This paper proposes and demonstrates an efficient energy harvesting scheme for general human motion by using piezoelectric shell structures. Although human motion is random and slow movement, fast transition of shell structure can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy efficiently. The shell structure was formed by attaching a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film on curved polymer film manufactured by heat treatment. The shell structure generates much higher output voltage compared with a flat structure. Fabric with embedded shell structure is used for wearing a harvester. We could obtain much higher output power from a slow motion of human elbow joint by using proposed shell structure.


This paper describes how reflected broadband sound signals are marked by interference
phenomena if the surface of the ensonified object is structured. For an efficient
extraction of features of the signal that relate to the surface structure of the object, the calculation
of the cepstrum is introduced. A cylindrical test object is presented, which shows
an angle independent and an angle dependent structure. This allows to specify the accuracy
of the discrimination of structure sizes, that is based on a selected part of the cepstrum. In
addition, the object can be used as a landmark for ultrasonic sensing. Classification of the
cepstra is done by the statistical 'One Nearest Neighbour' (1NN) method as well as by a
'Kohonen Self-Organising Feature Map' (SOM). The results show, that changes in structure
size down to 0.1mm are detectable.


The agricultural and fisheries sectors of Spain and Portugal, the new member states of the European Community, are relatively more important than those in the rest of the Common Market, making a greater contribution to production, but needing more in the way of funds from the Common Agricultural Policy. The marketing, trade and policy implications of the Iberian peninsula's accession to the EC are examined, and it is seen that the importance of "Mediterranean" products will increase, and this enlargement is likely to increase the urgency of reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.


A little over a decade ago librarians at the University of Ghana, Legon agitated for, and were accorded academic status equivalent to those in the faculty. What used to be purely a technical and professional job has gradually shifted to academic. Pressure is now being put on all librarians at the University of Ghana to upgrade themselves to academic status. This paper examines the position of librarians in the university before and after the granting of academic status. The paper also looks at the implications of this academic status on research publication and job satisfaction of these librarians.


Based on a multi-dimensional Riemann theta function, the Hirota bilinear method is extended to explicitly construct multi-periodic (quasi-periodic) wave solutions for the asymmetrical Nizhnik–Novikov–Veselov equation. Among these periodic waves, two-periodic waves are a direct generalization of well-known cnoidal waves; their surface pattern is two dimensional. The main physical result is the description of the behavior of nonlinear waves in shallow water. A limiting procedure is presented to analyze asymptotic properties of the two-periodic waves in details. Relations between the periodic wave solutions and the well-known soliton solutions are established. It is rigorously shown that the periodic wave solutions tend to the soliton solutions under a 'small amplitude' limit.


The copolymer films of acrylic acid and styrene (AA-STY) were synthesized. The films were transparent, brittle and light yellow in colour. The films were permeable and showed adsorption in acetic acid, acetic anhydride and sodium hydroxide. The copolymer films were found to be conducting. The specific conductance of films was found in the range 2.7 x 10-6 – 3.0 x 10-6 Ω -1. The films were characterized by IR and NMR studies. The films showed good bacterial activity.


Abstract : This statement discusses water resources development programs within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including ways that needed to be changed within the Corps: reducing the backlog of projects, improving internal processes and working toward watershed approaches.


Financial Technology (Fintech) has become an essential issue in the past few years, especially for the companies that offer the products/services that require payment. This research explores the factors which drive companies to adopt fintech - risk perception, cost perception, organizational readiness, top management support, knowledge of information technology, customer pressure, and competitive pressure - and the benefits of its adoption. This research distributed questionnaires using purposive sampling method to the employees working in the companies adopting Fintech. There were 195 questionnaires analyzed using SEM-PLS. This research indicates that customer pressure, competitive pressure, organizational readiness, top management support, and knowledge of information technology have significant influences on Fintech adoption. However, risk perception and cost perception do not significantly affect Fintech adoption. Fintech adoption has a significant effect on organizational benefits. Companies can use this research to find the opportunities and risks when they adopt fintech in order to improve on innovating and maximize customers and partners' satisfactions.


