Two factors which affect the number and size of microscopic inhomogeneities in liquid semiconductors are investigated. These are (i) the formation of inhomogeneities statistically from small molecules; (ii) the validity of using conventional fluctuation theory to predict very small-scale inhomogeneities. Neither of these factors was considered by turner (1973) or Cutler (1976) in their criticism of the inhomogeneous model of liquid semiconductors. In the present work, attention is confined to composition regions of binary systems in which there is no miscibility gap. It is concluded that although the inhomogeneity is considerably greater than that predicted by Turner and Cutler, it is still not sufficient (in the type of region considered) to justify the inhomogeneous model, other than for the Tl-Te system in which special conditions apply. For those systems containing miscibility gaps, greater inhomogeneity is to be expected.


The capital operation is a main feature of modern enterprises. Through the ways of amalgamation, purchase and controlling in capital operation, the expansion of state-owned enterprises can be realized .It has an important significance on optimizing the resource disposal of government enterprises,clearing the property rights relation and ensuring capital appreciation and value increasing.


: Implementation of Active Observation and Feedback Strategy in Learning Al-Qur'an and Hadith at MTs Mambaul Ulum Tejosari, Metro Timur. The application of the active observation and feedback strategy in learning the Qur'an and Hadith has a specific purpose, namely to increase the activeness of students in capturing subject matter with a feedback strategy, for that educators are required to be more creative in developing these strategies. . With certain efforts that have been carefully prepared by educators. The active observation and feedback learning strategy is a learning in which the activities imply all students during the learning process, namely by explaining the material that the teacher has explained to students and then students learn, so that other students Those who have not been allocated to explain this can observe and can also explain the subject matter, so that students directly share feedback on the role players, this feedback or feedback directly Observe comments directly to the player function, because feedback is in the input module which can help role player. In the implementation of learning, of course, there are certain goals that must be achieved, in achieving these goals, certain strategies and methods are needed. Strategy is an idea that has a specific purpose in the formation of an activity, such as a learning strategy. With what was explained earlier, it can be concluded that the active observation and feedback learning strategy is a learning strategy that can be used to achieve the desired goals, especially in the subject matter of the Qur'an Hadith.


Analyze the necessity of realizing the spanning development using bank loan in higher vocational colleges,point out the financial risk caused by applying bank loan of higher vocational colleges,propose measures and advice on prevention of financial risk,promoting healthy and sustainable development of higher vocational colleges.


Active hydrogen reaction value is 0.01 to 1, pH is 4.0 to 7.9, artificial physiological salt solution osmolality is 260~2560mOsm / L, and its by the manufacturing method, active oxygen scavenging capacity and anti-inflammatory has a function, organ washing liquid (eye washes, such as nasal washes), artificial infusions, artificial amniotic fluid, protective solutions, novel artificial physiological salt solution can be such as a cell, tissue culture fluid, it is applied to various applications , and it is possible to provide a manufacturing method thereof.


Because of recent technological developments, new opportunities to test fundamental symmetries using cold and ultra‐cold neutrons will become available in the next several years. These tests include studies of the parity‐violating hadronic weak interaction, searches for new symmetries beyond the standard model using neutron decay and searches for new sources of Charge‐conjugation/Parity (CP) violation through the measurement of the neutron Electric Dipole Moment (EDM).


With the Cu(I)-carrier adsorbent, rare earth compounds and activated carbon, spot tests for recovering CO from blast furnace gases by pressure swing adsorption (PSA) were carried out, and the product purity and CO recovery by the adsorbent or 5A zeolite molecular sieve were tested.The results show that with the adsorbent CO selectivity and process performance are better than that with 5A zeolite molecular sieve at the high concentration of N_2. Under the consideration of process economics, it is shown that two PSA processes, one for removal of CO_2 and H_2O and the other for recovery of CO, can be used for the treatment of the gases from blast furnace. Thus, it is possible for both the elimination of pollution from CO and the benefit from the recovery of CO.


Submitted for the DAMOP19 Meeting of The American Physical Society Properties of alkali atoms in solid parahydrogen1 UGNE DARGYTE, SUNIL UPADHYAY, JONATHAN WEINSTEIN, University of Nevada, Reno — Alkali atoms trapped in solid parahydrogen exhibit excellent spin coherence properties at high electron spin densities. We have studied potassium, rubidium, and cesium atoms implanted in parahydrogen. Different species exhibit order-ofmagnitude differences in optical pumping and readout. Similarly, different alkali atoms have dramatically varying ensemble transverse relaxation times. These properties and other measurements in parahydrogen will be presented. 1This material is based upon work supported by The National Science Foundation under Grant PHY 1607072. Jonathan Weinstein University of Nevada, Reno Date submitted: 31 Jan 2019 Electronic form version 1.4


Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a serious skin lesion which may accompanying numerous diseases and it can cause of painful, and recurrent ulcer. The lesions may arise as single or multiple lesions secondary to systemic diseases such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, polyarthritis, monoclonal gammopathy or spontaneously without any underlying disease. A 25-year-old male patient was admitted with complaints of fever, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, painful and infected deep ulcers on head, trunk and extremities. Rectosigmoidoscopy was performed eight days ago and biopsies on sigmoid colon mucosa from the ulcerated lesions were taken because of suspected from ulcerative colitis (UC). Mesalazine and fluocortolone was initiated with diagnosis of UC and PG. Complaints of patient and colonic and skin lesions rapidly regressed. An amputation of his right foot's on 3rd finger and skin graft operations for skin defects on his right arm and right leg was performed three months later. He was discharged from the hospital with improved symptoms. Here, we aimed to emphasis the importance of PG in differential diagnosis in patients who was admitted to hospital with skin abscess and skin ulcers which seem like to be infected


The U.S. Army Engineer Topographic Laboratories (USAETL) has initiated a program to design and develop a Terrain Information Extraction System (TIES). This is a test-bed system which will integrate many diverse capabilities drawn from the fields of photogrammetry, remote sensing, automated cartography and geographic information systems; all within a distributed, digital environment. TIES will be an extensible, modular system which will be used to develop more responsive and reliable techniques to generate digital terrain databases. The system will provide a "beginning-to-end" mapping and exploitation capability utilizing a number of digital and digitized image source materials to collect data needed for various mititary and civiiian activities, including wetlands delineation and water resources management. TIES is being developed on commercial off-the-shelf hardware, and will incorporate both proprietary and public domain software. Major components of the system include an image scanner, a digital stereo photogrammetric workstation and geographic information systems. This paper will describe the system components, discuss associated development issues and outline the system's projected use for digital database generation applications and future research activities.


The birth and death years of the landscape painter JIN Hao in the late Tang and Five Dynasties was an unsolved issue in the history of Chinese art.According to the JIN Hao's association with his good friend DA Yu,and the new-found inscription of DA Yu's life,the author proposes the new viewpoints.


The wide growth of Internet users has led the developers of popular Web sites to adopt the solution of substituting the Web servers by clusters of Web servers, in order to correspond efficiently to the high rate of requests received. They also applied load balancing techniques to distribute the workload among them. In this paper we present a general design of load balancing strategies in a cluster of Web servers, which uses a proxy per server to collect the incoming requests. To accomplish the best possible workload distribution, we use an update process, which can either be centralized or distributed. We apply two sender-initiated load balancing algorithms, based on the distinction between the centralized and the distributed update process, and analyze their performance results. We conclude that the distributed case behaves better under high loaded conditions.


Vehicle fuel cell power system is a gas turbine hybrid fuel cell system design in mechanical impeller. Wherein the intake air line in which a vehicle fuel cell stack connected to the air through an air bypass duct a flow distribution valve, the outlet end of the pipe is connected to a combustion chamber, the other intake port of the combustion chamber is connected with the vehicle hydrogen fuel cell stack output line, hydrogen and excess air in the combustion chamber for the combustion gas to the turbine, while providing power to the air compressor, the excess energy may also be converted into electric energy by the generator output. The method of the present invention employs a fuel cell is mixed with the gas turbine power generation, it is possible to improve the power efficiency and system reliability.


In the sliding member, and a manufacturing method of the present invention, in the sliding member for sliding with each other, the sliding face of at least sliding member of the one side (101, 201, 301, 401), alumina, silica, mullite, calcium oxide, magnesium, at least one component selected from iron oxide is transferred to a substrate transfer layer (104, 204, 304, 404) is formed by these components in mechanical strength, of the solid lubricant, fracture toughness, sliding property, at least one having It imparts properties to the sliding surface. Sliding, the transfer layer


It is, however, clear that a high level of serum T.S.H. can be found in cases without ophthalmopathy. If these cases of ophthalmopathy without thyroid disorder are accepted as the same disease, then ophthalmopathy can also exist without a high level of circulating T.S.H. Thus our assay results could best be explained by assuming that there were two factors involved-one which produces exophthalmos and one which produces thyrotoxicosis. Although both appear to be present in thyrotoxicosis with severe eye signs, they need not necessarily be combined or produce both effects in the one patient. This suggestion has already been made as a result of experimental work in animals, which also implies that the other factor may be derived from the pituitary. Brown Dobyns (1946) observed that highly purified T.S.H. had relatively little effect in producing exophthalmos in animals. Jefferies (1949) showed that iodination of pituitary extracts inactivated the T.S.H. principle but left some exophthalmos-producing reaction. Dobyns and Steelman (1953) extended the previous observations and were able, by repeated extracting, to produce two substances from the pituitary. In testing these two substances on animals they showed that one contained a T.S.H. free from exophthalmosproducing substance and the other an exophthalmosproducing substance virtually free from T.S.H. These observations, combined with our findings, permit us to support the contentions of De Robertis (1948) and Purves and Griesbach (1949) that T.S.H. alone is not the cause of the development of exophthalmos, and would suggest that the pituitary is also the source of a separate factor,,capable of producing exophthalmos.


