameter between 5 and 20 μm. Nanoscale mechanical tests showed that fibers of the upper stalk of silvergrass had better mechanical properties than those of the lower stalk and silvergrass fibers had better mechanical properties than wood fibers at the cell wall level. Macrohardness of the silvergrass stalk was 0.330 GPa evaluated from nanoindentation tests. Results found by nanoindentation were also verified by longitudinal tensile strength testing and particleboard manufacture.


Easy access of multimedia content is a large issue within spoken document retrieval. Various techniques have been proposed to aid the process of browsing through large multimedia archives. In this research, we looked at Buchenwald, a video interview collection about survivors of the similar named historical concentration camp. Within this domain, we developed a method to combine collateral data in the form of interview descriptions with the video's, based on word frequency. In doing so, cross references are generated. These references offer an extra dimension for users to find a desired video fragment from within the collateral data. Finally, we evaluated the performance of our suggested method and discussed reasons for improvement and future use.


We have explored the low-energy dynamics in the half-doped Eu<inf>0.5</inf>Sr<inf>0.5</inf>MnO<inf>3</inf> using terahertz time domain (TDS) spectroscopy. Observation of a finite frequency peak structure in optical conductivity at around ∼4meV suggests low-energy excitation, presumably the charge-density waves.


Tropical countries such as Malaysia receives a significant amount of daylight. The utilisation of this renewable resource in a high-rise office building leads to opportunities and challenges. Deep plan spaces in such buildings provide challenges to create a uniform daylight distribution across the room. An integrated light shelf (LS) with horizontal light pipe (LP) offers a solution to cater to this problem. Seven (7) different types of LS angle configurations were simulated through Integrated Environment Solution Virtual Environment to assess their daylight performance with integrated LP using overcast and intermediate sky with four orientations. The results showed that the integration of LS to LP improved the daylight uniformity across the room. LS5 with an angle of -15° performed best when compared to a room with only LP installed for all the design days and orientations. The integration of LP and LS5 was able to shade the front portion of the room while providing illumination at the rear spaces. The findings of this study promote the use of integrated LS and LP in deep open-plan high-rise office buildings for building designers.


BioEconomy is the word for a recently arisen paradigm that constitutes the inspirational principle of CNCCS (Collezione Nazionale Composti Chimici e Centro Screening – National Collection of Chemical Compounds and Screening Centre), a newly publicprivate partnership in Italy. BioEconomy postulates that science can be safely coupled with economy and that from such "unritual marriage" would derive a benefit for the society triggering welfare through innovation. The CNCCS is composed by the National Research Council (CNR), the temple of Italian research, the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), the leading research institution of the National Health System, and the IRBM Science Park, a private company with the most advanced technology for exploiting organic compounds. The CNCCS is funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) through the CNR to encourage a never-seen-before synergy between public research bodies and private institutions. The scientific power of CNR and ISS merging with IRBM's resources for the identification and collection of chemicals will make the CNCCS the leading reference European centre for "orphan" compounds. Why such an effort? Why the ISS should mingle in a public private partnership? The role of basic research is under scrutiny and poorly tolerated when a depressed economy and stakeholders (patients, families, society in general) put great pressures to direct the objectives of science toward goals that must result in benefits for society. The ISS has a special responsibility because its role is to address the needs of society by taking up the challenges of science beyond the existing limits. The ISS foresees that the CNCCS consortium would better serve the scope of science and society, a goal that is unattainable by science or industry alone. Private-public enterprises are quickly rising and institutional research bodies are becoming partners of charities, large pharmaceutical companies, and small biotech firms for looking at novel and affordable drugs for the cure of neglected diseases. Examples of these enterprises are the Malaria Vaccine Initiatives, the Medicines for Malaria Ventures, the Global alliance for TB drug development, and the Drug for Neglected Diseases Initiatives. What would be the contribution of the CNCCS consortium for the society and the general welfare in terms of health and economy? The quality of science in Italy is higher than lay people think despite poor public and private investments. In Italy, particularly in the ISS, there is a long-standing tradition in the field of organic chemistry with tens of thousands molecules continuously synthesized in public and private research laboratories. Unfortunately, most of discovered molecules "sit on the shelf" of academic and scientific laboratories and are poorly or not tested for potential therapeutic applications, limiting their potential value. The joined effort of the CNCCS partners would guarantee an extended lifespan of the molecules entrusted in the repository and would serve as a national high throughput hub for the identification of novel lead compounds for targets of interest. In the CNCCS, the efficacy of collected molecules is investigated for scopes that are beyond their original intended use. This is obviously done with the agreement of the original inventor who retains the patent for the first intended purpose and gives the consortium the right of exploring any possible further use of the molecule. Entrusting the results of his/her research into a repository is certainly an act that requires a fresh attitude toward science, something that could be defined as a step away from the bench and a plunge into reality. The CNCCS commissioned an ad hoc study to Fabio Pammolli, an economist and director of the IMT institute for advanced studies in Lucca for investigating how life sciences impact on the territory by enhancing the economical growth of society and producing wealth. The study showed that despite a high rate of scientific publication (Italy ranks 4th in the world), our country lacks a parallel rate of production in industrial and technological research. at regional level, however, the study showed a positive effect of "translated science" since the number of publications and patents, which are indices of innovation outcomes, correlates with wealth and productivity (unpublished data). Thus, this study confirms the pressing need of knowledge integration and urges scientists and policy makers to bridge the gap between academia and industry. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies should break old schemes and seeking new ad more productive alliances. We are at a deadlock with scientists publishing thousands of "chemical scaffolds" that are far from being a "drug" and pharmaceutical companies reluctant to invest money in research of new leading drugs, because the pay back for investments is becoming more and more uncertain. Editorial