A modern overhead line construction is characterized by automated production methods, extensive use of operational equipment and intensive planning of working procedures. Thereby it has been possible to diminish considerably waste production hours for new construction and maintenance work. A description is given of the working procedures during the new construction of an overhead line and of the vehicles, machines and tools used.


Low ductility of glassy alloys prevents their technical application as structural materials. In this work, we study the Cu-based crystal-glassy composite material with good mechanical properties. Formation of the Cu10Zr7 phase in the glassy matrix of a high-strength Cu50Zr30Ti10Nb10 bulk alloy upon solidification led to higher Young's modulus and enhanced ductility of such a composite compared to Cu-based glassy alloys. The as-cast structure was studied by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.


Possible geometrical structures and relative stability of Mg2Bn(n=4~9) clusters are studied by using the hybrid density functional theory(B3LYP) with 6-31G basis sets.For the most stable isomers of Mg2Bn(n=4~9) clusters,the electronic structure,vibrational properties,ionization potential,HOMO-LUMO gap,charge properties and bond properties are analyzed.The calculated results show that there is a electronegative center with most of B atoms of cluster,the Mg atoms with positive charge are always located at apex of the cluster;The most stable isomers of Mg2Bn(n=4~9) clusters are changing gradually from planar structure to Three-Dimensional structure;and the clusters with n=4、8 are more stable than other clusters.


The use of geospatial technology at lower levels of education has become a global tendency. However, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country that is virtually uncharted in this regard, and the present paper has the main purpose to change that fact. Results of a survey conducted among geography teachers place this country within the entry category. Different attitudes among various groups of teachers (based on gender, age and regional distribution) have also been tested. Although the general hypotheses could not be confirmed, certain specific differences have been found, such as in the use of virtual globes, theoretical knowledge of GIS and willingness to attend educational training courses.


This paper mainly discusses the characteristics of the influences of the Han culture on the Hani culture. The author believes that the influences, which have a long history, are multi-aspect, geographically-unbalanced and are becoming stronger and stronger, and that the ways of the influences are various.


The nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi in March 2011 has led the nuclear community to consider the effects of beyond design basis loadings, including extreme earthquakes. Seismic isolation is being considered for new large light water and small modular reactors, and isolation-system designs will have to consider these extreme loadings. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) is sponsoring a research project that will quantify the response of low damping rubber (LDR) and leadrubber (LR) bearings under loadings associated with extreme earthquakes. Under design basis loadings, the response of an elastomeric bearing is not expected to deviate from well-established numerical models and bearings are not expected to experience net tension. However, under extended or beyond design basis shaking, elastomer shear strains may exceed 300% in regions of high seismic hazard, bearings may experience net tension, the compression and tension stiffness will be affected by isolator lateral displacement, and the properties of the lead core in LR bearings will degrade due to substantial energy dissipation. Phenomenological models are presented to describe the behavior of elastomeric isolation bearings in compression and tension, explicitly considering both the effects of lateral displacement and cyclic vertical and horizontal loading. The numerical models are coded in OpenSees and described in the paper. Results of numerical analysis are compared with test data to validate the numerical models.


Wall static pressure distributions, surface flow patterns, pitot pressures, and yaw angle profiles were measured in a skewed three-dimensional shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction region. The test section was axisymmetric with a constant diameter. The nominal freestream Mach number was 4. Upstream of the interaction, the boundary layer thickness was 0.31 in. (0.787 cm). The three-dimensional flow was produced by azimuthal pressure gradients which were generated by an 8-degree cone aligned with the primary flow direction, but with the cone axis displaced 0.3 in. (0.76 cm) from the channel centerline. The yaw angle was found to be a function of both the azimuthal angle and the distance from the beginning of the interaction. It was observed that yaw angle increased substantially near the wall. The maximum yaw angle for the whole flow field was obtained in the 90 degree azimuthal plane.


