: The goal of this research is to investigate the 3-dimensional Lorentzian concir-cular structure manifolds, abbreviated as ( LCS ) n -manifolds admitting the η -Einstein solitons. A symmetric second order covariant tensor in a ( LCS ) n -manifold is proven to be a constant multiple of the metric tensor and η -Einstein soliton on a ( LCS ) n -manifold is satisfying some symmetric conditions R.S = 0 and S.R = 0 . Furthermore, we deduce the result for gradient η -Einstein soliton when the potential vector field ξ is of gradient type, ξ = grad ( ψ ) , and if the soliton vector field is a torqued vector field τ . Finally, in the region where the ( LCS ) n -manifold is expanding, an example of η -Einstein soliton ( LCS ) n -manifolds is given.


The invention relates to an arrangement for the storage of at least one, arranged in a recording apparatus drive energy accumulator in a motor vehicle. The invention has for its object to provide a device for supporting an object placed in a cradle drive energy memory for a motor vehicle are available which allows a large volume apparatus, while ensuring a high safety in case of a crash. In accordance with an inventive arrangement (10) for storing at least one, in a receiving device disposed (12) drive energy store (14) in a motor vehicle, the receiving device (12) around a central connection point (26) of the motor vehicle is rotatably mounted.


The environment friendly revetment has been widely used at home and abroad,and is still a lack of mature evaluation method yet.In this paper,the basic principles of evaluation index selection for environment friendly revetment technique are analyzed.The evaluation index system is established which is composed of 3 layers,namely target layer,criterion layer and index layer.The criterion layer includes ecological reasonableness,environmental reasonableness,societal reasonableness and practical reasonableness.Based on the 4 criterions,totally 21 evaluation indexes are selected that comprised the index layer.


By discussing the effect and standing of precision guidance weapons in the future informational war,a comprehensive objective analysis on the development of foreign precision guidance technology is made,and based on the new development of foreign precision guidance technology,its development trend in the earlier 20 years of the 21st century is predicted too.


A pilot assisted CDMA system which uses extended spreading sequences with guard sequences under a quasi-synchronous condition is capable of separating the interference components included in the input of a decorrelating receiver by solving a system of linear equations. The performance of such a system, however, depends on the property of the de-correlating matrix made of the pilots responses. The regularity of the matrix often tends to degrade due to primarily the multipaths, resulting in the solutions vulnerable to AWGN. This paper proposes an effective technique to solve this problem by introducing a dummy pilot associated with a virtual user into a group of the real users to be served. The simulation indicates a remarkable improvement in the bit-error-rate performance. In addition, it proves a RAKE like function with power-sum-characteristics.


The invention discloses an IP small data pack transmission method. The method comprises the steps that a control plane transmission channel between a PGW and an MTC-IWF network element is built, or a control plane transmission channel between the PGW and an MME is built; IP small data packs are transmitted through the control plane transmission channel between the PGW and the MTC-IWF network element or through the control plane transmission channel between the PGW and the MME. Correspondingly, the invention discloses an IP small data pack transmission system. IP small data pack transmission between UE and AS is realized without user plane connection of the UE and GCSN/PGW, the method and system can be widely applied to various network scenes, and when small-data-amount IP data packs are processed, signaling cost can be lowered, processing efficiency is improved, and network load is lowered.


The United States Internet-based economy alone, was more than doubled from about $15 billion in 1996 to almost $40 billion in 1997. It is estimated that it will grow to become a $300 to $350 billion dollar industry in just a couple of years. These numbers are significantly higher if we include Internet-based economy for the rest of the world. This potential growth is especially likely, when we see that companies are moving toward accepting the more comprehensive electronic business model. Major factors behind this potential growth are the widely acceptance and use of the Internet and the World Wide Web by individuals and businesses. Internet-based payment and settlement systems are an integral part of doing business electronically. As such, the growth of electronic business heavily depends on the evolution of these payment and settlement systems. Several electronic payment systems are currently available on the Internet. These payment methods are expected to achieve acceptable levels of security, privacy, speed, ease of use, decentralization, and internationalization before consumers and businesses can adopt them. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast characteristics, advantages, and limitations of the more widely used electronic payment systems.


Using detailed transactions-level data on interbank loans, we examine the e ciency of an overnight interbank lending market, and the bargaining power of its participants. Our analysis relies on the equilibrium concept of the core, which impose a set of no-arbitrage conditions on trades in the market. For Canada's Large-Value Transfer System, we show that while the market is fairly e cient, systemic ine ciency persists throughout our sample. The level of ine ciency matches distinct phases of both the Bank of Canada's operations as well as phases of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, where more intervention implies more ine ciency. We find that bargaining power tilted sharply towards borrowers as the financial crisis progressed, and (surprisingly) towards riskier borrowers. This supports a version of the Too-Big-To-Fail story, whereby participants continued to lend to risky banks at favorable rates, but not at the explicit behest of governmental authorities.


We present the results of second epoch simultaneous multi- frequency observations of 45 sources out of the 55 in the sample of High Frequency Peakers (HFP) by Dallacasa et al. (2000). Seven of the stellar sources (i.e. 16% of the total number of sources and 26% of the stellar fraction) no longer show a convex spectrum and are thus likely to be flat spectrum quasars in an outburst phase during the first epoch of ob- servations. The rest frame peak frequency distribution of HFP quasars extends up to � 45 GHz while that of HFP galaxies is confined to � 17 GHz. Imaging at 1.465 GHz and 1.665 GHz has revealed extended emis- sion for 31% of sources, a substantially larger fraction than found for GPS sources (� 10%). In the case of HFP quasars, but not of HFP galaxies, extended emission is associated with strong variability, consistent with a core-jet structure.


We propose a framework for data‐driven manipulation and synthesis of component‐based vector graphics. Using labelled vector graphical images of a given type of object as input, our processing pipeline produces training data, learns a probabilistic Bayesian network from that training data, and offer various data‐driven vector‐related tools using synthesis functions. The tools ranges from data‐driven vector design to automatic synthesis of vector graphics. Our tools were well received by designers, our model provides good generalisation performance, also from small data sets, and our method for synthesis produces vector graphics deemed significantly more plausible compared with alternative methods.


This research addresses the issue of environmental problems caused by the leather and footwear industry and the necessity of modernization in the sector when facing new demands of impact control and transformations in the market itself. The current production system is in crisis, making a bigger concern with the environment necessary. Even more when considering some parts of Brazil, since the manufacturing of footwear is responsible for a large quantity of generated residue in them. There are possibilities for the sector, from new materials to alternative production processes, including recycling and reuse to diminish impacts. Also, environmental management can be seen as an important competitive differentiator to companies, which with the adoption of such principles decrease production costs as well as the risks of not complying with the environmental legislation. For this reason, it is believed that uniting environmental management and ecodesign, from product project to the introduction of reverse logistics practices, can be the answer the segment needs. The loss reduction can also help in the recuperation of Brazilian market, that has been suffering with the entry of Asian products.


This paper presents an unsupervised model for morpheme segmentation of words collected from any raw textual corpus of a natural language. The model incorporates a numerical weighting scheme with thresholding technique for finding legitimate morphemes from a given input corpus. Kneedle algorithm is used as a thresholding technique for determining legitimacy of the morphemes. We ran our experiments on five languages – English, Finish, Turkish, German and Bengali, and the model performance is comparable to the state-of-the-art systems.


In order to study the petrogenesis and tectonic setting of Permian A-type granites and their relationships with hydrothermal mineralization along the Hegenshan-Heihe suture zone (HHSZ) in northeastern China, we select the newly discovered Hongyan Cu-polymetallic deposit in the northeastern part of the HHSZ that develops three stages of mineralization associated with the Shanshenfu alkali-feldspar granite (SAFG). The zircon U-Pb dating and whole rock geochemistry suggest that the SAFG is a typical A-type granite formed in the Early Permian. The zircon Hf isotopes and trace elements suggest that the SAFG has high Ti-in-zircon temperature (721–990℃), high magmatic oxygen fugacity and largely positive εHf(t) (+6.0 to +9.9). Therefore, we propose that the SAFG was derived from the crustal assimilation and fractional crystallization of the charnockitized juvenile crust. The high oxygen fugacity favors the chalcophile elements (e.g., Cu, Au, Ag) of the source region enriched in the fluid phases after magmatic fractional crystallization, consequently facilitating subsequent hydrothermal mineralization, which is also consistent with the characteristics of ore-forming fluids that changed from the initial high temperature, high salinity, high fO2 and CO2-rich magmatic-hydrothermal fluids of stage I to CO2-poor, dilute, and cooling meteoric fluids of stage III. Combined with regional geological background, the Permian A2-type granites along the HHSZ can be formed in post-collisional slab break-off process. In subsequent exploration for hydrothermal deposits along the HHSZ, the Permian A-type granites with arc-related juvenile crustal source and high fO2 have great potential and need more attention.


This study was carried out to examine the quality stability of powdered soup using powder from oyster wash water (PSW). To compare the quality stability, powdered soup from oyster hot-water extracts (PSE) was also prepared by mixing hot-water extract powder (15 g), table salt (5 g), cream powder (19 g), milk replacer (12 g), wheat flour (20 g), corn flour (15 g), starch (5 g), glucose (7.5 g), and onion powder (1.5 g). In preparing PSW, powder from oyster wash water, instead of powder from oyster hot-water extracts, was added and other additives were the same proportion as PSE. The PSW and PSE were packed with laminated film bag (OPP,; PE, ; paper, ; PE, ; Al, ; PE, ), and then stored at ambient temperature for 12 months. The moisture content, water activity, peroxide value, and fatty acid composition showed little changes during storage of the PSW, The pH, volatile basic nitrogen content, and brown pigment formation increased slightly, while white index decreased slightly during storage of PSW. No significant difference was observed in the changes of food components between PSW and PSE during storage. According to a sensory evaluation, the change in quality of PSW was negligible during 12 months of storage. From the results of the chemical experiment and sensory evaluation, PSW packed with laminated film bag (OPP, ; PE, ; paper, ; PE, ) was revealed to be preserved in good quality during 12 months of storage.