The invention relates to a bumper structure for a vehicle provided in a front portion of the vehicle and is covered on its front with the bumper face, with two energy absorbing paths each with two lateral energy-absorbing elements connected to each other by means of cross members and one above the other in height direction of the are arranged vehicle. It is characterized in that the lower cross member is integrated in the cooler structure such that the cooler structure is displaced together with the at impact to the rear in the vehicle direction.


A series of range‐dependent monostatic and bistatic numerical simulations of reverberation from near‐bottom‐mounted source and receivers was made to investigate the experimental designs for the acoustic reverberation special research program (ARSRP). Vertical line array receivers and point sources were simulated in both monostatic and bistatic configurations to determine the time‐dependent ensonified field and reverberation levels. Planar array simulations were made for bistatic configurations to determine the potential gain in both vertical and horizontal directionality. The simulations revealed some geometry related issues that must be addressed to obtain high‐quality acoustic data in the high‐resolution natural laboratory area. [Work supported by ONR.]


Both metallic alloys and ceramic materials are candidates for the distributor plate and other components of fluidized bed waste heat recovery (FBWHR) systems. Eleven Fe-, Ni-, and Co-base alloys were exposed to air at elevated temperatures in laboratory furnaces and to flue gases in an aluminum remelt furnace to assess their resistance to oxidation and corrosion. Four SiC ceramics and two oxide ceramics were also tested in the aluminum remelt furnace. Some alloys were coated with aluminum or SiO2 by commercial processes in an effort to enhance their oxidation and corrosion resistance.


To the Editor:There is currently a serious shortage of organ sources.Therefore, livingdonorkidney is a critical source in addition to deceased donor kidney. Open donor nephrectomy is one of the most difficult operations in the field of kidney transplantation, and the core issues are the safety of the donor and the psychological stress to the surgeon, such as trying to minimize the surgical complication to the donor, maximize the success rate, and deal with the high expectation from the recipient. By using 3D printing techniques, the relationship between the surgical site and the surrounding tissue structures can be displayed more intuitively and accurately before the start of surgery. This canhelp the surgeon tounderstand the anatomical structure of the surgical site more accurately before the beginning of surgery, and create an operational plan or carry out a simulated operation according to the printed model that is specific to the patient.


theory of totalitarianism. Feldman deserves huge appreciation for his efforts to comprehend the first-hand traumatic experiences of the interviewed businessmen and professionals in Mao's China. A lack of theorization and dialogue with the relevant literature has limited the potential of his findings to generalize the idea of pre-totalitarianism, which could enhance our understanding of the global resurgence of autocratization today. This book appeals to political scientists, journalists, as well as scholars and novices specializing in contemporary China studies. Political sociologists, social psychologists, and anthropologists will appreciate the book for its thick description of the everyday life of the business and professional classes in today's China, despite its limited theorization of collective memory and trauma under Felman's conceptualization of pretotalitarianism.


This research was conducted to study the effects of rumen by pass protein-fat supplement on the performance and milk quality of dairy cow. Previous study indicated that protein capsulation effectively protects feed's Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) from biohydrolysis and biohydrogenation in the rumen. A latin square research design 3 × 3 × 2 was adopted (3 cows, 3 treatments, and 2 replications). The treatments were inclusion of protected protein-fat supplement (T1), inclusion of unprotected protein-fat supplement (T2), and control (C). Effects of treatments on the cow's performance were observed based on variables of nutrients intake, nutrients digestibility, and milk production. Effects on milk quality were determined by compositions of milk constituents and milk Fatty Acids (FA). Results showed that treatments have no significant effect on Dry Matter (DM) and nutrients intake, except for Extract Ether (EE) intake which was significantly different (p<0.05) between treatments respectively 0.460; 0.495; 0.372 kg/cow/day for T1, T2, and C. The treatments also had no significant effects on DM and nutrients digestibility. There were no significant effects of treatments observed in the variables of milk production and quality. Milk FA profiles showed protected protein-fat supplements tend to decrease the proportion of medium chain FA (C10:0-C14:0) (13.58% vs 14.75% for T1 and C) and increase the proportion of Oleic Acid (C18:1) (29.39% vs 26.21% for T1 and C). Although the effects on FA profiles were not significant, the study had indicated that inclusion of protected protein-fat supplement has positive effect to increase the value of milk FA.


The present study examined stereotyped behaviors developed during human performances that were generated by response-dependent intermittent schedules of reinforcement. Thirty university students were assigned to either fixed-interval 30-s or fixed-ratio 30-s schedules in which points or monetary reinforcers were produced only by presses on the number keys of a 41-key computer keyboard. Behavior patterns developed by all subjects were classified into four categories: optimal, random, unique, and general stereotypes. The general stereotypes category was further subdivided into five idiosyncratic types: connection, order, shift, repeat, and restriction. Analysis of the data demonstrated the role of contiguity: Whatever behavior happened to precede reinforcers was repeated even though reinforcers did not depend on that behavior. These findings support the argument that much of idiosyncratic and stereotyped human behavior is produced and maintained by contingencies of reinforcement, rather than schedule-induced or adjunctive behavior.


56 obese and 103 normal-weight college students were asked to make line-length estimations of lines on either a light of dark background. Analysis of the results showed significant interactions between weight and contrast and sex and contrast, with the line estimations by women and normal-weight individuals being more dependent on the contrast.


Location-based service (LBS) provides more and more conveniences to people. However, it also brings potential threats of offending users' privacy. How to protect users' privacy in LBS schemes has aroused increasing research interests in recent years. Most of the existing privacy-preserving LBS schemes are based on the hardness of traditional number-theoretic problems such as the integer factorization or the discrete logarithm problems. However, with the development of large scale quantum computers, these traditional problems can be easily solved by Shor's algorithms, hence the security of these LBS schemes is greatly threatened. In this paper, we solve this problem by constructing a privacy-preserving LBS scheme against quantum attacks from an LWE-based key-homomorphic pseudorandom functions (PRF). In our scheme, due to the key-homomorphic property of the PRF, an LBS user only has to compute one PRF value of the target location and the remaining computation is outsourced to a cloud server, which releases the user from heavy computation burden. In addition, by dividing the key encrypting LBS data into two parts and assigning the two parts to the cloud sever and each user respectively, our scheme avoids the threats of key abuse and information leaking of LBS data. Moreover, we use this PRF to realize an authenticated protocol, which protects the communications between the LBS users and the cloud server. We stress that the security of our scheme is based only on the security of the LWE-based key-homomorphic PRF, hence our scheme is the first LBS scheme secure against quantum attacks.


The combined reinforcing steel welding net characteristics were introduced from layout characteristics,welding point and efficiency,the combined layout method and reinforcing net layout was illustrated,the combined net and reinforced net adjusting were illustrated.The matters need attention in adjusting process were pointed,so as to guide practice and guarantee combined reinforcing steel welding net layout properly and effectively.


Catalyzed by the (pyridylamido)hafnium/organoboron system, a series of halogen-functionalized isotactic polypropylenes were synthesized via the stereospecific copolymerization of propylene with ω-halo-α-alkenes. The (pyridylamido)hafnium/organoboron system has been proved to be a potent catalyst for propylene/ω-iodo-α-alkenes copolymerization, producing well-defined poly(propylene-co-ω-iodo-α-undecene)s with outstanding properties. The high molecular weight (Mw > 100 kg mol–1) functional iPPs possessing abundant iodoalkene units (up to 11.7 mol %) and unimodal molecular weight distributions (Mw/Mn ≈ 2) could be easily obtained under mild conditions with excellent catalytic activity. High isotactic selectivity of monomers, including propylene and polar comonomer, was unexpectedly observed ([mmmm] > 99%). Moreover, based on the unique copolymerization process and the highly reactive sites on the copolymers, the halogen groups of the resultant copolymers could be easily transformed into other polar groups vi...


The main factors causing an imbalance in market is monopoly. The monopoly leads to the creation of dominant position and consequently economic disease. For this reason some countries have enacted laws to prevent monopoly. For example, the United States of America ratified the laws of Sherman and Clayton. Given that, mentioned two laws, were called antitrust, in this paper, using descriptive and analytical methods have been tried, first, the Trust will be examined and then, its relationship with monopoly will be analysed. Our efforts have found this result, that the monopolies which been formed in the United States, is caused by abuse of the common law trust.


Computer-aided translation (CAT) is the use of computer software to assist a human translator in the translation process. The term applies to translation that remains primarily the responsibility of a person, but involves software that can facilitate certain aspects of it. This contrasts with machine translation (MT), which refers to translation that is carried out principally by computer but may involve some human intervention, such as preor post-editing. Indeed, it is helpful to conceive of CAT as part of a continuum of translation possibilities, where various degrees of machine or human assistance are possible. After recognizing that fully automatic MT was a formidable challenge, researchers gradually turned their attention to CAT in the 1960s, starting with the creation of term banks, which used computers to store large volumes of structured information (see Terminology and translation*). Advances in computing and computational linguistics in the late 1970s and early 1980s spurred the development of modern CAT tools, which rely on computers not only for storing information, but also for actively searching and retrieving it. Visionaries such as Martin Kay (1980), among others, conceived of tools that became the backbone of CAT. However, it was not until the mid-1990s that these tools became widely commercially available. Since then, the rapid evolution of technology has made CAT accessible, affordable, popular and even necessary – to help translators in this globalized information age tackle the enormous volumes of text to translate in ever shorter turnaround times (Esselink 2000; Lagoudaki 2006; see also Globalization and translation*; Localization and translation*).