Surely along this rugged ridge he must Have paused a thousand times a younger day Beneath black oaks hovering in evening dusk Or hickories autumn gold where moonbeams play; Down narrow paths beaded with buckberries Clustered in tints of green, then pink, then red He walked wrapped in a chattering mountain breeze, Answering in make-believe to what was said; Surely a thousand times on sandstone seats He must have sat within his world to see Sourwood, wild fox grapes and bittersweet And wished upon a star that he might be Along this ridge a thousand times and more Living the days to come like days before.


The material characteristic of the electroplating Nickel of OGA has the direct relation with the parameter of LIGA.The stretching experiment of OGA Ni is carried out with MEMS tensile test machine. The stress-strain diagram is obtained.By the data processing and analyzing,the material characteristic of LIGA Ni,such as young's modulus,yield limit and breaking limit are obtained.These material characteristic are compared with those material characteristic measured by Nanoindenter.Both are good consistency.


Jeffery Jonathan Joshua Davis studied information sciences at Otago University, New Zealand, and earned his MSc in Cognitive Sciences in 2010. He is also affiliated with the Embassy of Peace (Whitianga, New Zealand), aiming at developing better understanding between people and harmony with nature. Currently he works on his PhD on neural correlates of consciousness, intentionality, and meaning at the University of Memphis. Address: Jeffery Jonathan Joshua Davis, Department of Mathematical Sciences, 373 Dunn Hall, University of Memphis, Memphis TN 38152, USA; email: joshua\firstname.lastname@example.com


The Population Council's Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center and Evidence for Gender and Education Resource (EGER) program hosted the second virtual webinar of its From Data to Action series, "Informing Menstrual Health Management Programs" in February 2022. This document provides a recap of the webinar, which featured a global systematic review and results from a randomized controlled trial in Kenya on menstrual health management (MHM) programs. ZanaAfrica shared perspectives on program implementation and how the evidence is shaping their approach.


Universalisation of primary education (UPE) has been a global issue since the early sixties, yet several decades later and even in the 21 st century, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are still grappling with it. Unlike their counterparts in the developed world, its realisation in developing countries has been faced with a myriad of constraints. Kenya has a long standing commitment to providing educational access to its primary school going children. This has been reflected in the country's Economic Plans, Sessional papers and other development plans. Most importantly, Kenya acknowledges provision of basic education for its citizens as a human right, as is enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya (2010). Furthermore, Kenyan citizens have a right to free and compulsory education as is stipulated in the Basic Education Bill of 2012. Moreover, Vision2030 has acknowledged education as a component of the social pillars. Although the first step towards this was articulated by the Kenyan government immediately after independence in 1963 and later in 2003, little has been done to establish the extent to which Universal Primary Education has been advanced in Kenya. Therefore, there is need to do stock taking of the advancements made towards this goal. Furthermore, examining of the obstacles that have persistently hindered its success over the years is critical for realisation of universal education. This paper will therefore address the extent to which universalisation of primary education has contributed to advancement of access to basic education and the obstacles that have hindered its success.