Use of electronic cigarettes appears to be an independent risk factor for respiratory disease in addition to tobacco smoking, according to the first population based long term analysis to investigate the association.1

"We found that for e-cigarette users the odds of developing lung disease increased by about a third, even after controlling for their tobacco use and their clinical and demographic information," said the lead author Stanton Glantz, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. "We concluded that e-cigarettes are harmful on their own, and the effects are independent of smoking conventional tobacco," he added.

The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine , analysed …


Attracting an increased attention in the new century,the development of aesthetic culture has become one of the most active,influential and concerned aspects of cultural research.As Chinese contemporary aesthetic culture is composed of various elements,it is essential to approach it by aesthetics.


Procedure for obtaining squalene. A process for preparing squalene from distillates physical refining olive oil. The method comprises performing an alkaline saponification of the feedstock in the presence of a hydrotrope.


SMEs can achieve this goal by implementing computer integrated manufacturing (CIM). The aim of CIM is to produce the required amount of the product of acceptable quality at the right time. If CIM technologies are fully integrated, the SMEs can respond rapidly to changes in product design, demand, or mix. The high investment required for AMT implementation is becoming a major hurdle for SMEs to cross. This


The modeling of realistic networks is of prime importance for modern complex systems research. Previous procedures typically model the natural growth of networks by means of iteratively adding nodes, geometric positioning information, a definition of link connectivity based on the preference for nearest neighbors or already highly connected nodes, or combine several of these approaches.

Our novel model brings together the well-know concepts of $k$-cores, originally introduced in social network analysis, and of preferential attachment. Recent studies exposed the significant $k$-core structure of several real world systems, e.g., the AS network of the Internet. We present a simple and efficient method for generating networks which at the same time strictly adhere to the characteristics of a given $k$-core structure, called core fingerprint, and feature a power-law degree distribution. We showcase our algorithm in a com- parative evaluation with two well-known AS network generators.


Davainea, Blanchard, 1891 is the most pathogenic Cestode parasites of Gallus gallus domesticus in tropic / Subtropic areas 1 . Presently, the different aspects of Davainea shindei n.sp. research in taxonomy (scolex globular, hooks 320 in numbers, mature segments broader than long, testes 20-22 in numbers), biochemistry (protein, glycogen and lipid estimation), histopathology (healthy and infected intestine) and neurosecretory (nervous system and neurosecretory cells) have been discussed.


The article published in this journal by Hawk and colleagues (February 2022) concluded from their review of the literature that changes in staffing levels are strongly associated with improved outcomes for nursing home (NH) residents. They compared actual NH staffing with the Center for Medicare & Medicaid services (CMS) staffing recommendations necessary to prevent harm and jeopardy to residents. They found that 95% of NHs failed to meet all the recommended minimum staffing levels (4.1 total nurse staffing hours per resident day [hprd]), including 0.75 registered nurses (RNs) hprd, 0.55 licensed practical nurses (LPNs) hrpd, and 2.8 certified nursing assistants (CNAs) hrpd. Seventy-five percent of NHs failed to have 4.1 hprd, and 69% did not have 0.75 RN hprd in 2019. In their discussion (p. 7) Hawk and colleagues estimated that the cost to attain the recommended minimum staffing was $7.25 billion based on current wage rates and stated that this cost represents only 4.2% of the $172.2 billion of national NH expenditures in 2019. NHs with higher percentages of Medicaid residents were found to have lower staffing levels. Hawk and colleagues argue that the NH median operating margins of 0.7% indicate inadequate Medicaid funding. They assume that new Medicaid funding is needed for NHs to meet the recommended staffing minimums. We question the need for additional funding. Hawk and colleagues do not discuss the financial practices of for-profit NHs that result in the failure to fund adequate and appropriate staffing.3–6 Given these problems, providing additional government funding for NHs, would, alone, not fix the problem of poor staffing. This commentary discusses (1) the lack of financial transparency and accountability that allows NHs to hide profits and divert funds away from staffing and into related-party organizations, and (2) proposed reforms that would require NHs to dedicate funds for adequate staffing.


The purpose of this PKM is to improve the welfare of target housewives through management, production, marketing and community assistance in making shredded salted fish made from grouper fish. The method applied is in the form of production technology transfer, packaging, marketing, business financial accounting management, website creation and business partnerships with users. PKM is carried out in production houses owned by the community independently. The results of the PKM are in the form of production of shredded salted fish made from grouper by housewives with the skills and capabilities of production, marketing, and financial management that are carried out independently. The group already has marketing partners and permanent raw material sourcing partners. Their product of shredded salted grouper is named Assahra. This business has at least provided new jobs for ± 7 housewives, including additional income for them. The conclusion from this PKM activity is that the production of shredded Assahra grouper is feasible to continue and can be managed independently by the target community, providing new work barriers, additional income and the product of shredded salted grouper is favored by consumers.


Abstract More than two decades ago, researchers identified benzo(a)pyrene and other organic species in the emissions from incineration of solid waste. Chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and-furans (CDD/CDF) were first detected in municipal waste combustor (MWC) emissions in 1977. Since then, CDD/CDF and a substantial number of other potentially hazardous trace organic species have been observed in the emissions from many MWC facilities. From fundamental perspectives, organic emissions are products of incomplete combustion and can be controlled to low concentrations through the optimization of the combustion process and the application of appropriate flue gas cleaning devices. CDD/CDF are some of the most widely studied organic compounds of environmental concern. EPA has announced that it intends to propose new rules for control of MWC air emissions. Technical background studies for these rules considered the control of CDD/CDF as a surrogate for controlling emission of "MWC organics." These studies on the cont...


Both microwave (MW) and conventional drying were analyzed with respect to colour change of obtained date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fruit powder. The total colour difference (TCD) was considered to quantify the colour change applying the full experience design procedure. Among all coded variables (temperature, time, date piece size and sample weight), only the interaction between drying time (X ) and date 2 piece size (X ) is significant concerning the conventional drying. In MW case, all factors, namely time (X ), 32 date piece size (X ), sample weight (X ), power (X ) and all interactions between factors are significant 3 41


Gas hydrate storage involves many factors,such as hydrate structures,temperature-pressure conditions in hydrate formation and dissociation, etc.. Experimental technology is available to study the problem. Based on previous work of four hydrate structuresm it analysis their characteristics and structure H is found to be the best structure to storage gas hydrate. According to comparing various hydrate promotors and their experimental conditions,it indicates that methylcyclohexane is a good promotor to form structure H hydrates,better ones should be found out,however. So far,the best temperature-pressure condition is in the methane-cyclopentane system. But it forms structure II hydrates, whose storage capacity is not so good. It can be confirmed by calculating the gas storage ratio of hydrates formed with different promotors.


The quantum Otto cycle serves as a bridge between the macroscopic world of heat engines and the quantum regime of thermal devices composed from a single element. We compile recent studies of the quantum Otto cycle with a harmonic oscillator as a working medium. This model has the advantage that it is analytically trackable. In addition, an experimental realization has been achieved, employing a single ion in a harmonic trap. The review is embedded in the field of quantum thermodynamics and quantum open systems. The basic principles of the theory are explained by a specific example illuminating the basic definitions of work and heat. The relation between quantum observables and the state of the system is emphasized. The dynamical description of the cycle is based on a completely positive map formulated as a propagator for each stroke of the engine. Explicit solutions for these propagators are described on a vector space of quantum thermodynamical observables. These solutions which employ different assumptions and techniques are compared. The tradeoff between power and efficiency is the focal point of finite-time-thermodynamics. The dynamical model enables the study of finite time cycles limiting time on the adiabatic and the thermalization times. Explicit finite time solutions are found which are frictionless (meaning that no coherence is generated), and are also known as shortcuts to adiabaticity.The transition from frictionless to sudden adiabats is characterized by a non-hermitian degeneracy in the propagator. In addition, the influence of noise on the control is illustrated. These results are used to close the cycles either as engines or as refrigerators. The properties of the limit cycle are described. Methods to optimize the power by controlling the thermalization time are also introduced. At high temperatures, the Novikov–Curzon–Ahlborn efficiency at maximum power is obtained. The sudden limit of the engine which allows finite power at zero cycle time is shown. The refrigerator cycle is described within the frictionless limit, with emphasis on the cooling rate when the cold bath temperature approaches zero.


Background/Objectives: This paper presents development of non destructive testing methods for calculating the compressive strength of concrete. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The compression tests along with impact echo tests and Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) tests are carried out at different load which was the increased compressive loadat certain interval on concrete cubes of various mixes. The frequency spectrum and the ultrasonic pulse time are recorded. A MATLAB based code is used to calculate the maximum frequency of the sound signals corresponding to each impact echotest under a certain compressive load. The graphs for frequency and compressive load are plotted. The graph for ultrasonic pulse velocity on the various compressive load are also plotted for different samples of concrete. Findings: Important observations are found from the graphs of frequency and ultrasonic pulse velocity. The frequency and ultrasonic pulse velocity peak values were continuously found decreasing under the increase in the compressive load. After initial crack formation with the further increase in load the frequency was found increasing trend but with showing a small increased value. Whereas the ultrasonic pulse velocity was found reducing trend in nature. These plots give the clear indication of crack formation. Application/Improvements: These graphs are used for comparison of variation of frequency and ultrasonic pulse velocity to predict the undamaged and damaged state of concrete under compression. A mathematical expression is developed between compressive strength, frequency and ultrasonic pulse velocity.