Squalls are mesoscale sudden wind-speed increases that can occur worldwide and are a design driver for FPSO systems in areas the other design environmental conditions are relatively benign, e.g. offshore West Africa. Squalls are transient winds which rapidly reach a peak wind speed (up to 50 m/s) and then decay to low speeds in a span of 60 to 90 minutes. As squalls are transient phenomena traditional steady-state analysis techniques cannot be used for the global analysis or the development of the extreme response estimates. This paper focuses on the characterization of the squall environment and the impact of various parameters on the response of FPSOs. The responses of both spread and turret moored FPSOs are presented and the difference in response is discussed. The paper then focuses on a parametric study on a representative single degree of freedom model of a spread-moored FPSO with an emphasis on the estimation of the extreme response and its dependence on sample size.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


The overall prevalence of dyslipidemia in India in 2013 was 10 % to 73 %. The prevalence of hyperlipidemia is more in females (33.2 %) than in males (32.4). On an av erage 32.8 % population is suffering from hyperlipidemia. The objective of the present study is to prepare and evaluate the stomach specific floating microspheres of simvastatin. Simvastatin microspheres were prepared by ionotropic gelation method using po lymers such as sodium alginate, guar gum, pectin and carbopol. Total 12 formulations were prepared by using the above polymers. The prepared microspheres were evaluated for t heir appearance, solubility, physical properties (bulk density, tapped density, co mpressibility index, angle of repose), particle size, swelling index, SEM studies, buoyancy property, entrapment efficiency, in - vitro dug release and drug release kinetics. All formulations showed compliance with pharmacopoeial standards. The in - vitro drug release studies were conducted using USP dissolution apparatus type II (paddle) in 900 ml of 0.1 N HCl for first 2 h, next 1 h in 6.8 pH phosphate buffer and the remaining 9 h in 7.4 pH phosphate buffer. Surface morphology (SEM analysis) was conducted wit h F2, F7, F10 and F12 formulations. Drug polymer interaction studies (FTIR) were performed with all the polymers. The microspheres were smooth and elegant in appearance, show ed no visible cracks as confirmed by SEM and FTIR studies indicated the lack of dr ug polymer interaction. Based on dissolution data, formulation F12 was the best formulation with a drug release of 98.96 %. The in - vitro release data of all microsphere formulations were plotted in various kinetic equations to understand the mechanisms and kinetics of drug release. The drug release kinetics of formulation F12 was of zero order with non - fickian mechanism according to Korsmeyer - Peppas equation.


In this paper, we give a type of iterative scheme for sequence of nonexpansive mappings and we study the strongly convergence of these schemes in real Hilbert space to common fixed point which is also a solution of a variational inequality. Also there are some consequent of this results in convex analysis


This article presents a signal characterization method to detect the sinusoidal components of any signal. This is based on the statistical studies of the fluctuations of the temporal envelope power. Two algorithms are proposed, one more efficient, the other more precise. The main advantages are the use of only one analysis window and especially, very small sensitivity to noise. Some experiments and results on synthetic sounds illustrate the high quality of this analysis with noisy sounds.


By integrating the Location Based Service(LBS) and communication technologies,considering the characteristic of the mobile signal not fully covered in the forest area,this paper proposed a solution for building a forest fire prevention scheduling system based on multiple-terminal locating and communicating techniques.The proposed system solves the problem of blocked communication and information transmission due to the poor coverage signal in the forest area,and provides a comprehensive solution for the commanding and scheduling of forest fire prevention.


It conducted reforestation at Laohushan Small Watershed of Taihe County of Jiangxi Province by using 5 modes of strong interference Pinus massoniana stand(mode A),fencing Pinus massoniana stand(mode B),Pinus massoniana stand with horizontal water storage grooves(mode C),Pinus massoniana stand with planting grass and horizontal water storage grooves(mode D) and Pinus elliottii stand with horizontal water storage grooves(mode E).It studied the interception of canopy and vegetation layer under canopy,moisture holding capacity of litter,soil permeability and storage capacity of the forestland.The outcomes show that a) the interception of canopy and vegetation layer under canopy of mode E is the maximum and mode A is the minimum;b) the moisture holding capacity of litter of mode D is the maximum and then is mode C,mode B and mode E are equally the minimum;c) the soil permeability of mode B is the best,the next is mode D,the initial infiltration rate of mode E is the minimum and the constant infiltration rate of mode A is the minimum and;d) the soil storage capacity of mode D is the maximum,the next is mode B and mode E is the worst.It shows that selecting an appropriate mode of ecological rehabilitation,protecting and improving soil texture and increasing the capability of soil moisture holding and soil permeability are the key measures for increasing water conservation function of soil and water conservation forest in seriously eroded red soil region.


Mesoporous SAPO-34 catalyst was successfully synthesized by the hydrothermal method using carbon nanotube (CNT) as a secondary template. The effects of CNT contents (0.5, 1.5, 2.5, and 4.5 mol%) on catalytic performances were investigated. The synthesized catalysts were characterized with XRD, SEM, nitrogen physisorption isotherm and -TPD. Among the synthesized catalysts, SAPO-34 catalyst prepared by the addition of 1.5 mol% CNT (1.5C-SAPO-34) observed not only the largest amounts of mesopore volume but also acid sites. However, the mesopore volume was relatively decreased by further increasing of CNT contents due to the formation of small crystalline. The catalytic lifetime and the selectivity of light olefins () were examined for the dimethyl ether to olefins reaction. As a result, the 1.5C-SAPO-34 catalyst showed an improvement of ca. 36% in a catalytic lifetime and a better selectivity to light olefins as compared with the general SAPO-34 catalyst.


Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of Chinese crude drugs in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B(CHB). Methods 47 cases in treatment group were treated with the Chinese crude drug,and 47 cases in control group treated with western medicine. Results There was better effect in treatment group than in control group. Conclusion There is better clinical efficacy of Chinese crude drugs in the treatment of CHB.


the present study was to investigate the effect of low-level laser irradiation as photodynamic therapy (PDT) on proliferation and differentiation of a human fibroblast cell line, determining the therapeutic window of toluidine blue O (TBO) using the 3-D collagen matrix assay with fibroblasts. The collagen-based 3-D assay (MetaVi Germany) combines all the advantages of 3-D collagen matrix assays with the benefits of high-throughput, fully auto-mated (hands-off) tracking technology. Two sets of tests (MetaVì Labs 3-D collagen matrix assay) were performed with human dermal fibroblasts derived from PromoCell (Heidelberg, Germany). Cells do not need to be labelled with any dyes or tags that could interfere with cell motility or inter-act with substances being tested in the assay. Results: The sensitization of fibroblasts with a physiological concentration of 5% (v:v) TBO and exposure to light from a 810 nm diode laser (1 min, 0.3 W) did not reduce cell viability and migratory activity measured by migration dynamics in comparison to the not sensitized fibroblasts. Conclusion: The study provided evidence that PDT with a diode laser 810nm and the photosensitizer toluidine blue O does not influence locomotory behavior of human fibroblasts in vitro


Abstract Sleep disturbance can aggravate pain, and we recently found that insomnia treatment improved osteoarthritis (OA) pain, lowered inflammation, and improved quality of life in middle-to-older aged adults. Inadequate slow wave sleep (SWS), known as deep or restorative sleep, can decline with aging and is linked to pain and inflammation. We examined how insomnia treatment affects SWS, and the relationship between SWS and pain. In a pilot trial, 33 adults, ages 51 to 74 years with OA-related knee pain and insomnia, were randomized to 6-session CBTi (n=16) or a weekly phone contact control group (n=17). The CBT-I group showed significantly more laboratory-measured SWS across a study night than controls after controlling for baseline SWS. Greater SWS intensity was associated with lower OA-related pain among the CBT-I group, but not among controls. These preliminary data suggest that behavioral sleep treatment may strengthen the beneficial influence of restorative sleep on pain.


We retrospectively reviewed lung cancer patients who were treated with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR). We investigated the value of response evaluation after treatment by measuring the volume change of tumors on serial chest computed tomography (CT) examinations. The study included 11 consecutive patients with early-stage (T1-T2aN0M0) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were treated with SABR. The median dose of SABR was 6,000 cGy (range 5,000∼6,400) in five fractions. Sequential follow-up was performed with chest CT scans. Median follow-up time was 28 months. Radiologic measurement was performed on 51 CT scans with a median of 3 CT scans per patient. The median time to partial response (T PR) was 3 months and median time to complete remission (TCR) was 5 months. Overall response rate was 90.9% (10/11). Five patients had complete remission, five had partial response, and one patient developed progressive disease without response. On follow-up, three patients (27.2%) developed progressive disease after treatment. We evaluated the the response after SABR. Our data also showed the timing of response after SABR.


In this paper we present the Multitemporal Adaptive Processing (MAP3) paradigm devoted to the definition of new multitemporal, user-oriented products. MAP3 is organized in three blocks of activities dealing with pre-processing, adaptive processing and representation. Experiments performed on different scenarios testify the reliability of the proposed paradigm and its independence from both sensor and scene.


Traditionally, the approach to address gender equality has been to empower women through education, collective organising, legal remedies, electoral participation, and institutional engagement. Empowerment of women undoubtedly increases women's awareness of their rights and their ability to confront discrimination and violence; however, engagement with men can make this process collaborative and address men's accountability towards advancing gender justice. This chapter describes the Centre for Health and Social Justice's efforts to engage men within a gender-transformative framework, in different domains of gender equality such as advancing sexual and reproductive rights, eliminating gender-based violence, addressing men's responsibility in care work, and supporting women's leadership in governance.