The diet of Barbastella barbastellus was investigated through analysis of droppings collected from three maternity roosts in Germany and Switzerland. The results showed a high dominance of moths (Lepidoptera), which accounted for 73–94% of the recovered items by volume. Flies (Diptera), ranging in size from blow flies (Calliphoridae) and large crane flies (Tipulidae) to small Nematocera, were the second most important prey items (4–17%). Prey types recovered also included small numbers of Trichoptera, Neuroptera, Homoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera and spiders (Araneae). The diet of the barbastelle differs from that of most other bats in Europe in the predominance of moths and the corresponding virtual absence of dung beetles (Coleoptera; Scarabaeidae) and midges (Diptera; Chironpmidae). Conservation measures for barbastelles should therefore consider facilitation of the diversity and abundance of moths.


• Summary: This article explores the predicaments involved in educating the next generation of social workers in Britain in child protection work. It draws upon research with students taking a Safeguarding Children module. • Findings: Although the management of risk is central to the role of qualified social workers and the rationale for recruiting more students onto the new degree programmes, only a small minority of students are seriously committed to child protection work, and rather more students are planning to avoid it. Opportunities to test out student's aptitudes in the field are vital, but there is a dearth of statutory placements and some students emerge even more disheartened from their placements. Pedagogic strategies which promote an integration of therapeutic and statutory interventions can enhance student's interest, but lack credibility if these approaches are not integrated in practice. • Applications: The relevance of these findings to universities, community-based agencies and central government is considered in the final section.


Development and active support of entrepreneurship, including the regional entrepreneurship, is a priority task of the long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation. Due to the wide territorial (administrative) differentiation of the conditions in which business entities carry out their activities, the expediency of using different mechanisms of influence on business entities in different regions is obvious. In this article the entrepreneurial climate of the region is understood as the opportunities and conditions for doing business and achieving its goals that are common to all or most entrepreneurs operating in a particular territory. The authors analyze the entrepreneurial climate of the Khabarovsk territory because of the interaction of objective (geographical features of the region, the level of development of the territory, natural conditions and resources, population and settlement, structure, level of development of production, non-production, and «infrastructure» spheres) and subjective factors (purposeful activity of state and municipal authorities and management). The assessment of the business climate in the Khabarovsk territory is supplemented by the results of a survey of entrepreneurs, including those with experience in stopping entrepreneurial activity. Based on a comprehensive assessment, conceptual approaches to the formation of conditions for a favorable business climate of economic entities of the consumer market of the Khabarovsk territory are formulated


Capital inflows to emerging market economies rose to unprecedented heights in the first part of the 1990s and then collapsed very rapidly in the second. Such volatility could partly be explained by financial vulnerability in the emerging markets themselves, but the global nature of the phenomenon raises the suspicion that the world financial market is wrought with systemic problems that are largely independent of the individual countries affected. This paper puts forward the conjecture that phenomena such as contagion could stem from the way the capital market operates (for example, crises generated by margin calls). These systemic phenomena require systemic instruments. Unfortunately, few are available. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) operates more like a fire department than like a central bank. Liquidity is sprayed where fire is found, not on the system as a whole in the manner of a central bank faced with a liquidity crisis.


Shawkat Ali is currently with School of Information and Communication Technology, CQUniversity, Australia. He received his PhD in Information Technology from Clayton School of Information Technology, Monash University. His research interests include computational intelligence, data mining, smart grid, cloud computing, and biomedical engineering. In particular, he is currently leading in a research group on computational intelligence. He has published more than 85 research papers in international journals and conferences, most of them are IEEE/ELSEVIER journals/conferences, such as IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Future Generation Computer Systems, ELSEVIER, WSEAS Transactions on Information Science and Applications, Journal of Medical Systems, Springer, and Renewable Energy, ELSEVIER. He has also published several book chapters and books. His Data Mining book is being used as text in more than two dozen universities around the globe. Dr. Ali has chaired many conferences including DMAI, NSS, ICDKE, and ISDA. He has been a program committee member for about 40 international conferences such as IEEE TrustCom, IEEE ICCIT, IEEE/ACIS, IEEE ICARCV, and IEEE AINA. Currently he is the Editor-in-Chief for International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Sciences and Engineering (IJETSE), Canada. He is an IEEE Senior Member. Dr. Ali has received a couple of awards including the Post Graduation Publication Award, Monash University, 2004, the Excellence in Supervision Award, CQUniversity, 2007 and the Top 10 Course Designers, CQUniversity, 2010.