In laboratory bioassays, eggs, larvae and pupae of the obliquebanded leafroller, Choristoneura rosaceana (Harris), were susceptible to the juvenile hormone analog, fenoxycarb. All eggs treated with 100 ppm failed to hatch; a dose dependent response was noticed at lower concentration (LC50= 1.59 ppm, LC95=29.88 ppm). High larval and pupal mortality occurred when fully-grown larvae were exposed to fenoxycarb (LC50=2.33 ppm, LC95=32.67 ppm). Freshly formed pupae were slightly less susceptible (LC50=30.50, LC95=93.00) than eggs or larvae. Abnormal development (both in times required for growth and adult formation) was noted in all treatments. Key words: Choristoneura rosaceana; obliquebanded leafroller; Tortricidae; insect growth regulator; fenoxycarb


In a parallel-flat plate microchannel, with nonuniform zeta potential of the wall, we analyse the dispersion of a passive solute under the simultaneous influence of electroosmotic (EOF), and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) forces. The hydrodynamic of the flow was solved using the lubrication approximation theory (LAT) and we assume a Newtonian fluid. The solution of the electrical potential is based on the Debye-Hückel approximation for a weak potential of a symmetric (z : z) electrolyte solution. It is shown that the interaction between the non-uniform wall zeta potential induces a pressure gradient so as to satisfy the continuity of flow, generating a no plug like velocity profiles that contribute directly to dispersion. It is also shown that with the adding of the MHD the velocity flow increase two times its value, and the dispersion may increase more than four times as compared against the case of a purely electroosmotic forces.


Cross-reactive antigen groups (CREGs) were examined by similarity analysis of HLA sequences and by mismatched antibody-accessible triplets. The methods used were: (1) To count the number of main different and minor different positions in the amino acid sequences of exon 2 and exon 3 between each antigen pair in CREG; (2) Using HLAMatches program to count mismatched antibody-accessible triplets between each antigen pair in CREG. It was found that, in most situation, both the major and the minor differences between strong cross reactive antigen pairs were apparently fewer than those between weaker cross reactive antigen pairs. The main and minor different positions derived from sequence analysis have a good coincidence with the positions of mismatched HLATriplets. We also discussed the discrepancy between two different CREG schemes. It was concluded that similarity analysis of HLA allelic sequences is helpful for finding a better criteria of HLA matching.


Windows are usually with a much lower sound insulation index comparing to walls. Integrated sound insulation of building components is decided by the weakest element. So, windows are the key of indoor quietness. The Rw of 3 structures of glass and 5 structures of windows are measured in laboratory. By comparing the results, the influence of thickness of glass, thickness of air layer, thickness and material of lamination and frame are shown. Rw + Ctr of the glasses are between 34 dB and 39 dB. Rw + Ctr of the windows are between 27 dB and 41 dB.Windows are usually with a much lower sound insulation index comparing to walls. Integrated sound insulation of building components is decided by the weakest element. So, windows are the key of indoor quietness. The Rw of 3 structures of glass and 5 structures of windows are measured in laboratory. By comparing the results, the influence of thickness of glass, thickness of air layer, thickness and material of lamination and frame are shown. Rw + Ctr of the glasses are between 34 dB and 39 dB. Rw + Ctr of the windows are between 27 dB and 41 dB.


A study of two-pion scattering for the isospin channels, $I=0$ and $I=2$, using lattice QCD is presented. M\"obius domain wall fermions on top of the Iwasaki-DSDR gauge action for gluons with periodic boundary conditions are used for the lattice computations which are carried out on two ensembles of gauge field configurations generated by the RBC and UKQCD collaborations with physical masses, inverse lattice spacings of 1.023 and 1.378 GeV, and spatial extents of $L=4.63$ and 4.58 fm, respectively. The all-to-all propagator method is employed to compute a matrix of correlation functions of two-pion operators. The generalized eigenvalue problem (GEVP) is solved for a matrix of correlation functions to extract phase shifts with multiple states, two pions with a non-zero relative momentum as well as two pions at rest. Our results for phase shifts for both $I=0$ and $I=2$ channels are consistent with and the Roy Equation and chiral perturbation theory, though at this preliminary stage our errors for $I=0$ are large. An important outcome of this work is that we are successful in extracting two-pion excited states, which are useful for studying $K\to\pi\pi$ decay, on physical-mass ensembles using GEVP.


In this report, the application of a label-free reflectometric interference spectroscopy (RIfS) using nanoporous anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) to study of binding kinetics of nickel ions to self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of nitrilotriacetic (NTA) chelates is presented. Highly ordered nanoporous AAO fabricated by electrochemical anodization of aluminium foil was used as the RIfS sensing platform. SAM of alkanethiol (C2) terminated with NTA functional group that specifically binds to Ni2+ ions was covalently attached to gold coated AAO surface using simple self-assembly process. The binding of Ni2+ ions to NTA-Au-AAO chip using different concentrations (0.1 mM to 100 mM) was monitored by RIfS spectroscopy in a steady state conditions. Our results show that RIfS optical system using functionalised nanopore AAO arrays is capable of detecting real-time binding and binding kinetics of Ni2+ ions on NTA ligands. This optical method shows a great promise to be used as generic method for studying molecular binding kinetics for other analytes including metal ions, proteins, DNA and antibodies. Furthermore, the approach can be easily translated into a rapid and cost-effective biosensing device for the detection and purification of histidine tagged genetically engineered proteins relevant to proteomics.


We demonstrate the Museum of Virtual Reality Illusions (MoVRI). In contrast to a physical museum, the MoVRI is not a real world building


The properties of kaons and antikaons in dense nuclear matter are investigated within the framework of relativistic mean-field theory including delta degrees of freedom. The couplings of kaon-baryon interactions are determined by the chiral models. We find that the effective masses and energies of kaons and antikaons are reduced on account of the delta resonance in the nuclear matter. This mechanism may enhance the possibility of the existence of kaon condensation.


A continuous time model of cash management is formulated with stochastic demand and allowing for positive and negative cash balances. The form of the optimal policy is assumed to be of a simple form d, D, U, u. The parameters of the optimal policy are explicitly evaluated and the properties of the system are discussed.


The validity of trend-cycle decomposition using the unobserved component model is examined via Monte Carlo simulations. It is shown that the nearer to the unit-root process the assumed cycle component and/or the larger the assumed innovation covariance, the more frequent the occurrence of the boundary estimate for the innovation covariance, that the nearer to the unit-root process the assumed cycle component in the case of applying the model with zero restriction on the innovation covariance, the more frequent the occurrence of a linear time trend in the trend estimation, and that a linear time trend cannot be obtained from the model without zero restriction.


Objective: The purpose of the current preliminary study was to estimate the nature and occurrence of metabolic abnormalities among adolescent inpatients receiving psychiatric treatment and to pilot a health promotion and life style intervention program.
Method: A total of 107 adolescents admitted over a 12-month period were evaluated for physical, clinical and metabolic parameters in two inpatient psychiatric units in Sydney, Australia, where a health promotion and life style intervention program was provided under the leadership of a Sports Psychologist.
Results: 46% of subjects were found to be "at risk for adverse health outcome" with one or more metabolic abnormalities and 4.6% qualified for a diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome meeting 3 or more of the modified criteria for Metabolic Syndrome in young people. 13% of the sample was overweight with abnormal Body Mass Index (BMI). While two thirds recognized the importance of staying physically active, only a quarter were maintaining adequate level of physical activity. Regarding quality of life, only 30 to 40% reported good life and health satisfaction.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that metabolic abnormalities are not uncommon among young psychiatric patients and that they are often missed. Regular monitoring for the presence of metabolic abnormalities and clinical risk factors should be part of the comprehensive management with special focus on preventative programs.


In April 1997, the Institute for Scientific Information introduced a Web interface to its three citation databases called the Web of Science . As of June 2000, over 8,000 international journals are indexed, and files are updated on a weekly basis. Coverage is available as far back as 1945 in the Science Citation Index ExpandedTM, back to 1956 in the Social Sciences Citation Index , and back to 1975 in the Arts & Humanities Citation Index , although the subject area of this last database is not technically ''science.''


Objectives Basic Life Support (BLS) should be taught to everyone; however, there is a lack of Automated External Defibrillation (AED) trainers in Thailand due to the cost of the imported equipment. An AED trainer, manikin, and manikin controller system was locally developed which can display training results to help reduce the cost. Methods This is a descriptive study of a locally developed controller and feedback system, the Chiang Mai AED trainer and manikin. The controller was examined by 5 BLS instructors using a 10-point scale questionnaire consisting of 3 questions to evaluate the efficacy of the device. Correlation among BLS instructors was also calculated. Results The controller and feedback system for the Chiang Mai AED trainer and manikin worked appropriately as intended. The instructor set up either a 'shock advised' or a 'no shock advised' scenario for 2 two-minute chest compressions. The AED trainer responded promptly when the electrode pads were attached to the manikin. The controller was also able to display compression depth, compression speed, chest recoils, rescue breaths, and time to first defibrillation. Evaluation of the controller using a 10-point scale resulted in a median of 27 (interquartile range 26-29) out of 30. Intraclass correlation was 0.97 (95% confidence interval 0.90-0.99, p < 0.001). Conclusions The controller for the Chiang Mai AED trainer and manikin is effective for use in BLS training. Chiang Mai Medical Journal 2021;60(1):87-98. doi 10.12982/CMUMEDJ.2021.08


Using a panel data for non-OECD countries covering the period 1970-2012, this chapter analyzes the impact of the duration of primary education on school enrollment, drop-out and completion rates. The empirical results show that for children in elementary school one ad- ditional grade of primary education have a negative impact on the enrollment rate, while the e ect on drop-outs is positive. Analogously, it is obtained that an additional grade in primary education reduces the enrollment rate in secondary education. These results are in line with the fertility model approach, that is, in developing and underdeveloped countries parents do not have incentive to send children to school given the high perceived economic value of children.