Objective To produce the experimental pig model of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS) through raising pigs in the lower pressure container in order to study the effect of low pressure on morphology of upper respiratory soft tissue in pig.Methods The pigs were living in a container of low pressure for 6 months to make up the pig models of OSAHS.When the symptoms like OSAHS appearing and the pharyngeal respiratory pressure changing like the characteristics of OSAHS,the pigs were scanned by CT and compared with controls.Results The pharyngeal rear wall and soft palate in model pigs were thickened(0.94 cm±0.16 cm and 1.06 cm±0.23 cm respectively),while in control groups were(0.60 cm±0.11 cm and 0.59 cm±0.13 cm respectively).The cross-sectional area of upper airway in anterior,middle and rear parts were(1.49±0.12) cm2,(1.37±0.32) cm2 and(1.00±0.21) cm2 respectively,the narrowest part was in rear area,and in control groups were(1.30±0.14) cm2,(1.57±0.32) cm2 and(2.48±0.42) cm2 respectively.Conclusion The lower pressure condition can be used to produce animal experimental model of OSAHS,the low pressure is the important factor to cause OSAHS.


Across the world, people are on the move—international students, highly skilled workers, economic migrants, retirees, refugees, nomads, those within global care chains and those whose unauthorised status leave them vulnerable to all sorts of human rights violations, including slavery. Even the term 'migration' now seems inadequate to describe the movement of people across the world as twenty-first-century communication technologies, transportation and culture make mobility so much easier, enabling people to think and act beyond the borders of their countries. The title of this Special Issue directs our attention to the complexities of global migration flows and the emergent networks and interconnections occurring across nation states. Migration is not of course new. Historically, human populations have migrated to different countries following long-established patterns of people fleeing conflict, war, persecution, escaping poverty and unemployment. What is new is the nature and extent of the social transformations produced by these movements which are challenging established ideas about migration itself. Major shifts in the scale and diversification of international migration serve to generate questions about identity, nation, citizenship, the reshaping of contemporary societies, community and place and, most pertinently for social work, raising questions about the adequacy and nature of responses within particular welfare regimes. It is estimated that some 232 million people or 3 per cent of the world's population live outside their country of birth (UNDESA, 2013). Although this is a small proportion of the world's population, its impact is far greater than the numbers suggest. The North, or 'developed', countries account for 136 million international migrants, compared to 96 million in the South, or 'developing', countries. Most international migrants are of working age (twenty to sixty-four years), making up 74 per cent of the total. Globally, half of all migrants are women, most of reproductive age and women migrants are particularly vulnerable to labour market exploitation, human trafficking and sexual violence (UNDESA, 2013). Refugees fleeing natural disaster, famine, persecution and conflict form a distinct category within this movement and constitute an estimated 34.4 million people in 116 countries. Unaccompanied minors, often traumatised by violence and war, arrive in


Little is written in the occupational therapy literature about sexual expression and professional practice. This opinion piece presents two opposing opinions. One argues for its inclusion as part of an holistic approach. The other, developed from published emails, argues for its exclusion, because sexual expression is not seen as an occupational activity. These professional perspectives are set against the lived experiences of physically disabled people. From this consumer perspective, the omission of sexual expression from practice can be viewed as potentially damaging. A proposed way forward is to increase the awareness and skills of occupational therapists in this domain of practice.


The author makes an analysis on case teaching in MBA enterprises and its dual functions.The purpose of case teaching is to improve the problem-solution ability of MBA students in reality.The paper draws some conclusion in the guiding thought and many concerning aspects in case teaching.Finally,the author puts forward suggestion.


In this paper, a Spatial Temporal Graph Neural Network (STGNN) model is developed, including a temporal block and Graph Neural Network (GNN) block, to solve the problem of vehicle trajectory prediction in unstructured scenes. Specifically, a temporal block combines a recurrent neural network and non-local operation to extract the features from past trajectories, and a GNN block models the subtle interactions between vehicles. The proposed model is evaluated on two datasets: Unstructured Scene Dataset and Argoverse Dataset. Experiment results show that the STGNN model achieves a better performance in the unstructured scenes and can be applied to common scenes where rules of the road dominate.


This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with calcium varying in particle size and different calcium sources on production performance, egg quality, and blood calcium concentration with comparing vitamin D3 supplementation in laying hens. A total of 250 ISA brown laying hens were used in a 7 wk feeding experiment and randomly assigned to 5 dietary treatments with 5 replicates of 10 birds each. The treatments were TRT1 (basal diet+6% small particle limestone (SPL: <0.8 mm)+1.5% large particle limestone (LPL: <0.8 mm), TRT2 (basal diet+3% SPL+4.5% LPL), TRT3 (basal diet+3% SPL+4.455% LPL+0.045% large particle oyster shell (LPO)), TRT4 (basal diet+3% SPL+4.41% LPL+0.09% LPO), and TRT5 (basal diet+3% SPL+4.498% LPL+0.002% 1, 25-dihydroxycholecalciferol). Overall, our results suggested that calcium particle size, different calcium sources, and vitamin D3 had no significant influence on egg production performance, egg quality, and blood calcium concentration, however, there was a linear tendency. In other words, LPL prolongs retention time in the digestive tract, resulting in higher blood calcium concentration. Additionally, vitamin D3 supplementation improved this effect clearly compared with TRT1 (P<0.05).


This report summarizes interviews with five social workers who helped families that experienced political violence, and with 16 families that lost a family member due to terrorist activity in Israel and Palestine from 2000 to 2005. Results revealed a great disparity between the Israelis and the Palestinians on the types of and extent of benefits and support services given to the victims and their families of a terrorist incident. Israeli has a well-established system of victim compensation and has immediate and long-term benefits. Palestinian victims and their families have few services, little money for reparation, and no well-organized system for the support and compensation for acts of political violence.


The transmission characteristics of analogue optical fibres change if the fibre is bended or twisted. This happens if they are used as downlink in steerable antennas. These mechanical stresses and the changes of the environmental temperature, pressure, etc. leads to instabilities of phase and gain of the transmitted signals. To compare these effects two measurement campaigns have been done at both the Effelsberg (Germany) and Medicina (Italy) antennas. A dedicated optical rack, composed by a couple of optical TX and RX pairs, was set up and accurately characterized in laboratory due to the high sensitivity needed for the measurements. An ad hoc automated measurement system has been set up. This allowed to control and collect data from all the instrumentation and merging them with the acquired environmental parameters and antenna pointing. Beside these, also environmental temperature changes affect the signal. This paper describes the amplitude and phase behaviour of this transmitted signal and compares this with the behaviour of a normal coaxial cable.


The utility model relates to an adjustable-gooseneck-angle CO2 welding gun device for teaching. The adjustable-gooseneck-angle CO2 welding gun device is characterized in that the welding gun device comprises a nozzle, a gooseneck, and two hinge mechanisms arranged on the nozzle; the hinge mechanisms and the gooseneck are fixed by connecting screws; the welding gun device further comprises a welding handle and a trigger switch arranged below the welding handle; and the right side of the welding handle is connected with an air pipe. The adjustable-gooseneck-angle CO2 welding gun device for teaching of the utility model has the following beneficial effects: (1) the whole device is simple in structure, artful in design and convenient in operation, and the angle of the welding gun gooseneck can be flexibly adjusted; (2) an angle protractor arranged in the technical scheme can accurately display the angle of the welding gun gooseneck in real time, and the operation is very convenient; and (3) a clamping hoop is arranged at the outer side of a sealed rubber hose in the technical scheme, which can prevent CO2 leakage.


This paper contends that, despite the dominance of the marketing paradigm in retail studies, benefits may be gained from applying stakeholder analysis to retailing. The development of stakeholder theory is outlined, and its problems and shortcomings reviewed. Notwithstanding these, retailing's stakeholders are defined in relation to "best practice". Examples of issues pertaining to stakeholder groups are given. Several ethical issues in retailing are then examined to demonstrate the benefits that accrue from applying a stakeholder approach. It is suggested that such a framework offers a broader perspective, and in particular that rising concern for ethical issues in retailing is better articulated through such a framework. The paper concludes such issues are better addressed when any retail marketing analysis is paralleled with a stakeholder analysis.


Kombucha tea is a fermented tea drink using Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY), which is currently being widely produced and consumed because of its health benefits. Kombucha tea has a great opportunity on a global industrial scale, so it is necessary to monitor the production process. This paper uses system sensor gas array or eNose to distinguish volatiles delivered amid the maturation preparation and to think about the method stages using the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) strategy. The results obtained from LDA showed that the 1st to 6th day was the growth process of the SCOBY mushroom, while the 7th to 12th day was the ripening process of kombucha to be consumed. The stages of the kombucha fermentation process are classified using three classification methods, namely KNN, CART, and LDA. The results show the highest accuracy obtained by LDA, with an accuracy of 83.33%. These results can be agreed that eNose can be used as a measuring tool for monitoring the fermentation process and testing the quality of kombucha tea.