The convergence of policy gradient algorithms in reinforcement learning hinges on the optimization landscape of the underlying optimal control problem. Theoretical insights into these algorithms can often be acquired from analyzing those of linear quadratic control. However, most of the existing literature only considers the optimization landscape for static full-state or output feedback policies (controllers). We investigate the more challenging case of dynamic output-feedback policies for linear quadratic regulation (abbreviated as dLQR), which is prevalent in practice but has a rather complicated optimization landscape. We first show how the dLQR cost varies with the coordinate transformation of the dynamic controller and then derive the optimal transformation for a given observable stabilizing controller. At the core of our results is the uniqueness of the stationary point of dLQR when it is observable, which is in a concise form of an observer-based controller with the optimal similarity transformation. These results shed light on designing efficient algorithms for general decision-making problems with partially observed information.


The animation enterprise,for the particularity of its industry and staff,should pay more attention to the psychological feeling of its employees in human resources management.This article,based on the research of health care factors in double factors theory probes into the application problems of health care factors in human resources management in the animation enterprise and puts forward practical suggestions to eliminate the discontent of employees.


Data sparseness is one of the key issues existed in the collaborative filtering recommendation system. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm named Collaborative Recommendation algorithm Based on Semi-Supervised Learning (SSLCF). First, build heterogeneous information networks through combine multi-dimensional information such as users, items, labels. Second, we can use similarity (level of interest) as weight between isomorphism (heterogeneous) nodes. Second, we use regularization framework algorithm to discriminate label information for unlabeled users and items, we predict rating and generate recommendation results according to the preferences category of the target users. Experimental results show that SSLCF significantly outperforms the state-of-theart methods. The results shows the proposed model can solve the few label data issue and helps to improve the quality of recommendation.


Have huge inflows of speculative capital in the post-reform period affected the role of development institutions and banks like the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, the apex bank for institutional credit in rural India? In order to prevent a possible appreciation of the currency, which would have had an adverse effect on the real sector of the economy, the Reserve Bank of India resorted to market intervention and the increase in the foreign exchange reserves, which would have caused a possible increase in the money supply, was neutralised by undertaking a "sterilisation" process. In the process, the rbi suffered a huge loss in its potential income and had to resort to a smaller transfer of funds to nabard. On the other hand, nabard, faced with an increasing demand for loans turned to open market borrowings at a higher interest rate, which ultimately led to a huge loss in its potential income. This paper finds that with the ongoing reforms, the banking system has not only sacrificed developmental aspects, but also failed to satisfy the profit norms of banking. 1 Burgeoning Foreign Exchange Reserves The opening up of the economy over nearly the last two decades has been a consequence of the huge change in the external policy framework of the government of India. The first step towards this was in the sphere of trade liberali sation: by the replacement of the quantitative restrictions in the form of quotas with tariffs even before the World Trade Organi sation (WTO) deadline, and the reduction of the tariff rate over a relatively short period of time by more than the amount required under the WTO norms. The second step was in abandoning the twotier exchange rate system that prevailed before the reforms and making the currency fully convertible on the current account by August 1994. Third, the restrictions on the movement of inter national and domestic capital were slowly eased, which encour aged a huge inflow of foreign capital, mainly in the form of p ortfolio investments, leading to a relentless surge in foreign e xchange reserves. The prime reason for holding foreign exchange reserves in any economy is to facilitate the transactions on the current account by having sufficient funds for the payment of the import bill for a certain period (normally about three to four months). However, the current holdings of foreign assets in the Indian economy ($2,62,905 million as on 13 November 2009)1 is much greater than what is actually required to finance the imports for three to four months. This is because of speculative capital inflows in ex cess of what is needed to finance the current account deficit in the balance of payment. In the mainstream development literature, it is often argued that foreign capital is required for the augmentation of domestic accumulation of capital and to accelerate growth in the economy. But the basic presumption behind this view is that the resources in the domestic economy are fully utilised. Such an assumption, nonetheless, seems to be rather off the mark as the Indian eco nomy has been characterised by the existence of unutilised capa city and high level of unemployment in the postliberalisation era, particularly till the early years of this decade (Chandrasekhar and Ghosh 2004). However, the huge presence of foreign assets in the economy seems to have another explanation. According to Rakshit (2003: 77),


Investigation in one Atractylodes macrocephala plot showed that root rot of the plants had two different types of symptoms:dry rot and wet rot,and wet rot was the main symptom,accounting for 69.68% of the total.Altogether,131 fungus strains were isolated from 30 diseased plant samples.They belonged to 12 fungus species,of which 7 was pathogenic to A.macrocephala.Infection by Fusarium oxysporum and F.solani would produce typical symptoms of root rot.The main pathogen was F.oxysporum,which could cause both dry rot and wet rot,with a morbidity of 90%.F.solani had a morbidity of 30%,and its symptom was wet rot.