This year the United Nations (UN) celebrate their 70th anniversary. Experiencing a sort of marginalization due to the dynamics of the bloc divisions, the end of the Cold War brings the reality of unresolved conflicts and a growing number of new ones that are testing the functionality of this organization and the concept of peacekeeping operations. With the evolution of security challenges, especially in the first decade of the 21st century, bringing changes in overall international relations, the United Nations are undergoing a process of adjustment to the new security environment – similar to the process being experienced by the international organizations with significant military and political capacity and role in preserving peace and security, such as the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO). In the era of new security threats, the improvement of the peacekeeping operations effectiveness, the use of armed force, adequate technology and intelligence support, purposeful engagement of human and material resources, and the preservation of the physical integrity of the peacekeepers in the conditions of global financial restrictions and the effort worth more than eight billion dollars per year – are all the areas of permanent and critical importance for the success of the UN peacekeeping operations today and in the future.


The increasing use of induction motors (IMs) with variable frequency drives for industrial process control and automation has necessitated the need to evaluate their energy efficiency in the presence of voltage and current harmonics. As the determination of IM efficiency is becoming mandatory in many countries, there is a need to develop a testing approach that eliminates inaccuracies due to the operator. This paper presents an automated efficiency testing procedure developed to mitigate the adverse effect of varying technical skill and competence levels of testing personnel on efficiency test results. This is a particularly useful development considering the recently proposed IEC/TS 60034-2-3 methodology which specifies identical tests between sinusoidal supply and converter operation. A comparison of several manual and automated efficiency tests on a 55-kW IM highlighted improvements in repeatability, correlation, and temperature variation due to the latter. In addition, the advanced data acquisition and computation capability of the measurement device used in the developed test rig provides an excellent platform to investigate the dynamic operation of IM drives.


Journalism educators who appear as expert witnesses and consultants in media law cases such as libel and invasion of privacy are often unfamiliar with the practical aspects of serving as an eflective, efficient, and ethical expert. These practical dimensions include federal and state rules of evidence and civil procedure, the process of deciding whether or not to accept a case, negotiations over fees and employment conditions, ethical conflicts associated with representation, the litigation process, and post-trial issues. It is unusual, especially in media law cases, for an expert's testimony to make or break a case, but a client has a right to expect aggressive and rigorous representation and ready accessibilityfrom the expert. The challenge facing the journalism educator who serves as an expert witness is balancing those demands with the responsibilities of being a professor while avoiding conflicts of interest.


In this paper, the dispersion relation of the beam wave interaction of the confocal waveguide gyrotron-traveling-wave tube (confocal gyro-TWT) is derived from kinetic theory for the first time; according to this dispersion relation, we can make the linear analysis of confocal gyro-TWT as well as the cylindrical waveguide gyro-TWT. At the same time, a numerical code based on the self-consistent nonlinear theory is written to simulate the behavior of electron beam and electromagnetic wave during beam wave interaction. When neglecting the spread of velocity and guiding center, the gain and growth rate calculated by the nonlinear theory code makes great agreement with that of linear theory in the small-signal region.