1. Ethnicity and Religion: Redefining the Research Agenda Joseph Ruane and Jennifer Todd 2. The Situational Importance of Ethnicity and Religion in Ghana Arnim Langer 3. Legible Pluralism: The Politics of Ethnic and Religious Identification in Malaysia Graham K. Brown 4. The Push and Pull between Religion and Ethnicity: The Case of Loyalists in Northern Ireland Claire Mitchell 5. Religious and Ethnonational Identification and Political Violence Robert D. Lowe and Orla T. Muldoon 6. Symbolic Complexity and Political Division: The Changing Role of Religion in Northern Ireland Jennifer Todd 7. Ethnoreligious Change in Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe: A Comparative Study of How Religious Havens Can Have Ethnic Significance Gladys Ganiel 8. Ethnicity, Religion and Peoplehood: Protestants in France and in Ireland Joseph Ruane


IR 054 132 Stripling, Barbara K. Libraries for the National Education Goals. ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources, Syracuse, N.Y. Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. ISBN-0-937597-34-1 92 RIS8062008 125p.; For a digest based on this monograph, see MIR 054 144; for three key related reports, see ED 319 143, ED 327 985, and ED 334 279. Information Resources Publications, Syracuse University, 030 Huntington Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244-2340 (IR-94; $10.00 plus $2.00 shipping and handling). Information Analyses ERIC Clearinghouse Products (071) MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. Academic Achievement; Adult Education; Career Exploration; Computer Networks; Drug Ediactation; *Educational Improvement; Educational Research; Elementary Secondary Education; Learning Rsadinesiu Learning Resources Centers; *Library Role; Lifelong Learning; Literacy Education; *National Programs; Postsecondary Education; Program Descriptions; Public Libraries; School Libraries America 2000; Information Skills; *National Education Goals 1990 Focusing on the major educational initiatives of our times--the National Education Goals oatlined and endorsed in 1990 by the nation's governors, and President Bush's America 2000 strategy--this report reviews and summarizes information about the role of libraries in many different educational efforts designed to meet the national goals. It is argued that libraries can and must play a pivotal role in meeting these goals, including efforts to prepare students to cope with learning in an information age (resource-based learning), and to provide a national electronic network for students, teachers, administrators, and community members (the National Education and Research Network). This work provides direct evidence of the relationship between existing and developing library programs and the national education initiatives, citing specific examples whenever possible or appropriate. A separate chapter is devoted to each of the six goals to be reached by the year 2000. Within each chapter, information is presented for each of three spheres of influence defined in "Education Counts: An Indicator System To Monitor the Nation's Educational Health" (U.S. Department of Education, 1991)--learning and schools, social context, and national values. Within each sphere of influence, examples of ways in which libraries can contribute to meeting the goal are presented together with research findings, comments, and highlights of programs already involved in the types of activities related to a particiaar example, and sources of the information given are cited. A 15-item lelected bibliography of sources on which this work is based concludes the report. (BBM)


The technical features of conductive carbon fiber-graphite concrete are reviewed in this paper, and its generation, development and the current technology condition are also introduced. According to the researches of conductive carbon fiber-graphite concrete material in recent years, the paper presents its application in all kinds of aspects especially floor heating engineering in which its advantages can be fully used. Finally, the paper summarized the developing trend of carbon fiber-graphite conductive concrete. Key words-Conductive concrete,Carbon fiber,Graphite,Indoor heating,electrocaloric effect


ABSTRACT The aim of this study was twofold. Study 1 was carried out to derive a subset of items from the Turkish version of the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale (FDAS) which is a 100-item instrument assessing the level of adjustment after divorce or separation. A total of 262 individuals were participated in Study 1 where statistical analyses including exploratory factor analysis and content coverage procedures were complementarily used to create the short form (FDAS-SF). The psychometric evaluation of the FDAS-SF was the focus of Study 2 including 230 participants. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a five-factor model provides good fit to data. Additionally, the dimensionality of FDAS was found to be invariant across gender and separation status (divorced vs. separated) groups. Apart from the reliability analyses indicating high consistency, the convergent validity of the FDAS-SF was also confirmed by significant correlations with the relevant psychological structures including satisfaction with life, psychological well-being, depression, anxiety, and stress. Examination of incremental validity showed that the FDAS-SF significantly predicted the levels of satisfaction with life and psychological well-being after controlling for psychological symptomatology. Overall, the FDAS-SF had satisfactory psychometric properties among not only divorced but also separated Turkish women and men.


Identification and characterization of geodiversity for sites need more systematic approach for the purpose of conserving site with high geoheritage value. The present of igneous and metamorphic rock at Hulu Langat creates diversity in rock, features and geomorphological features includes hot spring, waterfall, hill and mountain that hold potential as a protected geosite of heritage value. Besides, the previous tin mining activities created by the contact metamorphism, left series of lakes and ponds while the nearby mountain is susceptible area as watershed that turn into dams around the area. Analysis on topographical maps, satellite image and aerial photograph interpretation aided in identification potential geosite based on geomorphological diversity. A total of 31 potential geosites with geological-scientific value have been identified in this study compare to 10 from the previous study. The potential geosite have been classified into rock diversity, natural landscape diversity and anthropogenic landscape diversity. Characterisation recognise 6 of these potential geosite are best example or tip location to illustrate the geological element, 4 of these geosites are the only occurrence of the geological element, 27 of the potential geosites are well preserved and 4 hold the scientific knowledge written in the international journal. The identification and characterisation of geoheritage resources are crucial steps before evaluation or assessment, ranking and conservation or development being propose, while strengthen the conservation geology approach.


The existence of nonthermal, ultrafast phase transitions after strong femtosecond laser excitation has been demonstrated in several materials such as silicon [1 ‐ 3], gallium arsenide [3 ‐6], indium antimonide [7], and carbon [8]. It is accepted that such transitions are induced by a softening of the lattice structure due to the generation of a very high density electron-hole plasma, as first proposed by Van Vechten [9]. Most of the experimental and theoretical work [10‐13] has concentrated on the solid-to-liquid phase transformation of the above mentioned materials. Some authors [2,11] have also claimed the existence of an ultrafast solid-to-solid phase transition preceding nonthermal melting, although there is experimental evidence [3,7] refusing this hypothesis. In this Letter we present a time resolved study on the dynamics of femtosecond laser induced structural transformations in amorphous GeSb. We describe experimental evidence for the subpicosecond formation of a transient phase of the material and interpret our results as first indication for an ultrafast, nonthermal amorphousto-crystalline phase transition. Sb-rich amorphous GeSb films can be crystallized upon irradiation with ultrashort laser pulses [14] and show a large optical contrast upon transformation [15]. This effect makes GeSb a promising material for the development of rewritable optical memories driven by ultrashort laser pulses [16]. Recently, it has been demonstrated [17] that the energy fluence necessary to induce crystallization in this material decreases significantly for pulses shorter than a picosecond, suggesting the relevance of electronic processes in the amorphousto-crystalline transition. Amorphous Ge0.06Sb0.94, 50-nm-thick films were grown on glass substrates at room temperature in a multitarget dc magnetron sputtering system from pure (99.999%) Ge and Sb targets. The films were irradiated with 100 fs laser pulses at 620 nm delivered by a 10-Hz amplified colliding-pulse mode-locked (rhodamine 6GyDODCI) dye laser. The evolution of the reflectivity of the irradiated surface was monitored with both femtosecond time and micrometer spatial resolution by means of ultrafast time-resolved microscopy [18]. A first laser pulse excites the sample. A second time-delayed probe pulse replaces the standard illumination of an optical microscope and provides snapshot pictures of the excited surface with 100 fs time resolution. The optical micrographs are recorded with the help of a charged coupled device detector in conjunction with a computer controlled frame-grabber. Since a single laser pulse induces permanent structural changes of the irradiated area the sample is moved between two consecutive exposures. A series of pictures, covering the entire period from the initial deposition of the laser energy (pump fluence 45 mJycm 2 ) to the appearance of the final structural modifications, is shown in Fig. 1. The contrast of the images has been enhanced for reproduction purposes and


2-Cys Peroxiredoxins(2-Cys Prxs)in plants were reported to localize to plant chloroplasts and perform antioxidative function during plant development and photosynthesis.This paper investigated the function of tobacco 2-Cys Prx gene overexpressed in transgenic tobacco(Nicotiana tabacum)plants with tolerance against light intensity and salt stresses.The results showed that superoxide dismutase(SOD)activity in leaves of two types of tobacco increased under weak light(200 μmol m–2s–1)and salt stresses,ascorbateperoxidase(APX)activity changed little,and the content of H2O2slightly increased.Salt stress enhanced SOD activity and decreased APX activity under strong light(1000 μmol m–2s–1).The content of H2O2in leaves of transgenic tobacco with 2-Cys Prx increased slower than that of wild tobacco.The electron transport rate(ETR),PSII photochemical efficiency(Fv/Fm)and actual photochemical efficiency( PSII)in leaves of transgenic tobacco with 2-Cys Prx were higher than those of control under high light.Electron transports in the receptor side were lower than that in control.The results suggested that2-Cys Prx could be the effective removal of excess H2O2while APX activity decreased under high light and salt stresses,and could reduce PSII photoinhibition induced by high light and salt stresses.


To give the reference for the study on the structure and biological activity of polysaccharides from Chinese traditional medicine Qinglongyi,this paper extracted the Polysaccharides,purified and analyzed monosaccharide composition,and finally detected the content.Extracted the polysaccharides from the hot water and deposited it by gain alcohol,separated the pigment by centrifuge under acidic condition,isolated the monosaccharide composition by high performance capillary electrophoresis(HPCE),detected the content of polysaccharide by phenol-vitriolicsulfuric acid colorimetry.The content of rough polysaccharide is 38.07% and the purified is 76.08%.The composition of polysaccharides are Gal,Glu,Ara,Rha,Fru,every percentage is 42.998%,23.30%,16.03%,10.123%,7.549%.HPCE has the characteristics of high effective isolation and micorquantity and so on,it can be used to quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the composition of the polysaccharides,and phenol-vitriolicsulfuric acid colorimetry is simple,convenient and reliable.