The power density and efficiency of power-management integrated circuits (PMICs) is playing an increasingly important role in the miniaturization of modern computing platforms. Small inductors can be used to help miniaturize buck DCDC converters, however as noted in Fig. 8.2.1 (lower left), small inductors tend to have high DC resistance (DCR) – greater than a comparably-sized CMOS switch – such that they ultimately limit the achievable power density of miniaturized buck converters to $\lt 0.4 W/mm^{2}$ when including the area of both the passives and the PMIC [1, 2]. While recent work in switched-capacitor (SC) converters has shown that high power density is achievable, it is only possible when employing exotic ultra-high-density capacitors and when operating over a small number of conversion ratios; increasing the number of ratios to support the needs of dynamic voltage scaling loads (e.g., 0.4 to 1.2V) alongside use of conventional capacitor technologies degrades power density to <<0.1 W/mm2 [3]. Hybrid converters, which process power with both capacitors and inductors, offer an attractive means to potentially increase power density and/or efficiency. Resonating an SC circuit with an inductor can, for example, dramatically increase power density to 0.9W/mm2 in [4], however with limited, though improved in [4], ability to regulate beyond the nominal SC ratio at high efficiency. Hybrid multilevel converters can regulate to arbitrary output voltages, though still achieve power density <0.3 W/mm2, [5], in part due to the increased number of passives and associated higher routing complexity, and in part due to the large conversion ratio in the design in [5].


The invention discloses an online observing method and system of plant callus reproductive output based on image processing. The method comprises the following steps of: imaging in the area where an observed object locates by using a CCD imaging device; inputting the obtained image to a computer through an image collecting card; distinguishing the boundary of the observed object from a backgroundarea after processing; performing boundary following on the plant callus in the image of the observed object by a vector analysis method; calculating the area and thickness after completion; and finally drawing the growth curve of the plant callus. In the observing method, an electronic optical system performs CCD imaging on the observed object, the image output by the CCD imaging device is transmitted to a computer for image processing and the computer calculates the reproductive output of the plant callus by image monitoring to achieve the observing purpose. The method can realize that the growth of the plant cell can be observed under the unattended non-contact environment and has the characteristics of high efficiency, no contact and convenient application.


Tissue and cell surface proteins modified nonenzymatically by glucose are shown to be highly active in protein cross-linking and have been implicated in tissue damage. The production of such protein-glucose interactions called advanced glycosylation endproducts (AGE) are recently shown to be processed by macrophages through a recently characterized high-affinity receptor. Coupling of AGE proteins to their AGE receptor results in TNF and IL-1 synthesis and secretion. This suggests that AGE may act as a signal for growth-promoting factor secretion in a coordinated replacement process during tissue remodeling. A disturbance of this balance may lead to pathologic proliferative response such as in the vasculopathy of diabetes and aging. Since peritoneal surface proteins can be modified by AGE after exposure to high-glucose, a similar pathogenetic process may be involved in the peritoneal fibrosis associated with chronic peritoneal dialysis.


In this paper, we report on primary-school students' views of their learning experiences when they engaged with mathematical phenomena through apps. The students commented on how they used a range of digital tools within the apps to solve problems, and we consider how the affordances of the mobile technologies, including multi-representation, dynamic and haptic, might influence the learning experiences. In particular, we focus on the interplay between the affordances of the mobile technologies with other social and pedagogical aspects, and ask how the assemblage of social and technological entities might influence mathematical learning experiences.


Wave velocities and wave widths were determined using the wave-vein analysis for a wide range of air and water flow rates. Clustering analysis by K-means algorithm was applied to distinguish between huge waves and disturbance waves for the present experimental conditions. Individual waves distinguished by clustering analysis correspond reasonably to those recognized from the relation between wave velocities and wave widths. Flow conditions for the appearance of liquid slugs, huge waves and disturbance waves were clarified. The characteristics of wave velocities, wave widths and maximum liquid holdups for huge waves and disturbance waves were discussed. Comparison between liquid slugs, huge waves and disturbance waves in terms of these flow parameters reveals that there exist distinct differences in wave widths of these waves.


In 1997, Lo et al. (1) first described the presence of fetal DNA in maternal plasma and serum. Cell-free DNA offered a new source of fetal genetic material for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis. They developed a real-time, quantitative PCR assay to measure the concentration of fetal DNA and analyzed SRY, a single-copy Y-chromosome-specific sequence, to quantify the number of genome-equivalents per milliliter of blood when a woman carries a male fetus (2). The results revealed that the concentrations of fetal DNA in maternal plasma DNA during the first and third trimesters were 3.4% and 6.2%, respectively. They estimated a mean of 25.4 copies of fetal DNA circulates per milliliter of maternal plasma samples during early pregnancy. They also demonstrated that after delivery, cell-free fetal DNA is cleared very rapidly from the maternal circulation, with a half-life in the order of minutes (3). Thus, the relatively high concentration of fetal cell-free DNA suggests that extensive and time-consuming fetal DNA enrichment procedures would not be necessary when using fetal DNA from maternal plasma for diagnostic purposes.

Although the potential of fetal cell-free DNA analysis for the prenatal diagnosis of fetal gender (2) and rhesus D status (4)(5) has been presented, the accuracy of prenatal diagnosis has not been described. If fetal gender could be determined, the number of invasive procedures required to determine X-linked genetic disorders would be reduced. The present study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of fetal gender determination using cell-free DNA from maternal plasma obtained at early gestation.

Pregnant women (n = 302), carrying a single fetus between 7 and 16 weeks of gestation, …


In the present article we study the phenomena of multiple meaning in understanding process-based management method in construction of transport infrastructure facilities. The idea of multiple meaning is in distortions which appear during reception of the management process paradigm in organizational environment of transport sector. The cause of distortion in process management is organizational resistance. The distortions of management processes are discovered at the level of diffusion among spheres of responsibility, collision in forms of functional, project and process interaction between the owner of the process and its participants. The level of distortion is affected by the attitude towards the result of work which means that process understanding of the result is replaced by the functional one in practice of management. This transfiguration is the consequence of regressive defensive mechanisms of the organizational environment. On the base of experience of forming process management in construction of transport infrastructure facilities company of the issues of diagnostics of various forms of organizational resistance and ways of reducing the destructive influence on managing processes are reviewed.


Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is used in almost all intelligent robots. Recently, many excellent SLAM systems have been developed with good performance and impressive ideas. However, there are many problems that do not have a good solution. For example, when dynamic objects in the system are so perturbed that the system is unstable. This paper proposes a visual SLAM in a dynamic environment, called YOLOX-SLAM, which has good robustness. In YOLOX-SLAM, four threads run in parallel: tracking, object detection, local mapping, and loop closure. YOLOX-SLAM uses YOLO object detection to detect dynamic objects and eliminate dynamic feature points. Good accuracy is achieved in a dynamic environment, reducing the influence of dynamic objects. Our experiments were validated on the TUM RGB-D dataset. The results show that YOLOX-SLAM has better accuracy than ORB-SLAM2 in highly dynamic scenarios.


The Syncom, Early Bird, and Applications Technology Satellite are spin-stabilized, synchronous-orbit communications satellites with hydrogen-peroxide attitude and velocity control systems, and an apogee kick motor for injection into final orbit. Prior to apogee boost, attitude determination and control to within 0.5° to 1.0° under stringent time limitations are required for alignment of the apogee motor. Later, in the final orbit, when the spin axis is maintained normal to the orbit plane for communications and longer time periods are available for attitude data collection, accuracies of about 0.2° are attained. Attitude determination, including data types and the estimation process, and the use of the hydrogen peroxide control system in changing spacecraft orientation are the subjects of this paper. Attitude determination and control during critical mission phases, including real-time analysis during reorientation maneuvers, are explained with reference to a typical launch sequence (Intelsat IIC). Determination and control of attitude in final orbit operations, including the longterm effect of solar radiation pressure precession, are discussed. Finally, the accuracies of attitude determination by current methods as indicated by operational experience are compared to projected accuracies using newer techniques.


This paper is dedicated to the adaptation of the Weak Acid Resin process (WAR) to the elaboration of uranium-americium mixed oxide microspheres as precursors for the fabrication of Americium Bearing Blankets (AmBB). It describes successive developments of WAR process from lanthanide simple oxide synthesis to actinide(s) bearing mixed oxide preparation. Recent studies demonstrated the scientific feasibility of the preparation of a dense uranium-americium mixed oxide pellets with 10 at% of Am vs heavy metal and with 95 % of theoretical density (TD) from those innovative microsphere precursors.