To explore the contradiction between system of rural population and environment,the author makes an empirical analysis based on the data of Hebei Province using principal component analysis.Population system increases the bearing pressure on environment system from four respects: number,quality,structure and consumption.The result show that the level of rural population in Hebei Province have a remarkable promotion,while the level of rural environment drops substantially,the coordination coefficient of two systems fluctuate greatly which means that the contradiction between the two system becomes increasingly intensified.There are three important suggests to achieve coordinate development of rural population and environment: improving the environmental awareness of rural residents,coordinating urban and rural environmental infrastructure construction and developing agricultural circular economy.


The article "Evolving the PICOT Method for the Digital Age: The PICOT-D" by Elias et al., which was published in the October issue of the Journal of Nursing Education (Vol. 54, No. 10, pp. 594-599), has been amended to include factual corrections. An error was identifi ed subsequent to its original publication. The last author's name was misspelled in the byline; the correct spelling is Sean Convoy, DNP, P-MHNP-BC. The online article and its erratum are considered the version of record.


The surface segregation of antimony in an iron–0.23 at% antimony alloy was studied by XPS. The segregation rate in the temperature range between 800 and 900 K depends on the temperature during sputtering with argon ion of kinetic energy of 1 keV. The sputtering at room temperature or 473 K gives higher values of the segregation rate than those at 673 K. Both cases give the activation energy of 170 kJmol−1 for the surface segregation rate. The segregation of antimony is not observed after the sample is heated at 1000 K.


The curing kinetics of the liquid-crystalline epoxy resin sulfonyl bis(1,4-phenylene)bis[4-(2,3-epoxypropyloxy)benzoate] with 4,4 '-diaminodiphenylsulfone was investigated by nonisothermal differential scanning calorimetry. The relationship between the apparent activation energy (Ea) and the conversion was determined, and the effects of the molecular structure and the order of liquid crystallinity on Ea are discussed in detail. Some parameters were evaluated with the autocatalytic kinetic model of the SestakBerggren (SB) equation. The results show that there were some deviations of these simulation curves from the experimental curves at high heating rates and in the late stage of the curing reaction. The diffusion effect in the nonisothermal curing reaction is discussed, and a diffusion factor was proposed and introduced into the SB equation. Then, a modified SB equation was created, as follows: d/alpha=K/alpha(m)(1-alpha)(n) X 1/1+exp[C(alpha-alpha(c))], where alpha is the conversion, t is the time, m and n are reaction orders, K is rate constant, C is the diffusion coefficient, and alpha(c) is the critical conversion. The theoretical simulation curves agreed very well with the experimental data as determined with the modified SB equation, which may be more useful for describing and predicting the nonisothermal curing reaction kinetics of epoxy resin. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012


As today's society places more and more emphasis on preventive mental health, the use of counselors and psychologists as consultants on the radio is a viable alternative form of public education. The radio can be used to educate and inform the public about psychological issues. In 1982, a local radio station in Edmonton, Alberta aired the first program of "That's Living," a talk show that was hosted by psychiatrists and psychologists. This radio program provided d ccAtext where counselors, psychologists, and psychlatrists communicate directly with the public. This program was built on the philosophy that people are important and can be educated and informed. The program operates in the following manner. The host presents a topic and initial comments; then the telephone liAes are opened for calls, and the host answers questions related and unrelated to the topic of the show. Ethical guidelines have been developed for psychologists working in the mediums of radio and television by the Association of Media Psychologists. Information on additional counseling talk shows is included. (5H1e.) **********************************************Aa*********************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ***********************************************************************


Phishing is an attack by a group or an individual to misuse personal information such as passwords, credit card information etc. for identity theft, financial gain and other fraudulent activities. In this paper image based (QR codes) authentication using Visual Cryptography (VC) is used. Visual cryptography is explored to convert the QR code into two shares and both these shares can then be transmitted separately. One Time Passwords (OTP) is passwords which are valid only for a session to validate the user within a specified amount of time. In this paper we are doing comparison of our paper with the existing system and show how our method is more efficient and also show our results. General Terms Visual cryptography, Grayscale, Threshold algorithm.