In the current financial scenario, there is an increasing search for financial results and market share. In this context, the work of cooperative financial institutions that despite strong relationships with people face difficulties in obtaining the financial principality of their associates. This study looks at the factors influencing consumers' purchasing or adherence to a cooperative financial institution by researching consumer behavior in the evaluation of alternatives.  In addition, in purchasing decision making in order to better this relationship by generating knowledge and information for the institution, if necessary, conduct its behavior, aligned with the expectations of its members and consumers to obtain loyalty, making this its principal. The research was conducted through in-depth interviews. The results indicate factors that may interfere in the choice of a deeper relationship between the cooperative and the cooperative financial institution.


Lavallee and Hidiroglov's(1988) developed an algorithm that minimizes the overall size of a random stratified sample by optimally choosing the boundary points of the strata. The boundary points are chosen for a given coefficient of variation for the estimator and a specific power allocation scheme. The current work presents a Fortran Program that perform the above optimal allocation. The computer algorithm is demonstrated with an application to real data.


The Semester studies and Student Academic Progress Module are part of the Faculty Subject Registration System developed using Visual Programming Technique.The purpose of this module is to organize information related to new and old students who are under the Faculty of Computer Science and Information System.This system is an expansion of the old Subject Registration System. The prior system is more toward registration of subject. Student Information that it holds is only simple student information.This is why, a more organize computer information system capable of managing and handling all the student information such as student personal information,activities,results,etc.,which more effective have to be develop.The module developed using visual Basic language as development tools in windows environment.The system will be running on Windows NT Advanced Server as the operating system and SQL-Server will be used as database management system.Beside this module, there are two other modules that are being built at the same time.They are the Subject Registration Module and the Diploma/Degree Graduation and Credit Transfer Module.


Background: Ocular surface squamous neoplasia is a spectrum of diseases encompassing from mild dysplasia to invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the ocular surface. Patients and methods: A series of 50 cases with suspected ocular surface squamous neoplasia presenting to Gondar University Hospital Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center, Northwest Ethiopia from January 2015 to June 2016 were enrolled. Clinical parameters were documented through interviewer administered questionnaire and ocular examination. Excisional or incisional biopsy was done on suspected conjunctival lesions and sent for histopathology examination to an experienced pathologist. Statistical Packages for Social Sciences version 21 was used to analyze data. Results: Mean age of the participants was 41.26 years (age range 18-75) and 72% of the cases were males. Majority of the participants were farmers (40%). Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was positive in 22% of the participants. Leukoplakic appearance was the commonest (68%) and nasal side of the conjunctiva was the commonest location of the lesions (72%). Feeding vessels were observed in 84% of the participants. Histopathological examination revealed ocular surface squamous neoplasia in 96% of the participants. Among these 36% had carcinoma in situ, 36% had invasive squamous cell carcinoma, 18% had conjunctival/corneal intraepithelial neoplasia and 10% had associated pterygium clinically and on histology as well. Conclusion and recommendations: Almost all the clinically suspected OSSN lesions were actual OSSN in histology. Most of the ocular surface squamous neoplasia cases in the study were non-HIV positive young males and had the lesion on their nasal side of the globe. Despite the age of the patient and status of HIV infection it is good to subject suspected OSSN lesions for histopathological examination. Most of the patients were farmers and the role of other risk factors need to be considered and large-scale studies are recommended in Ethiopia and other African countries in the future. *Correspondence to: Yared Assefa Wolde, Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia, E-mail: email@example.com


Abdush Shamad a-Falimbani is a notorious scholar in the 18th century. He traveled to learn at di verse scientific centers. He studied various disciplines; thereby being a successful learned man,devoted Sufi, gifted teacher, and productive writer. He wrote various books that draw his thoughts. These past activities of al-Falimbani become important resources for research in the intellectual historiography of Islam. This article shows this significance.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the existence and determinants of the credit gap in the cinnamon value chain development in Northwestern Vietnam.

Design/methodology/approach
A multi-stage sampling of 548 cinnamon households and a Heckman Selection Model were applied to examine their credit access constraints. In-depth interviews with cooperatives, enterprises, banks and relevant government agencies were further conducted to explain the credit gap.

Findings
In the total 52.74 percent of households that received credit, 24.56 percent of them received an insufficient amount of credit as registered. In addition, 35.77 percent of total households are credit rationed. Although all enterprises and cooperatives had been successful in applying for credit as long as they have collateral, none of them received the full credit amount requested. The credit amount received satisfied 80.64, 43.03 and 44.28 percent of the demand by households, cooperatives and enterprises, respectively. The lack of valuable collateral assets is the most important factor explaining this credit gap. Moreover, membership in a farmer-based union or ownership of a bank account increases the probability of access to credit. Educated household heads with a larger farm size and the Kinh ethnic majority are positively associated with a larger amount of credit. Households with conventional cinnamon farming, more dependents and union non-membership are more likely to be credit rationed.

Practical implications
A reform on collateral management, facilitating access to bank accounts, capacity building for local farmer-based unions, organic certification, granting land use rights and facilitating a platform to share reliable information between relevant actors are needed to bridge the credit gap.

Originality/value
This paper analyses the determinants of credit access constraints by key actors in a medicinal plant value chain that was insufficiently discussed by previous studies in the field.


The writer has assembled data to aid in clearing up some of the problems of formations of the Appalachian region by a careful comparison of portions of their contained faunas with those of the Mississippi Valley, the Cordilleras, and other localities. No thorough study and comparison of many genera of the Cambrian faunas has been made, though collections from many outcrops have been in the writer's possession for years, awaiting the opportunity to make these studies so necessary in his work on the Cambrian Trilobites. Two new families of trilobites are proposed, Menomonidae and Norwoodidae, and seven new genera: Menomonia, Millardia, Dresbachia, Norwoodia, Saratogia, Vanuxemella, and Hanburia; 46 new species and three new varieties are described, with 19 earlier described species and several genera. One of the marked features of the paper is the description of a number of genera of the order Proparia: Menomonia, Millardia, Dresbachia, and Norwoodia. These, taken in connection with the genus Burlingia, described in a previous paper (Cambrian Trilobites, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., 53, No. 2, 1908, p. 14) establish the existence of a strong group of the order in Cambrian time. The stratigraphic position of the Weeks formation is changed from Middle to Upper Cambrian, and the problem of whether the Conasauga formation of the Coosa Valley and adjoining areas shall be restricted to the Upper Cambrian, and the Middle Cambrian beds there given a formation name, is left for further detailed study. The discussion and comparison of the Crepicephalus group of trilobites is particularly interesting, including a comparison of 17 different species, 10 of them new species, 3 new varieties, and two undetermined species. The five plates of illustrations of this large trilobite also present many new and interesting features of the animal, now so long extinct. The details of this investigation with fifteen plates continuing 280 figures will be found in Smithsonian Misc. Coll., 64, No. 3, 1916. 101


Study on corrosion of steel reinforcement in geopolymer mortars. Identification of carbonation speed and chloride migration coefficient. Results on preliminary corrosion potential measurements.


Many low-power wireless networks are based on mechanisms that maintain cycle-free topologies to support data-collection applications. The network is typically optimized for bottom-up data traffic, and eventual packets that need to be sent in a different direction must follow longer paths and are frequently dropped due to lack of memory for the necessary routing tables, which can require O(n) memory space, where n is the size of the subtree rooted at each routing node. In this work we propose a Multihop Host Configuration strategy that explores cycle-free network structures in low-power wireless networks to generate and assign IPv6 addresses to nodes. The objective is to enable efficient and robust top-down routing with low memory footprint. MHCL generates and assigns IPv6 addresses which reflect the topology of the underlying wireless network. As a result, routing tables for top-down data traffic are of size O(k), where k is the number of children of each routing node. We implemented our strategy as a subroutine of RPL protocol in Contiki OS. We performed experiments to show that our strategy is efficient in time and number of messages, and is robust to network dynamics, caused by changes in preferred parents and failures in network links and nodes.


Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) of Upper Silesia Faunistic research conducted in Poland for over 80 years has led to the discovery of 143 species of scale insects that live in the natural environment. The state of knowledge of the coccoid fauna of individual areas is uneven, however, 83 species of scale insects from 8 families were collected in Upper Silesia (Górny Śląsk). Upper Silesia is the region in Poland with the fourth-largest number of species; it is preceded by the Kraków-Wieluń Upland (94 species), Roztocze (88) and the Świętokrzyskie Mts. (86). Two of the species collected in this area - Trionymus hamberdi and Volvicoccus stipae - are known only from this region. The paper gives a list of scale insect species collected in Upper Silesia together with information on their localities.


The class of representations of the Poincare group for the formulation of relativistic quantum theories of single particle is consistently extended. In so doing new species of such representations are singled out. By making use of the enlarged class quantum theories of Klein-Gordon free particle are formulated without the problems suffered by the early theory. Furthermore, new species of consistent theories can be developed.