Abstract Forty-two Large White pigs were cut into six sample joints which were approximately separated with a knife (butcher's dissection) into subcutaneous fat, muscle, and bone. This was followed by a full scalpel dissection to determine the percentages of subcutaneous fat, intermuscular fat, flare fat, muscle, bone, skin, waste, kidney, and glandular tissue present in each joint. Correlation coefficients were calculated between the composition of the joints as estimated by knife and scalpel dissections, and the composition of the whole carcass. In general very high correlations were recorded between the percentages of muscle and subcutaneous fat in the fully dissected sample joints and the whole carcass. The rib end and fillet end were considered to be the most promising sample joints for estimating these tissues. These sample joint dissections were less effective for estimating the remaining carcass tissues. Butcher's dissections of the whole carcass were closely correlated with the percentages of mus...


In order to explore whether unconscious thought equals to intuition, this research investigated their difference of decision quality by two experiments. The findings were:(1) The difference of decision quality between unconscious thought and intuition was not significant in multi-feature decision problems. And their decision quality was significantly superior to it made by conscious thought;(2) The difference of decision quality between unconscious thought and intuition was not significant in risk decision problems as well. And their decision quality was not significantly superior to it made by conscious thought. The above results showed that:(1) There exists border condition between unconscious thought and intuition in the complicated risk decision tasks;(2) In the complex multi-feature decision problem, the traditional saying "thinking twice before doing" was no longer practical, so decision maker should more depend on intuition or unconscious thought to make decision of highter quality. Such research proposed that the difference between unconsious thought and intuition should be explored from more perspectives, which aimed to give furthur theoretical guidelines for making decision in reality.


Cultural differences can create ethical dilemmas among health professions working across cultures. Values, spiritual beliefs, customs, styles of communication, and views of roles and responsibilities take shape within the particular histories of communities and nations. These concerns in turn impact the legal, ethical, and moral standards of particular cultures. For instance, multiple values and procedures engrained in Western psychologists may be defined or understood differently in Eastern cultures. Differing interpretations can lead to ethical dilemmas for Western psychologists working in Eastern cultures, and for Eastern psychologists working in Western cultures. In psychology, five broad areas emerge for considering differences in values and protocols when operating in a cross-cultural context: competence; informed consent; confidentiality/privacy; diagnosis/treatment; and international testing.

Keywords:

cross-cultural psychology;
ethics in psychology


Debris in the marine environment is documented as one of the main threats to fish, birds and sea turtles. However,  there are few records of the interactions of cetaceans with debris. This paper reports the presence of a scrap of plastic screen  in the digestive tract of an estuarine dolphin,  Sotalia guianensis , found dead on the beach sand of Sergipe State, Brazil.  The animal showed marks of interaction with fishing and necropsy revealed an adequate nutritional state and a stomach  full of food contents, indicating that the animal was feeding just prior to death. It is believed that in this case death did not  occur due to the animal having ingested the piece of plastic screen yet, based on previous studies, it is likely that plastic  debris can obstruct the gastrointestinal tract and reduce the feeding stimulus, thereby resulting in death. A reduction in  marine debris requires addressing the question of debris discarding, especially plastics, and educational campaigns aimed  at raising awareness regarding conservation for the maintenance and survival of marine species.


When Louis XIV traveled from Versailles to Luxembourg in May–June 1687, the Mercure galant compiled a 353-page special issue on the four-week voyage using reports from the field. The periodical recognized its opportunity for sustained observation of the king and its chance to elaborate the celebratory message for which the king sponsored this periodical. Accordingly, the Mercure created a utopian view of the king as he made his appearances in urban spaces and châteaux across the kingdom. Yet comparison between the actual map of the voyage contained in the Archives diplomatiques and the narrative map the Mercure offered its readers raises suspicions that the passage of the king through rural spaces and villages that the periodical's account excludes may not have sustained the view of the king the periodical promised to produce. The journal of one curé whose village along the route witnessed three visits of the king in 1683 and 1687 reveals that his and his parishioners' experience of the king's physical presence did not match the claims of the Mercure galant. Juxtaposing the two sources offers unusual insights into popular views of Louis XIV, the misfit of views on kingship and the monarch's responsibilities to his people that marred his reception in Saint-Jean, and how historians might broaden their use of documents, even those created for the king's own image making, to move beyond the elite and would-be elite who were the readers of the Mercure galant.


In view of the growing energy demand, there is an increasing need to augment the thermal efficiency of gas turbine engines. The thermal efficiency and power output of gas turbine engines increase with increasing overall pressure ratio which in turn leads to an increase in turbine inlet temperature. The maximum permissible turbine inlet temperature is limited by the material strength of the components of the gas turbine engines. In this regard, it is important to ensure that the endwalls of the first stage nozzle guide vane, which is one of the critical regions, are adequately cooled. The cooling of the endwall is of particular interest because the leading edge region along the endwall of the stator vane experiences high heat transfer rates resulting from formation of horseshoe vortices. In this paper, the performance of upstream purge slot has been compared against discrete film cooling holes. Three different cooling configurations — slot, cylindrical holes and tripod holes have been investigated by comparing the adiabatic film cooling effectiveness. Furthermore, the effect of coolant to mainstream mass flow ratio on the effectiveness of the different cooling schemes has also been studied. The steady-state experiments were conducted in a low speed, linear cascade wind tunnel. Spatially resolved temperature data was captured using infrared thermography technique to compute adiabatic film cooling effectiveness. Amongst the configurations studied, slot ejection offered the best cooling performance at all mass flow ratios. The performance of tripod ejection was comparable to slot ejection at mass flow ratios between 0.5 and 1.5, with the difference in laterally averaged effectiveness being ∼5%. However, at the highest mass flow ratio (MFR=2.5), the difference increased to ∼20%. Low effectiveness values were observed downstream of cylindrical ejection which could be attributed to jet lift-off.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


Objective To discuss the application and value of ultrasonic diagnosis in spleen injury.Methods The sonogram and blood flow signal of 30 cases closed spleen injury were analyzed with phillip HD11.Results There were real spleen rupture in 18 cases,infra-capsule rupture in 6 cases,central type in 3 cases,missed diagnosis in 2 cases and misdiagnosis in 1 case those were all obtained during operations.Conclusion There might be great value in diagnosis of spleen injury with ultrasound.


In high head, multi-purpose, storage reservoirs, a dual control with an emergency gate and a service gate, for regulating the outflow, is employed. The high velocity flow particularly at incremental gate openings under high heads leads to very serious problems of cavitation, erosion, hydraulic downpull and severe vibrations of gates. In order to avoid dangers caused by vibration, elaborate tests need be carried out to know the influence of surrounding water and forces of under-flou on the gates for establishing remedial measures. In this paper, vibration tests on models of Jet Flow Gate (provided in the Bhakra Dam) and Emergency Gate have been discussed.


The main transmission system of QPG160 high lift hoist has been studied,and the torsion-vibration dynamics model was established.The inherent frequency and vibration type of system under 3 kinds of typical working conditions of starting up,even speed and braking of this hoist were obtained.Its dynamic performance was analyzed and the result of analysis bears certain guiding significance on the design,manufacturing and application of this kind of machinery.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine whether recent Chinese Canadian immigrants' (a) leisure satisfaction, happiness, and life satisfaction changed over a two-year period and (b) if leisure satisfaction affected their subjective well-being (SWB) over this same period. Participants completed an initial, trilingual telephone questionnaire (N = 220) and then were recontacted every six months for two years. Hierarchical linear modeling indicated that leisure satisfaction decreased over the two-year period, likely because of "leisure shock," employment of a "withdrawn" strategy, or both. The results also showed that leisure satisfaction significantly and positively affected happiness and life satisfaction. Study limitations are identified, theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and future research recommendations are outlined.


Irwin reads the ethnographic literature to suggest that a made object symbolizes sacred power resting in the person of the visionary. If it is so for particular Plains peoples (Irwin's note cites the Arikara and the Gros Ventre), it has not been so for all; today, it seems even less likely true. Throughout North America, repatriation agreements are being negotiated between museums and First Nations for the return of objects once labelled &dquo;material culture.&dquo; The tribes do not argue that the bundle, the pipe and the mask should be returned because they are &dquo;symbolic&dquo; but because they are &dquo;sacred.&dquo; They have visionary power within their forms. For specialists in the field of Amerindian religions, The Dream Seekers is an important addition. Its index makes it a ready resource and the list of indigenous terms may be useful. The list of tribes by geographic area is less helpful without a dated map showing where these nations were when ethnographic transcriptions of dreams were made (or from where the people had been deposed).


This paper presents a hydrodynamic modeling of the unsaturated zone with a heterogeneous profile in an alluvial soil in the Capibaribe River Basin. Threedimensional infiltration tests were carried out with the aim to do the hydrodynamic characterization applying Beerkan Methodology through the BEST algorithm. Therefore, were used single ring infiltrometers. The soil profile was characterized with the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). The water transfer processes were simulated with the Hydrus Modell. The simulations demonstrated that the heterogeneity of the soil generated preferential flows. In a heterogeneous soil profile was observed the presence of a capillary barrier phenomenon, generating impact on the spatial variability of water storage on the soil profile.