This paper presents an implementation of a three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model for evaluating the behavior of reinforced concrete slabs under centric load. The concrete was idealized by using eight-nodded solid elements. While flexural reinforcement and the shear were modeled as line elements, a perfected bond between solid elements and line elements was assumed. The nonlinear behavior of concrete in compression is simulated by an elasto-plastic work-hardening model, and in tension a suitable postcracking model based on tension stiffening and shear retention models are employed. The steel was simulated using an elastic-full plastic model. The validity of the theoretical formulations and the program used was verified through comparison with available experimental data, and the agreement has proven to be good. A parametric study has been also carried out to investigate the influence of the slab thickness on column-slab connection response


Purpose
This study aims to investigate the impact of government support on the coupling coordination degree of innovation chain and capital chain in integrated circuit (IC) enterprises and to explore the mechanism for considering talent in the influence path.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses coupling coordination degree model to estimate the coupling of two chains, and applies dynamic panel system generalized method of moments (system-GMM) to analyze the impact of government support on coupling of two chains and conducts dynamic panel threshold regression to explore the threshold effect of talent in the influence of government support on coupling coordination degree.

Findings
Serious imbalance in the coupling of two chains is a major obstacle in IC enterprises. Government support significantly reduces the coupling coordination degree. The talent in IC enterprises has a significant threshold effect. When the number of talent is lower than the threshold value, government support has a negative impact. Once the number of talent reaches a certain level, government support can significantly enhance the coupling of two chains. Compared with state-owned enterprises, government support has a greater negative impact on the coupling of the two chains in non-state-owned enterprises. The former needs more talent to take advantage of government support.

Originality/value
This paper applies the concept of coupling into enterprises and deeply studies the coupling coordination degree of two chains. The influence mechanism of government support and talent on the coupling of two chains is explored, which reveals that government support cannot achieve the expected incentive effect without the support of talent. We also discuss the heterogeneous effect of government support and of talent in enterprises of different ownership types.


There are abundant data that women who present with acute coronary events are less frequently diagnosed and have worse outcomes than men (1, 2). Part of the problem may be that women are less apt to manifest increased biomarkers when they present and perhaps for that reason, often receive less aggressive guideline-mandated care (3, 4). It may be that the reason for this is that women have lower reference values for biomarkers of cardiac injury that are rarely taken into account. This certainly was the case for creatine kinase (CK)3 MB, for which reference values in women were half of those in men but often were not taken into account (5). This appears again to be so with high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays (6), for which the urge for "simplicity" may cause us to repeat this error. In addition, the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease is different in men than in women, with women having lower cardiac troponin values for any given extent of disease (7). Further, because women have more endothelial dysfunction and less fixed coronary disease, they are more often diagnosed with type 2 acute myocardial infarctions that are associated with lower cardiac troponin values (8). Given these facts, it appears at first glance axiomatic that sex-specific criteria will be necessary to detect all of the women in need of acute care. In addition, if we do not embrace this approach, the cutoff values derived from a mixed population of men and women will be lower than necessary for men, exacerbating the major issue related to high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays, the lack of clinical specificity for acute myocardial infarction.

Into this landscape come 2 recent studies reported in Clinical Chemistry (9, 10). Unfortunately, neither is definitive. The first, from …


Human Information Behavior (HIB) research commonly examines behavior in the context of why information is acquired and how it will be used, but usually at the level of the work or everyday‐life tasks the information will support. HIB has not been examined in detail at the broader contextual level of intellectual purpose (that is, the higher‐order conceptual tasks the information was acquired to support). Examination at this level can enhance holistic understanding of HIB as a "means to an intellectual end" and inform the design of digital information environments that support information interaction for specific intellectual purposes. We investigate information‐based ideation (IBI) as a specific intellectual information acquisition and use context by conducting Critical Incident‐style interviews with 10 game designers, focusing on how they interact with information to generate and develop creative design ideas. Our findings give rise to a framework of their ideation‐focused HIB, which systems designers can leverage to reason about how best to support certain behaviors to drive design ideation. These findings emphasize the importance of intellectual purpose as a driver for acquisition and desired outcome of use.