The objective of this thesis is to identify key factors that will produce further growth for NTT DoCoMo in Japan's mature mobile market. Since the early 1990s, the mobile phone market in Japan has grown rapidly, and competition for additional market share resulted in technological innovations like NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service to mobile carriers. Until recently, those innovations had leveraged the growth of the mobile phone industry. However, in 2004 the number of mobile phone subscribers exceeded 85 million and penetration rate reached 66.6%. Under such circumstances, the growth of the mobile carriers is gradually slowing. Moreover, there are threats which have the potential to change the current business model: mobile number portability, flat rate, new entrants, and globalization. In this thesis, I develop and organize frameworks that can be used by a company to produce further growth in a mature market by using traditional growth models. Then I analyze the sources for growth in mobile market and how the threats affect current dynamics in the mobile market. Finally I examine how the frameworks can work for NTT DoCoMo, and discuss the keys for growth in Japan's mature mobile market. Thesis Supervisor: Title: Michael A. Cusumano Sloan Management Review Professor of Management TABLE OF CONTENTS Page


synthetase, it became obvious that conditions of growth of the organism played a decisive role in the catalytic properties of the enzyme purified from it. It was found that enzyme purified from E. coli grown on NH4Cl and glucose (preparation. I) was in general less sensitive to inhibition by feedback effectors than was enzyme purified from E. coli grown on glutamate and glycerol (preparation I). M\/Ioreover, in the biosynthetic reaction. catalyzed by the enzyme, the two preparations show markedlydifferent responses to divalent cations. Examination for structural differences in the two forms of the enzyme has shown that the dramatie kinetic alterations are not due to differences in, primary structure, bu-t rather to adenylylati.on of glutanrine synthetase I which converts it to glutamine synthetase I. rThis report presents experirnents which demonstrate that the two forms of the enzyme have identical amino acid composition but differ in the amount of adenosine 5'-phosphate (5'A1\P) bound in phosphodiester linkage to the protein. Materials and Methods.-E. coli strain W was grown aerobically in a 300-liter fermenlter as previously described.", 2 Preparation I was the enzyme purified from cells grownl onl 4 mnM NH4CI and 11 mM glucose. Preparation II was the enzyme purified from cells grownl on a medium in which 19 mM glutamate replaced the NJI4Cl and 21 mM glycerol replaced the glucose. Cells were harvested anid frozen in liquid nitrogen until ready for the purification procedure, which was as previously described,' anid the resultanit enzyme preparations were homogeneous on disk gel electrophoresis anid in the ultracentrifuge. Samples of enzyme were dialyzed exhaustively against 0.01 M imidazole buffer, pH 7.0, before chemical analyses were performed. All chemicals were of the highest quality commercially available. Cellulose and polyethylenimine-cellulose thinlayer chromatography plates were purchased from Brinkmann Instruments, Inc. Snake venom phosphodiesterase (Crotalus ademanteus) and E. coli alkaline phosphatase were purchased from Worthington Biochemical Co. 5'-Adenylic acid deaminase (muscle) was obtained from Sigma


The new species is a member of an apparently monophyletic group within the genus that includes R. flexile, R. walga, R. himanturi, R. burgeri, R. euzeti, R. hawaiiensis, R. urobatidium, R. paratrygoni, R. ditesticulum, R. tetralobatum, R. margaritense, R. biorchidum, and R. spinicephalum. All of these species have bothridia with medial longitudinal septa, a constriction at mid-bothridium, and, primitively, at least 42 loculi per bothridium and 17-22 testes per proglottid. Of the above, the new species is apparently most closely related to R. burgeri, with which it shares an increased number of testes (30-43) per proglottid, a V-shaped ovary, and a muscular genital pore. The new species is distinct by virtue of possessing 94-152 loculi per bothridium--no other known species has more than 78. This is the second report of Echinocephalus overstreeti from a stingray. It represents a new host, U. asperrimus, and a new location, Enewetak Atoll. Phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of each species group suggests an ancient Tethys Sea-circum-Pacific origin and evolution. This supports the hypothesis of ancient Pacific origins for potamotrygonid stingrays.


Provided are a mobile device and a security lock control method and program for this device, by which, while time and effort of a user at the time of user authentication can be reduced, unauthorized use and incorrect operation can be effectively prevented. A combination of touch operations such as touch, drag, release, tap, flick, and the like entered onto a touch panel by a user is specified while a security lock processing means is in a state where the security lock function is on, the specified combination of touch operations is collated with a combination indicated by preset authentication information, and when they match, the security lock function is released.


In this paper we introduce a new parametric distribution, the Mixed Tempered Stable. We show that, by choosing appropriately the value of the distribution parameters, it is possible to obtain some well-known distributions as special cases. The better fit to market returns and to statistical factors, obtained performing the Independent Component Analysis, is due to its flexibility. The results are useful in risk management since factor modeling can be used for portfolio allocation and risk attribution.


BACKGROUND
Healthcare professionals are crucial in the identification and accessibility to treatment for people with substance use disorders.

AIM
Objective of this literature review is to assess health professionals' attitudes towards patients with substance use disorders and to examine the consequences of these attitudes on healthcare delivery for these patients.

METHOD
PubMed, Psycinfo and Embase were systematically searched for articles published between 2000-2011. Reviews, commentaries and letters were excluded, as were studies originating from non-Western countries. The search process yielded 1562 citations. After selection and quality assessment 28 studies were included.

RESULTS
Health professionals generally have negative attitudes towards patients with substance use disorders. They perceive violence, manipulation, and poor motivation as impeding factors in the healthcare delivery for these patients. Health professionals also lack adequate education, training and support structures in working with this patient group. Negative attitudes of health professionals diminish patients' feelings of empowerment and subsequently treatment outcomes. Health professionals have a more task-oriented approach (e.g. less personal engagement and diminished empathy) in the delivery of healthcare for these patients.

CONCLUSION
This review indicates that negative attitudes of health professionals towards patients with substance use disorders are common and contribute to suboptimal health care for these patients. However, few studies have evaluated the consequences of health professionals' negative attitudes towards patients with substance use disorders.


Both authors are deeply grateful to the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University for providing such a congenial environment for writing this paper. We also appreciate comments from at least two anonymous referees. Abstract The rapidly growing literature studying the relationship between legal origin, investor protection and finance has stimulated an important debate in academic circles. It has also generated a cottage industry of applied research and strong policy statements. This paper discusses the implications, in particular for developing and transition countries, from this literature. Our general conclusion is that its focus on the plight of small investors is too narrow when applied to these countries. We argue that this group is unlikely to play an important role in most developing and transition countries. External investors may still be crucial, particularly in transition countries, but they are more likely to come in as strategic investors or creditors. The paper also proposes a broader paradigm including other stakeholders and mechanisms of governance in order to better understand the problems facing these countries and generate policy implications that compensate for the weaknesses of capital markets.


The article consists of two sections. In the first part of the article the author discusses the aim and course of the study on the level of mastery by junior high school students their ability to create a coherent monologue, oral statements and the author presents results that indicate that the students do not succeed satisfactory in speaking out. The most difficult point for the tested students was, as it turned out, talking in a comprehensive manner and building consistent and orderly expressions. Interestingly, rhetorical aspect was made slightly better. In the second part of the article the author is trying to identify the reasons for poor control of speaking (limited to the factors of school). These include the abuse on Polish language lessons, the usage of heuristic methods, as well as the absence of tasks in textbooks for teaching Polish aiding the improvement of speaking skills.


Today I will discuss the macroeconomic situation and monetary policy in the euro area. As a central bank with a clear price stability mandate, we need to ultimately judge economic developments in the light of their implications for price stability. Despite the recent increase in headline inflation, largely on account of rising energy and food prices, underlying inflation pressures remain subdued. Furthermore, convincing signs of a self-sustained convergence in inflation towards levels that are consistent with the Governing Council's objective of below, but close to, 2% have yet to materialise. To ensure price stability over the medium term, we must look through changes in headline inflation to the extent that they are transient. In the near future, we will have to assess how the forces that are driving prices today can influence the outlook for price stability in the medium term and help durably stabilise inflation around our goal. The economic recovery will support domestic price pressures. Indeed, the upswing is continuing at a steadily firming pace and is broadening across sectors and countries. The recovery has proven to be resilient against past external shocks and influences. In fact, real GDP growth in the euro area has expanded for 15 consecutive quarters, growing by 0.4% during the final quarter of 2016. Economic sentiment is at its highest level in nearly six years and unemployment is at its lowest level in nearly eight years. Looking beyond the euro area, there are signs of a somewhat stronger global recovery and increasing global trade. So overall, as economic conditions are improving, also the risks surrounding the euro area growth outlook have become less pronounced, although they remain tilted to the downside, mainly because of global factors. Our monetary policy measures have been instrumental in these positive developments in the euro area economy, as well as in supporting the resilience of the recovery in the face of external influences and prevailing uncertainties. The comprehensive set of measures introduced since June 2014 has worked its way through the financial system, leading to a significant easing of financing conditions for consumers and firms. Together with improving financial and non-financial sector balance sheets, this has strengthened credit dynamics and supported domestic demand.


The Pennington Reports The Charles S. Hartman Collection Lithographic Views of New Jersey From the Rutger Almanac Collection: Our Grand-Mothers by the Late Governor Livingston


We examine the ability of LHC experiments to observe jets from squark pair production at the center-of-mass energy E$_{CM}$=10 TeV and 1 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity. We point out the crucial influence of initial- and final-state radiation on the signal/background discriminating ability of different kinematic variables. The reliable measurements of missing transverse energy and stransverse mass would play a key role in picking out the signal against the background.


Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were measured in fifty-nine soil samples in urban and background and rural areas throughout Mongolia to fill up the gap in data set of OCPs in soil in Central Asia. The median of α-HCH+γ-HCHs, p,p` -DDT+ p,p` -DDE+ p,p `-DDD and HCB comes to 0.02, 0.16 and 0.02 ng/g dry weight respectively. OCPs levels in soils from rural and background regions of Mongolia are comparable or lower than those obtained in soil of remote and mountain areas of the world. The influence of some factors including land use, soil organic carbon, natural zones and latitude on OCP distribution in surface soils in Mongolia was found. It is associated with the extensive development of agriculture and stock-breeding in central and northern parts of Mongolia.