In this thesis, the study of P-i-N type dopants to white hybrid fluorescent and phosphorescent OLED, P-type doping of the thesis is focused on enhancing devices. First, Hole-only devices and Electron-only devices compare different doping materials(MoO3、Liq) for enhancing the OLED devices is the main research. Be produced in the same structure and the same thickness. Compare with different doping concentrations and the I-V promotion for OLED devices. Optimize the use of the Hole-only devices and Electron-only devices for fabrication of organic light-emitting diodes. Then use the high heat host of bipolar fluorescent material UBH-15 with blue fluorescent dopant material EB-502 as a blue emitting layer, and bipolar phosphorescent host material EPH-31 with yellow phosphorescent dopant material EPY-01 as a yellow emitting layer to produce white hybrid fluorescent and phosphorescent OLED. And joined Liq in ETL as N-type doping, discussion the effect of N-type dopants to OLED devices for improvement. Then adjust the optimum thickness of the phosphorescent yellow emitting layer, and increase balance of the carrier recombination. When EPH-31:EPY-01 concentration of 3%, can have more electron-hole pairs combined, at 20 mA/cm2 achieve the luminous efficiency of up to 18 cd/A, and the luminous of up to 3600 cd/m2. The N-type device structure as a basic device, and added the P-type dopant material MoO3 to increase the hole injection in effect of the N-type hybrid OLED devices. And discuss the pin-type doping devices for enhancing the situation and analysis at 20 mA/cm2 achieve the luminous efficiency of up to 18.6 cd/A, and the luminous of up to 3720 cd/m2. Then a red phosphorescent dopant material Hex-Ir(phq)3 fabricated for pin devices, and adjust the optimum concentration of 3% at CIE coordinates (0.38,0.39) to form a warm white light OLEDs. Discussed in the last section of the P-type doped region is increased, At the 20 mA/cm2, the operating voltage can be reduced from 8.9V to 7.9V, further increases the amount of current injection.


Abstract : Results of experiments are presented in which SAE 1040 steel and 26S aluminum were cut orthogonally using limited-face tools of several face lengths and full face tools with a variety of rake angles. These indicate that the change in chip type from ribbon-like to segmented occurs when the nominal shearing strain reaches a critical value which depends upon the normal stress on the 'shear' plane and is a property of the workpiece material.


Butyric acid is one of the major extracellular metabolites of periodontopathic Gram‐negative bacteria. We previously demonstrated that butyric acid induced apoptosis in human T cells. In the present study, we examined the interaction between butyric acid and TNF‐α in Jurkat T‐cell apoptosis. Simultaneous treatment with TNF‐α enhanced butyric acid‐induced apoptosis by promoting caspase activity more than was achieved by either reagent alone. We examined which genes were associated with the increased susceptibility to TNF‐α caused by butyric acid, and revealed that expression of cFLIP decreased with increased concentrations of butyric acid. Furthermore, exogenous expression of cFLIP protein suppressed the enhancing effect by TNF‐α in the apoptosis. These results suggest that butyric acid downregulates cFLIP expression and increases the susceptibility to TNF‐α by activating caspases via the death receptor signal.


The literature concerned with methods for finding the minimal form of a truth function is, by now, quite extensive. This article extends this knowledge by introducing an algorithm whereby all calculations are performed on decimal numbers obtained from binary-decimal conversion of the terms of the Boolean function. Several computational aids are presented for the purpose of adapting this algorithm to the solution of large-scale problems on a digital computer.


The central idea ofthis article is to discuss the conditions ofbioethics comprehension from a referential picture hypothesis that it resides in its own conceptual understanding. Thus, this articles starts with a conceptual comprehension analyzes, and then it looks for a referential picture of concept; and, finally, it points out an idea of metabioethics while a comprehensive perspective of bioethics that it can be structured by the complexity principle applied to the Human Science (Morin). It is also founded on the conception of transversal thought (Deleuze/Guattari].


This review deals with recent progress in reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer(RAFT) polymerization in heterogeneous phases,such as emulsion and miniemulsion systems.RAFT polymerization has been a versatile routine to synthesize a wide variety of functional monomers with controlled molecular weight and narrow MWD.Most of RAFT polymerizations have been achieved in bulk and solution systems.However,there are some issues of mass transfer and latex stability in RAFT/emulsion and RAFT/miniemulsion polymerization,leading to the failure of controlled molecular weight,the destabilization of colloidal polymers,and the formation of an intractable oily layer.The intrinsical reasons of these phenomena and improved methods have been proposed in literatures.The relationship between the mechanism of RAFT and the nucleation of latex particles in both emulsion and miniemulsion polymerization is also summarized in this article.


This study was to examine relationships among the perceived value, satisfaction and behavioral intention of Jeju package travellers. Questionnaire survey was conducted to domestic tourists departing Jeju island and a total of 334 samples were finally used for the analysis. The result of factor analysis delineated four factors of the perceived value of Jeju package tour product: emotional value, functional-quality value, functional-price value and social value. Results of regression analysis indicated that there was a positive relationship between respondents' evaluation on the perceived value of the product and their level of overall satisfaction. Results also showed that the respondents' perceived value was positively associated with their behavioral intention. More specifically, out of five dimensions of perceived value of the products, functional-quality value most significantly influenced on the visitor satisfaction and behavioral intention. Practical implications and limitation of the study were discussed at the end of this study.


Method of fuzzy control of the elevator group for optimizing the energy consumption of the type used by control systems lifts vertical transport characterized by comprising the steps of assessing the energy fitness of each cabin and assign calls plant according to an order as (i) a first absolute energy assessment (1); (Ii) a second energy relative valuation (5); and (iii) a third value calculated in contiguity (8) calls.


CSR activities in India have a long history. However there have been numerous criticisms rose against the way in which the CSR activities are carried out by many of the Indian companies. Several studies found that more than half of the Indian firms failed to meet their mandatory requirements on CSR spending and report unspent funds in their financial statements. These issues show's that, there is a requirement to evaluate the behavior pattern of the firms' CSR spending activities. In this article, we try to describe the heterogeneity in the CSR related spending activities of the Indian companies. We follow the panel regression clustering approach developed by Sarafidis and Weber (2015). In this approach individual companies are grouped into a number of clusters and within each cluster, the slope parameters are assumed to be similar in nature. The difference in slopes across clusters is due to the standard error-components structure. As the clusters are heterogeneous, they do not share common parameters.


Several major obstacles to attaining high value improvement goals for Value Engineering (VE) in the Federal government are identified. Some aspects of these problems are discussed as an analogy of a structural solution to a structural pro blem. Also discussed is a recent report by the General Accounting Office on the effectiveness of VE programs in the De partment of Defense. A number of points in this paper emphasize and update issues presented by the author in previous


Previous research has cited the need for leisure education programs to ensure that leisure time experiences serve to enhance elderly individuals' psychological well-being. This study sought to determine the effects of a leisure education program on perceived leisure control, perceived leisure competence and self-esteem among elderly patients in a day hospital three months after their receiving the intervention. Forty-four volunteer subjects were randomly assigned to experimental and control group conditions. The experimental group received a leisure education program which occurred one hour per week for eight weeks. Both groups were administered a test battery, before and three months after the program, to assess the impact of the leisure education program on the dependent variables locus of control, perceived competence, and self-esteem while controlling for possible intervening variables. The results ofan analysis of covariance for perceived leisure competence were statistically significant. The findings for the other dependent variables, leisure locus of control and self-esteem, were not significant. The implications of these results for researchers and the delivery of leisure services in day hospitals are discussed.


Human-Centric Functional Modeling is considered in this paper to be a branch of network theory which hypothesizes that all systems can be represented as having a set of functions through which the system might transition from one functional state to another. These states are referred to as "functional states" because they are described solely in terms of the functions available to transition to adjacent states, rather than being described in terms of any entities that might implement those functions. All possible behaviors of the system are then hypothesized to be described by a graph containing a network of nodes representing such functional states, where those nodes are connected by edges representing the processes through which those functional states might transition between each other. Modeling human cognition as moving through a "space of concepts" or "conceptual space" that forms the functional state space of the cognitive system and that has the capacity to represent all possible concepts and reasoning, it has been hypothesized that all information and therefore all mathematical proofs and other logic can be represented in this space. Modeling human conscious self-awareness as moving through an "awareness space" or "space of awareness's" that represents the functional state space of the consciousness, it has been hypothesized that awareness of any mathematical or other truth, whether or not yet identified or proven, can be represented as a potential awareness in that space. This paper outlines the hypotheses that in the limit of infinite ability to navigate logic through understanding or reasoning processes (infinite intelligence) mathematical logic is represented by a geometry in conceptual space, and that in the limit of infinite ability to be aware of truth (infinite awareness), mathematical truth is represented as a geometry in awareness space. This paper also outlines some of the questions that must be answered in order to validate these hypotheses.


The fluidization characteristics of phosphate ore particles with sizes varying from 54 to 600 μm and densities of 2 252-2 665 kg/m3 were experimentally investigated in a fluidized bed of 1 m in height and 42 mm in interior diameter.The results indicate that the fluidization behaviors of phosphate ore particles strongly depend on their densities and mean sizes.The bed expansion ratio of the particles decreases with increasing mean sizes.The phosphate ore particles belonging to Geldart B can be fluidized smoothly.However,the particles in the mean size of 82 μm,belonging to Geldart A,are difficult to be fluidized,similar to the fluidization behavior of Geldart C.Large interparticle forces lead to plugging and channeling.The experimental values of minimum fluidization velocity were obtained by measuring the pressure drop across the bed.Several classical correlations were used to fit the experimental data of minimum fluidization velocity,and Thonglimp correlation for Geldart B agrees reasonably with the experimental data.A new correlation in explicit form was developed for better model of the minimum fluidization velocity.