The National Galleries of Scotland is entering an exciting period of development: phase one of its Playfair Project is due for completion in summer 2003, with the opening of the remodelled Royal Scottish Academy building adjacent to the National Gallery and the exhibition Monet: the Seine & the sea. As well as providing increased gallery, education and visitor facilities, this project also has information technology and access implications for the Archives, Libraries and Reference Section as well as for the commercial Picture Library.


1. Heading. APA level 1 heading (centered, bold). 2. Text. Double-spaced paragraph of no more than 400 words (Capella's limit; ProQuest does not set a limit; APA publications each set their own limits). Read APA 2.04 regarding what should be included in the abstract of a completed study. 3. There must be no page number on the Abstract.


In the remote sensing literature, a number of indices have been proposed for quantifying the uncertainty in categorical labelling of fuzzy thematic map locations. Most of these measures derive their conceptual basis from Shannon's entropy. Nonetheless, the Shannon entropy implies a probabilistic interpretation of class membership values, such that their application is appropriate only for fuzzy thematic maps obtained by softening the output of a maximum likelihood classification. There is therefore a need to derive measures of classification uncertainty for raster thematic maps obtained from non‐probabilistic soft classifiers. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a family of measures that are based on the notion of non‐specificity for quantifying the pixel‐level categorical uncertainty associated to non‐probabilistic fuzzy classifications of remotely sensed images.


Since the first plant was built at Mount Isa, twenty ISASMELTTM plants have either been constructed or are under construction. A recent addition to the family of ISASMELTTM licensee plants is the Mufulira smelter in the Zambian Copperbelt, where the ISASMELTTM plant has replaced a rotary drier and an electric smelting furnace. The change has been beneficial to Mufulira smelter. The primary copper ISASMELTTM top submerged lance (TSL) technology continues to attract interest from potential users who seek high productivity smelting. In addition to the known benefits of productivity, and flexibility, ISASMELTTM operators have also achieved improved energy efficiency. Plant production statistics from the Mufulira smelter shows that power consumption per unit of production has been significantly reduced following the introduction of ISASMELTTM technology.


Resistivity behaviour in the FCC phase of cerium ( gamma -Ce) when compared with that in FCC lanthanum reveals a 'Kondo-like' anomaly in the high-temperature region. High-pressure studies up to 7 kbar pressure show a large enhancement of this Kondo-like behaviour due to the resonant increase in the antiferromagnetic exchange integral with pressure. These studies give further evidence in support of the model for gamma -Ce in which a 4f virtual bound state lies in close proximity to the Fermi level.


It is radiant heat (the solar radiation and thermal radiation), the heat transferred from the air and the latent heat of vapor that participate mainly in snow melting.Now, there is the analogy between heat transfer and condensation to pans. (Reynolds' analogy.) On this theory, I find the following formulas, for the small pans.(1) When windless, m = 2.1 l-1/4 θ'5/4× 10-3 gr/cm2. hr.where (m) is the rate of snow melting by the heat transferred, (l) is the length of the pan in cm and (θ') is temperature of the air current. Andm= 4.9 l-1/4|co-c'|θ1/4 ×104 gr/cm2. hr.where (m') is the rate of snow melting by the latent heat of the vapor, (co) anc (c') are respectively vapor concentration on the snow surface and in the air current in gr/cm2. (2) Under the laminar boundary condition, m= 4.0 l-1/2U1/2θ' × 10-3 gr/cm2. hr.where (U) is the wind valocity in cm/sec. And m'=9.0l1/2U1/2|co-c'|× 10-3=7.2 l-1/2U1/2|p'-6.1|× 10-3gr/cm2where (p') is vapor pressure in the air current in mb.(3) Under the turbulent boundary condition, m=3.4 l-1/5U4/5 θ'10-4 gr/cm2. hr.andm'=6.4l-1/5U4/5|co-c'|× 102=5.1l-1/5U4/5|p'-6.1|× 10-4gr/cm2.hrBut the above-mentioned are the case of smooth surface. In the cases of rough surface, perhaps, the rate of snow melting may be much more rapid.