Considering the dietary and medicinal value, isolated attempts have been made by some progressive farmers for commercial cultivation of papaya. Inadequate nourishment is one of the reasons for its low production. The present trial was undertaken to study the response of balanced nutrition on yield of papaya and also to find out the optimum dose of NPK for commercial cultivation under Kerala conditions. Three different levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (200, 250 and 300) gram per plant per year were applied to papaya plants in six equal split doses at two month interval. The trial was conducted in 33 confounded factorial RBD, confounding NPK in replication-1 and NP2K2 in replication-2. Results revealed that balanced nutrition had a positive effect on fruit yield and application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at the rate of 250:250:500 grams per plant per year resulted in the maximum yield and BC ratio in papaya


Breast cancer is the most common cancer afflicting women globally and in Nigeria. Breast cancer screening can reduce morbidity and mortality and improve the survival rate of breast cancer. It is expected that healthcare providers who maintain and develop the society's health, should have a higher level of knowledge, attitudes, and practice in the field of healthy behaviours. This study therefore assessed the knowledge of female healthcare providers/professionals on breast cancer, breast cancer screening services and also their awareness of the availability of these screening services in the tertiary institution where they work. The study employed a cross-sectional design. A self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was administered to healthcare providers of different professional backgrounds to determine their knowledge on breast cancer, screening services and also their awareness of the availability of breast cancer screening services in the hospital where they work. The findings of this study showed that majority of the healthcare providers (75.9%) had a good knowledge of breast cancer screening services, however, only few utilize the available screening services. Although more than half of the participants practice self -breast examination, only 51.7% practice it each month. Only 26.4% of the respondent has undergone clinical breast examination. Furthermore, majority (78.2%) of the respondents were aware of mammography as a screening test, however, only 9.2% of the respondents had ever undergone a mammography before. For health workers to function as effective promoters of breast cancer control through early detection, it is expedient for them to have adequate knowledge as well as appropriate attitude and belief concerning the disease and its early detection. It is therefore recommended that educational intervention be made to increase the knowledge and awareness of healthcare professionals on breast cancer.


Barley is a grain whose consumption has a significant nutritional benefit for human health as a very good source of dietary fibre, minerals, vitamins, and phenolic and phytic acids. Nowadays, it is more and more often used in the production of plant milk, which is used to replace cow milk in the diet by an increasing number of consumers. The aim of the study was to classify barley milk and determine the optimal processing conditions in barley milk production based on NIR spectra, particle size, and total dissolved solids analysis. Standard recipe for barley milk was used without added additives. Barley grain was ground and mixed in a blender for 15, 30, 45, and 60 seconds. The samples were filtered and particle size of the grains was determined by laser diffraction particle sizing. The plant milk was also analysed using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), in the range from 904 to 1699 nm. Furthermore, conductivity of each sample was determined and microphotographs were taken in order to identify the structure of fat globules and particles in the barley milk. NIR spectra, particle size distribution, and conductivity results all point to 45 seconds as the optimal blending time, since further blending results in the saturation of the samples.


The effects of cottonseed powder and corn flour in liquid fermentation by Blakeslea trispora on β-carotene yield were investigated by using of the quadratic rotary test design,and fitted a formula.Regression analysis showed that the contents and the blending proportion of cottonseed powder and corn flour in culture medium have a significant influence on β-carotene yield.The ridge analysis results showed that the optimal cottonseed powder and corn flour contents are 2.4% and 1.6% respectively.In this optimized condition,the β-carotene yield could reach 1 275.1mg/L,increased by 25%.


Measurements on noise abatement of 4 common broadleaf hedge balls in Beijing were undertaken by using AWA 6288-type Multi-function sound level and TrueRTA audio analysis software,and made each hedge ball′s structure feature quantitative in order to seek the impact factor closely related to noise reduction.The results showed the Buxus's capability of noise-reduction on average sound level A was the strongest,1.76 dB/m;while Barberry ball was relatively the worst,1.05dB/m.There were significant differences not only in average level A sound noise-reduction capability but also noise-reduction rate between Barberry ball and Euonymus japonicus,Buxus,Ligustrum ball.The first five main structure factors affecting the noise attenuation ability of single plant were canopy volume(0.804),crown height(0.781),hedge height(0.733),leaf texture(0.690),average crown width(0.679);the crown canopy,leaf size,leaf quality and tilted,leaf density,branch density were five main factors on noise attenuation,which cumulative contribution rate reached 85.233%,these 5 factors should be considered in stress when designing urban greenbelt for noise reduction.Euonymus japonicus's average sound level A noise-reduction capability did not change significantly with plant size changes,entirely unrelated to its structure factors.This conclusion may be related to the limited sample size collected or no significant difference among tree structure characteristics;different plant had different noise-reduction factors.


Abstract: This chapter explores the area of feed cross-contamination during the production stage at the feed mill, and includes a number of studies and models assessing exposure of non-target animal species and the transfer of residues. First, an introduction is given to the licensing of substances for inclusion in feed, including feed additives and veterinary drugs. This is followed by a description of recent developments in legislation, including new maximum levels for carry-over of coccidiostats into feed for non-target animal species arising from unavoidable cross-contamination and the potential hazards arising for animals and consumers of food from animal origin. The chapter closes with recent developments in analytical methods for feed and future perspectives.


An distance measuring system based on a swept frequency reflectometer radar system was built and tested for application to navigation of robotic vehicles in a sealed room where GPS signals are not available. The final system built en masse would cost approximately $25. The system was simulated using HP/EEsof(Libra) software and tested using inexpensive commercial components, Several signal processing methods were compared for deriving distance from the data acquired from the system. Log periodic antennas (LPA) were used to test the system, and inexpensive LPA and Yagi-Uda microstrip patch arrays were built and tested for use in this application.


Shallot is an important spice and seasoning in Indonesia. It is consumed almost daily in many dishes. The objective of this experiment was to study the effect of the medium and the variety on the yield of shallots grown in a polybag. The experiments were arranged in a two-factorial randomized complete block design with three replications. The factors were medium (1 soil: 1 paddy husk ash and 1 soil: 1 compost) and variety (Agrihorti 1 and Mentes). Data were statistically analyzed by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and the means were compared using Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) at P < 0.05. There was no interaction between medium and variety. Overall, all treatments did not significantly affect yield. Varieties were significant differences on bulb diameter; however, they were not significant differences on bulb height, fresh bulb weight per polybag, and bulb number per polybag. Those media are considered as precise media due to they contain organic materials.


The article has been devoted to the analysis of definitions between two relevant concepts of modern professional management – staff motivation and stimulation. An explanation has been given for the desire to go to a particular goal. It has been studied, how does motivation differ from stimulation, and what is the relationship between them, why it is so easy to get confused in the meaning of these concepts. Based on the scientific literature, concepts of motivation and stimulation, mechanisms of their action have been revealed, examples have been given. It has been concluded about the interconnection and interdependence of motivation and stimulation, their role in the strategy of organizing the labor process, increasing its effectiveness and self-realization of the individual's potential.


A collaborative strategy between a college of nursing and a specialist nursing service was devised using outcomes driven by the ENB Higher Award. The successful implementation of this strategy has shown that the expectations of increased clinical-based innovation, resulting from this new approach to practitioner development, are achievable.


This work describes the low-frequency noise of forward biased shallow p-n junctions fabricated in epitaxial silicon substrates. Particular emphasis is on the effect of silicidation on the low-frequency noise spectral density S/sub I/. It is demonstrated that the observed 1/f noise is significantly larger in Co-silicided junctions compared with the nonsilicided ones. A detailed analysis of the current and geometry dependence of S/sub I/ leads to the conclusion that the 1/f noise is of the generation-recombination (GR) type, with the responsible GR centres homogeneously distributed over the device area. From the correlation with the forward current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, it is derived that GR fluctuations in the hole current through the n/sup +/ region cause the increased 1/f noise in the silicided devices.


Dispersive spoil/soil management is a major environmental and economic challenge for active coal mines as well as sustainable mine closure across the globe. To explore and design a framework for managing dispersive spoil, considering the complexities as well as data availability, this paper has developed a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN)-a probabilistic predictive framework to support practical and cost-effective decisions for the management of dispersive spoil. This approach enabled incorporation of expert knowledge where data were insufficient for modelling purposes. The performance of the model was validated using field data from actively managed mine sites and found to be consistent in the prediction of soil erosion and ground cover. Agreement between predicted soil erosion probability and field observations was greater than 74%, and greater than 70% for ground cover protection. The model performance was further noticeably improved by calibration of Conditional Probability Tables (CPTs). This demonstrates the value of the BBN modelling approach, whereby the use of currently best-available data can provide a practical result, with the capacity for significant model improvement over time as more (targeted) data come to hand.


I have presented the use of nano-indentation to characterise in situ the voltage and current generation of piezoelectric thin films (Bhaskaran et al. 2011b; Nili et al. 2013). These findings provide fundamental insight into thin film properties and geometries which determine their efficiency for energy generation. This work presents the controlled observation of nanoscale piezoelectric voltage (~40 mV) and current generation (~200 pA), allowing accurate quantification and mapping of force function variations. The implications of these findings include the potential to generate power by application of pressure, enabling possibilities of charging portable devices by typing or pressing touch screen interfaces. Longer term implications include the possibility to harness pressure from biorhythms such as blood flow and respiration to power implantable sensors and devices (such as cardiac pacemakers).