Graph models play a central role in the description of real life complex networks. They aim at constructing graphs that describe the structure of real systems. The arising graphs, in most cases, are random or random-like, so it is not surprising that there is a large literature on various classes of random graphs and networks. Our key motivating observation is that often it is unclear how the strength of the different models compare to each other, e.g., when will a certain model class contain another. We are particularly interested in random graph models that arise via (generalized) geometric constructions. This is motivated by the fact that these graphs can well capture wireless communication networks. We set up a general framework to compare the strength of random network models, and present some results about the equality, inequality and proper containment of certain model classes.


This study reports on the organizational culture and its influence on the organizational performance. It focuses on these six elements: environment, mission, leadership, information, strategy and socialization. The analysis of interviews with students and faculty members (at one higher education institution) indicated the congruence between the perspectives of students and those of the faculty members on some particular elements. In addition to confirming that most of the organizational culture elements are encouraging, the analysis also showed that all culture elements have a strong influence on the individual performance which in turn contributes to the overall performance of the university.


as well as experimental protocols. Since the evolution of molecular techniques to study pre-mRNA splicing has dramatically increased over the past few years, a specific book to document both the theory, based on data from several organisms and tissues, and the detailed protocols that will be of use for the experimental study of various aspects of pre-mRNA splicing was still needed and is provided by the current book by Stamm, Smith and Lührmann. Alternative pre-mRNA splicing is now considered as a rule rather than an exception. It is estimated that 92% of all human genes undergo alternative pre-mRNA splicing, which leads to the assembly of tens, hundreds or even thousands of distinct mRNA species (e.g. in flies). Alternative premRNA splicing accounts for a large part of the diversity of the proteome and fills the gap that exists between the numbers of genes (20 000–25 000) and proteins (100 000) in a typical mammalian cell. Alternative premRNA splicing is affected in pathological states, either in association with a disease, or even causing the disease itself. This includes genetic diseases in which the RNA sequence may be altered by mutation or vary through polymorphism, preventing the proper interaction with regulatory proteins involved in splicing control. In addition, trans-acting proteins may show alterations, which hamper their ability to direct correct splicing. Furthermore, alternative pre-mRNA splicing is deteriorated in cancer cells, which relates to strong alterations occurring in the splicing machinery. All of this takes place under the control of higher order mechanisms involving, for example, epigenetic mark-ups in tight coordination with the onset of transcription, capping and 3'-end pre-mRNA processing. These aspects, and more, are extensively discussed in this book. Importantly, since high-throughput technologies have been developed to analyze pre-mRNA splicing events at a large scale that may occur at the whole transcriptome level, bioinformatic tools are also presented. Each chapter of the Theory part of the book starts with a brief outline of the key concepts that are covered in the respective chapter. This part accounts for many aspects of RNA biochemistry, RNA species and roles in metabolism and, of course, splicing determinants. This last aspect is further documented with analyses on Stefan Stamm, Chris Smith, Reinhard Luhrmann (eds.) Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, February 2012, 660 pages ISBN: 978-3-527-32606-8


The relationships between otolith dimensions and fi sh size (total length and fork lengths) for the teleost species, Liza klunzingeri (Day, 1888) collected from the vicinity of Bandar Abbas, Persian Gulf were examined and found to be linear. Otolith morphometric observations including length, width and weight were correlated with the total and fork lengths of the fi sh. The length, width and weight of the otolith appeared to be good criteria to estimate total and fork length of fi sh as well as the easiest parameters to measure.


The SuperKEKB project underway at KEK will increase the KEKB luminosity by 40 times using nanobeam interaction-region focusing optics. The chromaticity correction of the collision beams is crucial to achieve the high luminosity. Sixteen special sextupole magnets, which can simultaneously produce normal and skew sextupole fields, are required in the 100-m-long straight sections around the interaction point for the chromaticity correction. As a candidate for the sextupoles, a cryocooled high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet was proposed and the development has started. In HTS magnets, quench protection is a major concern. Especially for accelerator magnets, reliable quench detection and protection systems are essential. In this study, we have performed heat-induced quench tests and numerical simulations on the ReBCO-impregnated double pancake coils at operating temperatures of 30, 40, and 50 K. Two test coils with different thickness of the copper stabilizer were prepared for the tests to compare the quench characteristics. The hot spot temperature was discussed with the operating conditions and quench detection criteria. The copper stabilizer thickness of the sextupole ReBCO coils was designed by using the validated numerical model.


A novel variable speed constant frequency generation system was investigated,which was constructed by hybrid excited synchronous generator(HESG) and matrix converter(MC)for wide speed range application.Based on theoretical analysis on it,the mathematical model was derived,a two-stage closed loop control scheme which combined with both generator terminal voltage closed loop control and instantaneous value closed loop control of matrix converter output voltage was proposed.The transfer function of the generation system was deduced to analyze system stability.At last,the validity of HESG-MC system and its control method are verified by experiments.


Evolutionarily stable strategies (ESS) are phenotypes that persist in populations over evolutionary time and cannot be replaced by invading strategies. Cases in which alternative strategies coexist stand as being of particular interest. Evolutionary biologists were introduced to the concept of ESS through the efforts of John Maynard Smith and George R. Price, whose work remains the keystone expression of this concept. Maynard Smith and Price dealt with animal conflicts, in which combatants may have differing strategies and physical abilities. The stability of evolutionary strategies is often analyzed using the tools of game theory, which allows determination of the persistence of strategies when played against one another. Game theory also opens the door to assessing the potential success of novel strategies upon introduction into a population. ESS often coincide with the Nash equilibrium, a game theory concept that describes conditions under which cognitively aware players in a game cannot gain by changing their individual strategy. In addition to animal conflict, analyses of ESS have been applied in a wide variety of evolutionary contexts and indeed are applicable whenever alternative heritable phenotypes are present. One possibility is that ESS occur as alternative genotypes within populations and thus should be analyzed using population-genetic approaches. ESS can also be conditionally expressed by individuals, depending on environmental and social context. This second option also requires a genotypic basis for strategies but allows for more strategical complexity through responses that may shift over developmental time or with experience. Interspecific interactions are an additional context for ESS, in which ESS drive evolutionary arms races between predators and prey or hosts and diseases or parasites. Maynard Smith and Price built on a conceptual framework in evolutionary ecology developed by William D. Hamilton in studies of kin selection, sex ratios, and herding behavior, and by Geoff Parker, working on sperm competition. ESS offer convenient latticework for thinking about many ecological and evolutionary trade-offs in which organisms balance costs and benefits of potential strategic choices in development and behavior, either in within-generation decision-making or between-generation evolution.


Actinidia deliciosa presents a distinctive flavor and appearance that made this cultivar become the most exported of all kiwi species. At the moment, Portugal occupies the 13 position on the world ranking of production of kiwi. Actinidia deliciosa commerce in Portugal faces some fluctuations. PSA bacteria, the inexistence of genotypes fitted to our climate and soil, and the unreliable natural pollination are some of the factors leading to the unstable production of kiwi. Better pollination and germination of pollen grains result in a higher of seed that are directly related to fruit weight. Therefore, pollination is one of the factors that have strong impact on productivity of a vine, and the producers are now investing in artificial pollination in order to make the yields more reliable. Many researchers have described the importance of the Effective Pollination Period and how pollination can affect the production. With this in mind, this research focused on determining when pollen was more fit to pollinate and germinate, and to develop a pollen extender formula that could boost the production. Germination assays performed demonstrated that pollen collected from early branches, from flowers on earlier stages of their development, present higher germination ratios (91%) and therefore have more capability to pollinate. The pollen also showed to be able to germinate and grow when female flowers were pollinated in vitro. Whereas fresh pollen may have higher germination ratios, properly stored pollen can maintain a high capability of germination (83%) and may even present better results when applied combined with hormones and a thickening agent. In order to optimize the artificial pollination, a new pollen extender formula was developed. The pollen extender containing 2,4-D + IBA (both at 1mg/L), carrageenan 0.5% (w/v) and 2 M sucrose gave interesting results increasing germination rates by 10% (92%) and showing a pollen tube length of around 1.4 mm. These results are promising and further tests on the field are necessary to verify whether this extender can be successfully applied.


From the ancient time on, women have been regarded as evils. The stereotyped thought "dangerous beauty" has been deeply rooted in people's mind. By analyzing Paradise Lost, this essay pounders upon Milton's idea of "dangerous woman" and tries to point out that many male writers hold this idea.


In one embodiment, a method for controlling a liquid crystal display (LCD) is provided. The method receives a first light from a light source structure at a light emitting layer and emits from the light emitting layer a first color component, a second color component, and a third color component. The method then receives a second light through a first polarizer layer of a first polarization state positioned above the light emitting layer, a liquid crystal layer positioned above the first polarizer layer, and a second polarizer layer of a second polarization state positioned above the liquid crystal layer and converts the second light into the first color component, the second component, and the third color component in the light emitting layer. An intensity of the first light is dynamically controlled based on the converting of the second light.


Gay and lesbian youth are at risk of school failure, suicide, and serious life problems. They are harassed at school and need counselors who will understand and work with them. Court cases demonstrate the liability of schools to protect gay and lesbian students from harassment. Practical counseling strategies for gay and lesbian students are recommended.


Concurrency control is the vital problem in developing database application system structured by Client/Server. This paper describes principles of concurrency control, and how to solve the problems which occur on shared access to database based on SQL Server and PowerBuilder, by using concurrency control methods.