Epoxy resin (EP) has been used as insulating material in power electronic transformer (PET), while low thermal conductivity of EP limits the heat dissipation efficiency of PET. Role of Micro-nano hexagonal boron nitride coordination on thermal conductivity and breakdown strength of epoxy composites was explored. A thermal conductivity of 0.544 W/(m·K) was obtained for 10 wt% BN/EP micro composites, increased by 149.5% compared with pristine epoxy. In addition, the specimen with a dual doping of 10 wt% h-BN and 5 wt% nano filler exhibited both improved thermal conductivity of 0.527 W/(m·K) and breakdown strength of 118.3 kV/mm. It is found that micro-BN could effectively increase the thermal conductivity since efficient heat transform path would be built inside epoxy matrix. Meanwhile, nano-BN would bring in independent interfacial regions that capture carriers at low filler content. Based on the coordination of micro-nano particles, the thermal conductivity and breakdown strength can thus be enhanced simultaneously.


According to use hoister experience,full-automatic improving loading,unload and signal system of hoister,optimization speed,reduce driving waiting time.At the same time,saves cnergy source,raises efficiency,ensures well safe produce.


Representations of the librarian profession are analyzed under the Librarianship and Information Science teachers. Data reflects how the intervewed teachers feel on various subjects such as: the students, the course, the profession and the representative librarians agencies. Most of them consider that the students do not enter the course by vocation, they are from lower socio-economic classes, they have a weak basic education and are not interested in the career, but only in getting a diploma. These teachers pointed out some problems on the way subjects are taught at Faculty, on the way teachers act and work towards the students improving their knowledge and changing their attitudes.


The invention relates to an intelligent weather service delivery method and a system based on mobile terminal. The method includes that: the position information of a mobile terminal during initializing process is acquired and stored; the position information of the mobile terminal obtained for the second time is compared with the initialized position information of the mobile terminal to judge whether the mobile terminal moves; if the mobile terminal moves, the weather information of the location of the mobile terminal is acquired, otherwise the position information of the mobile terminal is continuously acquired for comparison and judgment again. The intelligent weather service delivery method and system based on mobile terminal utilizes the data access and geographical location positioning functions of the current mobile terminal, combines the mobile phone positioning function with weather service to provide proper and timely weather information of user and facilitates the business trips and travels of users.


STUDENT NURSE Barbara Herbert, who is currently training at the hospital which saved her life three years ago, has received a top national award for her charity work.


A method based on non-linear programming is proposed to optimize water network in batch chemical processes with a single contaminant.An intermediate tank is used to receive the discharge water from each process and provide water to operations in batch processes,which increased reuse of process discharge streams.By pre-ordering the operations with discharge time from earlier to later,and combining with other heuristic rules,a superstructure of water network was constructed and simplified.The corresponding mathematic model involved a set of nonlinear equations is solved by the GAMS(general algebra model system) software tool.This method could achieve minimal fresh water use and optimal network assignments simultaneously.The results of a case study show that the method was effective.


Results of a retrospective chart review including 101 consecutive eyes that underwent endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation (ECP) combined with phacoemulsification and IOL implantation document the safety of this procedure for lowering IOP. A subgroup analysis suggests that ECP may have a unique application in eyes with chronic angle-closure glaucoma and plateau iris.


A system is provided for monitoring a user in a user living area. The system includes a system controller (110) and an activity detection subsystem (112, 116, 120, 124 and 128). The activity detection subsystem (112, 116, 120, 124 and 128) monitors a daily living activity of the user and provides information representative of the daily living activity to the system controller (110). The system controller (110) includes a control circuit, which generates a control signal in response to the daily living activity information obtained by the activity detection subsystem (112, 116, 120, 124 and 128). Control information from the system controller (110) is applied by way of a control information communication channel both to the activity detection subsystem (112, 116, 120, 124 and 128) and to a remote monitoring site (148). The activity detection subsystem (112, 116, 120, 124 and 128) may be a system for determining the movement of the user around the home, medication compliance by the user, problem with usage of stoves or other potentially dangerous appliances, and selected auxiliary appliances.


Objective To study antifilaggrin antibody (AFA) in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods Antifilaggrin antibody was detected by immunoblotting (IB) in sera from 112 patients with early RA, 113 patients with early arthritis and 50 healthy blood donors. Results The positivity of AFA in early RA, early arthritis and healthy cases was 68.8%, 16.8%, 0, respectively. The specificity was 94%. The average age and onset ages of AFA-positive patients were older than those of the negative ones. There were strong correlation between AFA and APF, AKA, anti-CCP antibody and anti-Sa antibody. AFA had no relation with disease activity and severity of early RA. There was no difference in positivity of AFA between cases with very-early RA (disease duration 6 months) and early RA. Conclusions AFA, presents in the early stage of RA, has a value in the diagnosis of early RA with better sensitivity and specificity. There may be no correlation between AFA and disease activity and severity. Although there are correlation between AFA and APF, AKA, anti-CCP antibody and anti-Sa antibody, they are not completely overlapped. The detection of AFA by imunoblotting is simple and reliable and is acceptable for clinical use.