In this Rapid Communication, we explore the structural and electronic behavior at the interface between the SrRuO3 and (La0.7Sr0.3)MnO3 using quantitative aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), extending the approach suggested for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) by Jia 23–25 that has been recently adapted for STEM. 11,13,26 The cation displacement profile at the nominally metal-metal SrRuO3–La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 interface is visualized directly. The observed displacements can be interpreted as indicative of an interfacial electric dipole. We show that the observed cation displacement pattern can be reproduced quantitatively by density functional theory (DFT) if oxygen vacancies are present at the interface. Furthermore, the electronic potential profiles obtained from DFT and extracted from the STEM data by phenomenological modeling match closely. The implications for the electronic and magnetic properties are discussed. La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 thin films (with the thickness of 6 nm) were grown on (001) single-crystal SrTiO3 substrate using pulsed laser deposition at 700 ◦ C and an O2 pressure of 300 mTorr. Subsequently, the SrRuO3 layer (with the thickness of 30 nm) was grown on La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 buffered SrTiO3 at 700 ◦ C and with an O2 pressure of 100 mTorr. High-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) STEM imaging and EELS studies were carried out using VG Microscopes HB603U operated at 300 kV and equipped with a Nion


The characteristics and running condition of the microwave communication system between the time standard laboratory and the time-frequency control laboratory at the NTSC(National Time Service Center)are introduced,the change of the time comparison data is analysed,and some suggestions on im- proving the system are presented.


The faculty of the College of Engineering at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) decided in 2000 to require all students in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and Industrial Engineering to take and pass the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveyors (NCEES) Fundamentals Exam (FE) before graduating. Additionally, passage of a competency examination is required for all students in these departments in order to enroll in upper division classes. This paper reports on the results of these actions. The legislative budget committee in the State of Texas decided to require reporting of FE results for all University of Texas (UT) System schools offering engineering degrees in 1998. The stated purpose was that the results of the FE exam are to be used as a nationally normed assessment tool for UT System engineering school performance. The fear among some administrators is that the FE exam performance will be tied to funding of engineering programs at the various institutions. Anticipation of this future possibility led the faculty in the Department of Civil Engineering to require passage of the FE exam as an undergraduate degree requirement. The other departments followed suit. Since the ABET accreditation visit was scheduled for 2001, the FE exam was also adopted as an assessment tool. Quality control of students entering the upper division also became a concern because passage of the FE is tightly linked to performance in lower division coursework. Therefore, a competency exam for rising juniors was implemented as a quality control and assessment measure. An information program to inform students of the new measures and two sets of review opportunities were developed to ensure student success on the FE exam. Quantitative results of these new requirements and the impact on student attitudes and performance and the feed back loop to course modifications are reviewed. State of Texas FE Performance Requirement The State of Texas has spent many years developing evaluation criteria for its various agencies and components. Texas public institutions with engineering programs are now required to report P ge 8.261.1 "Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual conference & Exposition Copyright c 2003, American Society for Engineering Education" pass rates achieved by their graduates on the Fundamentals of Engineering examination. For example, the state mandated goal at UTEP is a pass rate of 80%. If the yearly pass rate for this institution falls below 75%, the chief academic officer of the institution is required to submit an explanation to the Legislative Budget Board of the state. The use of the Fundamentals Exam for assessment was discussed in the literature by LeFevere, Steadman and White (1999). Since the State of Texas is using the FE as an assessment tool, UTEP must do so as well. Competency Exam The competency exam was created in an effort to assess the knowledge students gained in their lower division coursework and as an assessment tool for UTEP's ABET visit in the fall of 2001. The FE exam was being considered as an assessment tool for measuring performance but the faculty wanted the outcome to be as positive as possible. One way of accomplishing this was to require students entering the upper division to pass an exam based on coursework in the lower division. This type of exam is sometimes termed a "rising junior" exam. All students are required to take and pass the exam prior to registering for upper division coursework. This includes both transfer and UTEP students. The exam is designed similar to the morning session of the FE exam that tests knowledge of lower division coursework. A small interdepartmental committee designed the exam. Present versions of the exam consist of 70 questions from all areas covered on the FE with the exception of Computer Science. The number of questions in any given area is roughly proportional to the number of questions in the same area on the FE. The areas covered include statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials, math, engineering economics, chemistry, materials science, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and electrical. There are several versions of the exam. The students are given two opportunities to take the exam during the semester prior to registration for upper division coursework. If the student fails to pass it on the first attempt, he/she can take the exam a second time the following week. If the student fails the exam a second time, he/she is counseled on remedial measures. The results from 354 attempts are shown in Figure 1. Grades for the competency exam in Figure 1 are distributed as shown in Series 1 data and the cumulative frequency of those grades is shown in the Series 2 curve. Pass and fail rates are shown in Figure2. A score of about 49 on the competency exam is considered passing depending on the grade distribution. The authors have determined that a student must answer approximately 50 percent of problems correctly on the NCEES FE exam in order to receive a passing score. Therefore, a similar score on the competency exam was thought to be a good starting point. The mean score for all competency exams administered is 49.4 percent. Using this passing grade criterion, 230 students passed on the first try. Another 31 of 68 students passed on the second try. A few took the exam as many as four times. The mean for all students passing the exam is 56 percent. When repeat exams are removed, there are 261 first attempts at the exam. The passing percentage on the first try was 78.7 percent (230 of 292), with 89.4 percent passing (261 of 292) after two attempts. This means that 89.4 percent of the students taking the exam have been successful and moved into the upper division of their respective programs. The other 10.6 percent are still in the recirculation group or they transferred to other departments. P ge 8.261.2 Figure 1. Competency Exam Histogram