The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of egg weight on hatchability, body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, feed efficiency, mortality, hen day egg production and egg weight. Hatching eggs (576) from a White Leghorn breeder flock were obtained at the age of 36 weeks and purposively divided into 3 egg-weight categories, namely small, medium, and large sizes having weights 44.26±0.21g, 50.39±0.11g, and 55.39±0.23g, respectively. Each egg group randomly further divided into three replicates each contained of 64 eggs in a completely randomized design. Eggs were incubated and hatched chicks were individually counted and weighed to determine the hatchability. Chicks hatched from similar egg size were grouped according to their initial treatment and replication. The male and female chicks were intensively raised together for 8 weeks and then only female birds maintained in the experimental conditions for fifty weeks. Data were summarized using the General Linear Model of SAS and the means were separated using Fisher's LSD test. This study showed that egg sizes had significantly influenced (p<0.0001) all parameters measured during the experimental periods. However, birds hatched from large sized eggs were suitable for better hatchling weight, survival, hen day egg production and egg weight whereas chickens hatched from small egg sizes were relatively better for hatchability, feed efficiency during growing stage and between 40-50 weeks. Chickens hatched from medium egg sizes were principally better for weight gain during brooder and grower stages with minimum feed efficiency. In conclusion; egg weight significantly effected the overall characteristics of chickens from day old to 50 weeks of age and the effect of egg weight only diminish for mortality after brooder stage.


Steroid-refractory chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality following allogeneic transplantation. Abatacept is a selective co-stimulation modulator, used for the treatment of rheumatologic disease, and was recently the first drug to be approved by the FDA for the prophylaxis of acute graft versus host disease. We conducted a Phase II study to evaluate the efficacy of Abatacept in steroid-refractory cGVHD (clinicaltrials.gov #NCT01954979). The overall response rate was 58%, with all responders achieving a partial response. Abatacept was well-tolerated with few serious infectious complications. Immune correlative studies showed a decrease in IL-1-alpha, IL-21, and TNF-alpha as well as decreased PD-1 expression by CD4+ T cells in all patients after treatment with Abatacept, demonstrating the effect of this drug on the immune microenvironment. The results demonstrate that Abatacept is a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cGVHD.


Wavelet thresholding techniques are becoming popular in the signal processing community for denoising applications. Near-minimax properties were in particular established for simple threshold estimates over wide classes of regular functions. In this paper, we establish close connections between wavelet thresholding techniques and MAP estimation using exponential power prior distributions for a wide class of noise distributions, including heavy-tailed noises. We subsequently prove that a great variety of estimators are derived from a MAP criterion. A simulation example is presented to substantiate the proposed approach.


This study examines the hypothesis that oxygen radicals down-regulate splanchnic nitric oxide synthesis and contribute to splanchnic vasoconstriction following hemorrhage!reperfusion ill.iury. Anesthetized rats underwent placement of flow probes around the superior mesenteric artery and abdominal aorta. Animals were bled to 30 mmHg for 30 min. reperfused without or with superoxide dismutase, an oxygen radical scavenger. 1Smin before reperfusion and compared with sham-treated rats. Animals were sequentially teated with the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) at 10mglkg and L-arginine. a nitric oxide precursor. at 200 mglkg or 400 mg/kg. L-NAME increased systemic pressure and decreased superior mesenteric artery blood flow whereas L-arginine decreased arterial pressure and increased superior mesenteric artery blood flow in the sham animals. Hemorrhagelreperfusion injUry attenuated the pressure and superior mesenteric artery blood flow changes following L-NAME and L-arginine dosing. which was reversed by superoxide dismutase treatment. These data suggest that oxygen free radicals regUlate splanchnic nitric oxide synthesis. thus contributing to splanchnic vasoconstriction following hemorrhage! reperfusion injUry.


This article reviews modern scientific literature devoted to the study of the biological activity of flagellin to develop on its basis new effective medicines. One of the most promising areas of research is the use of recombinant flagellin as adjuvant in vaccines against the causative agents of different infectious diseases first of all against influenza. The characteristics of the recent flagellin containing vaccines and data on immunogenicity studies of new hybrid molecules are presented. Several influenza vaccines developed by VaxInnate Corporation (USA) undergo different phases of clinical trials. The effectiveness of Russian influenza vaccines (Russian Institute of influenza) is currently being studied in animals. The second most important direction is based on the study and use of radioprotective properties flagellin. Currently in the world there is one flagellin based drug entolimod (Cleveland BioLabs, USA), which radioprotective efficiency was studied in experiments on mice and primates. The overview analyzed the study of the mechanisms of the radioprotective action of flagellin based drugs as a TLR5 agonists presented by different authors. Also results of researches proving the potential of flagellin and its derivatives as radiation countermeasure agents are reviewed.


The pervasion and inclusion of new technologies into teaching and learning processes are continuously changing the higher education landscape. Selected and specific technologies termed as "assistive technologies" are being used as key tools for enabling students to access education and actively and independently participate in the education process, improving learning and supporting inclusive education. This paper presents students' perception of the use of various assistive technologies such as mobile learning, tablet learning, lecture capture, gamification, and online intelligent systems that have been developed for learning and student support at a higher education institute. There is also a broad discussion on how these can be adopted and adapted in mathematics learning in higher education. It is well documented that students have low-esteem toward or while doing the subject and have math phobia, particularly in higher education. An online questionnaire on the students' perception of using assistive technologies was deployed to the mathematics students. The results show that assistive technologies are indeed a saviour of mathematics with a significantly positive attitude garnered toward using them for learning mathematics.


The penetration of renewable energy technologies into energy markets is on the increase due to significant drops in their capital cost, increase in their efficiency and improvement in storage system and power electronic interface. Most universities around the globe offer, nowadays, renewable energy courses within the electrical and mechanical engineering curricula to support the increasing demand for renewable energy engineers. This paper presents a teaching approach for modeling and simulating PV cells and systems taking into consideration the effects of temperature, irradiance, series and parallel connections of modules and shading. Equations are derived using basic electric circuit laws and MATLAB code is provided to aid students and engineers better understand PV operational characteristics through simulation.


This article presents the findings of a study of 46 adults adopted at very young ages in India and now aged between 20 and 30 years. The results suggest that the majority of respondents were physically healthy and well adjusted. However, 40% scored below the norm for social functioning, suggesting some underlying issues associated with poor well-being in their current phase of life. The mental health issues affecting the young people were associated more with anxiety and stress than depression. However, none of the variables investigated proved to be strong predictors of mental health difficulties. The results are discussed in the context of Indian culture and psychosocial development during early adulthood and include implications for practice.


Many construction activities such as pile driving, drilling, roadbed compaction, drilling and blasting tunnels can cause ground vibration, which affects buildings and people nearby. If the wave intensity is high while the distance to neighboring buildings is close, the presence of damage in buildings is inevitable. Determination of the vibration radius which can cause damage in surrounding structures regarding each source of vibration is a necessary requirement for planning, construction technology selection and design method. It can minimize risks to surrounding buildings. The content of this article presents the measurement method to accurately estimate the vibration level of the construction activities of Hanoi pilot urban railway line 3 passing the busy Kim Ma street, Hanoi. High sensitivity vibration accelerometers are gathered in lines from the vibration source. It is shown that predicting the radius of the impact of construction site vibrations to neighboring buildings is possible. If the level of vibration is high then measures can be taken to prevent damage caused by the construction of the Hanoi pilot urban railway line. From obtained results, some solutions are proposed to minimize and avoid possible negative impacts.


In this paper a collaboration supporting modular(RCOM,Remote Collaborative Operate Modular)based on B/S(Browser/Server)architecture adopting Java technologies is developed.And this modular is used in the building of a college network counseling system(CSCT,Counseling System based on Collaboration Technology).The collaborative mode and technologies can help network consulting department to improve their service quality and decrease the cost of counseling,and make their work effective and efficient.At the same time,the CSCT can also be used to provide virtual teaching service based on network.


2 Abstract: Acetamiprid and dinotefuran are a new generation from neonicotinoid insecticides and highly active to protect the various vegetable crops, by controlling mites and insect pests. The rate of disappearance of acetamiprid and dinotefuran residues from tomato and cucumber fruits at a recommended dose was investigated. Under field conditions, the half-life values of acetamiprid were 1.04 and 1.18 days on/in tomato and cucumber fruits and 1.72 and 3.18 days for dinotefuran, respectively. Determined residues of dinotefuran on/in tomato and cucumber fruits were at level below the maximum residue limits (MRL), one hour after application, so that the tomato and cucumber fruits could be used safely at any time after application. Whereas, the residues of acetamiprid reached to the acceptable maximum residue limits in three days post treatment. Residues of acetamiprid and dinotefuran were undetectable on/in tomato and cucumber fruits 15 days after application. It was also concluded, that the loss rate of both insecticides was varied between tomato and cucumber fruits.


The paper presents the methodological aspects of teaching higher mathematics in agrarian higher educational institutions. Attention is drawn to the applied aspect of linear algebra for student-agrarians.


THERE WERE BALLOONS, CONFETTI, dragon dances, bottles of wine, press conferences, and many speeches. The official inauguration last month of the $2.9 billion complex built by BASF and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) in Nanjing, China, meant a lot to the German chemical giant. To celebrate in style, BASF invited hundreds of dignitaries and journalists from China and the rest of the world. "Today's event not only celebrates the official opening of our first Verbund site in China, but also highlights our long-term commitment to Asia, and China in particular," BASF Chairman Jiirgen Hambrecht said. Verbund refers to BASF's engineering principle of high integration at its chemical complexes. The Nanjing project, built next to Sinopec's Yangzi Petrochemical subsidiary, is BASF's largest investment outside Germany. Hambrecht has closely monitored the progress of the project since its inception in the mid-1990s. The hard-driving executive was living in Hong Kong and heading BASF's operations in Asia whe...