Non alloyed carbon deoxidation can fundamentally solve the technical difficulty of fatigue failure of high‐quality bearing steel caused by inclusions. Herein, nonalloyed carbon deoxidation is presented with CO as a product, which can avoid the problem of residual inclusions. The thermodynamic and kinetic nucleation models of [C] deoxidation are constructed. The results suggest that a decrease in pCO strengthens the deoxidation ability of [C], and the [%O] balanced with [%C] shows multiple decreases. When pCO  = 0.1 atm and [%C] = 0.5%, [%O] can be reduced to less than 10 ppm. However, from the results of the nucleation kinetic model, as pCO decreases, the critical radius r* increases, and the resistance of CO nucleation also increases. This results in difficulty of nucleation. Based on the nucleation kinetic model, the following C–O reaction mechanism is proposed: 1) [C] and [O] move to the reaction interface, 2) [C] + [O] = CO, forming a critical bubble nucleus, and 3) the newly formed CO diffuses continuously into the critical bubble, causing the bubble to grow and float away. Alternatively, the CO separates from the gas–liquid interface and enters the bubble, which floats away.


Aim:  To determine secondary care transit times for lung cancer patients, whether these times conformed to international guidelines and the major factors which influenced these times.


This paper explores the concepts of mood and involvement in experiential research. Sport spectating was chosen to represent leisure services in this investigation into the differences between traditional consumer decision-making constructs and experiential constructs. We propose that in leisure service encounters, both mood and involvement act as dynamic constructs operating on dual levels. The first level is an 'a priori' state, or those brought to the experience by the consumer and the second level is an 'experiential' state, where constructs actually change over the course of the consumption experience. Further we propose that the servicescape moderates the changes in mood and involvement during the experience. A review of the literature and a series of phenomenological focus groups facilitated the exploration of the propositions in this study. Our findings suggest that mood and involvement are in fact dual constructs, operating on both a priori and experiential levels. This study is truly exploratory in nature and suggestions for future research include the development of creative methodologies to quantify the operation of the mood and involvement constructs in the experiential consumption of leisure services.


Accurate cost estimation at the early stage of a construction project is key factor in a project's success. But it is difficult to quickly and accurately estimate construction costs at the planning stage, when drawings, documentation and the like are still incomplete. As such, various techniques have been applied to accurately estimate construction costs at an early stage, when project information is limited. While the various techniques have their pros and cons, there has been little effort made to determine the best technique in terms of cost estimating performance. The objective of this research is to compare the accuracy of three estimating techniques (regression analysis (RA), neural network (NN), and support vector machine techniques (SVM)) by performing estimations of construction costs. By comparing the accuracy of these techniques using historical cost data, it was found that NN model showed more accurate estimation results than the RA and SVM models. Consequently, it is determined that NN model is most suitable for estimating the cost of school building projects.


Gender, Bureaucracies, and Public Sector Careers Gender, Democracy, and Representative Bureaucracies Women in Management and Public Sector Careers Case Studies of the Impact of Gender on Public Sector Careers Women in the Arizona Executive Branch of Government Women in the Texas Executive Branch of Government Women in the Utah Executive Branch of Government Women in the California Executive Branch of Government Summary and Recommendations Addendum Women in Municipal Bureaucracies of the Southwest Appendix: Facilitating Careers in Public Administration--A Questionnaire Selected Bibliography Index


Nimisha Waller is a Senior Lecturer in the Dept of Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Environmental Science at AUT University. She has practised midwifery in tertiary units and as an LMC. She has been a supervisor and a member of the competency review panel for MCNZ, reviewer for NZCOM Midwifery Standards Review and an NZCOM educator for the Midwifery First Year Practice (MYFP). She is an expert advisor and an Academic member/Deputy Chair on the MOH Compliance panel that monitors the Code in New Zealand (Breastfeeding). Nimisha has a particular interest in maternal wellbeing, diabetes and obesity, newborn, postnatal distress, traumatic birth and PTSD. Her doctoral study is on post–birth conversation between midwives and women and the impact it has on them. Welcome to the latest issue of Midwifery Research Review.