According to the number of cluster centers, initial cluster centers, fuzzy factor, iterations and threshold, Fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm (FCM) clusters the data set. FCM will encounter the initialization problem of clustering prototype. Firstly, the article combines the maximum and minimum distance algorithm and K-means algorithm to determine the number of clusters and the initial cluster centers. Secondly, the article determines the optimal number of clusters with Silhouette indicators. Finally, the article improves the convergence rate of FCM by revising membership constantly. The improved FCM has good clustering effect, enhances the optimized capability, and improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the clustering. It has better tightness in the class, scatter among classes and cluster stability and faster convergence rate than the traditional FCM clustering method.


The Bureau International des Poids et Mesures operates an international reference system (the SIR) to compare primary standards of radioactivity realized by National Metrology Institutes. Recently, the way of managing data relating to this system has been redesigned. The new model is fully integrated into the SI digital transformation initiated by the metrology community. The new approach automates the production of reports on the results from key comparison exercises for publication in the key comparison database, aiming to reduce the time needed to prepare reports without impacting quality. In operation for a year, the new system has produced 12 comparison reports within deadlines at a quality that meets the needs of the stakeholders in radionuclide metrology. The database and the software are controlled using the states-of-the-art Git version control system. In addition, thanks to the machine-readable database it produces, it paves the way for more digital data exchanges meeting the FAIR principles and directly accessible through a new application programming interface that is under development.


The purpose of this article is to discuss catch-up development as it has been conceptualised by writers operating within the Listian framework. The rationale for this is that combating global pover...


This paper introduces HART protocol and HT2012 modem. The interface- circuit of HT2012 in a general system is enumerated. It also analyzes the programming at the data- receiving part.


The present invention relates to a lighting device comprising an encapsulation material (1) and a lighting assembly encapsulated by the encapsulation material (1), wherein the lighting assembly comprises a printed circuit board (2), a light source (3) mounted on one side of the printed circuit board (2) and a positioning means (5) mounted on the other side of the printed circuit board (2) for location on a mold (4) during encapsulation. The positioning means (5) is maintained on the lighting assembly after the encapsulation is completed to obtain a high IP protection level; moreover, the lighting device according to the present invention is encapsulated more simply and easily. In addition, the present invention further relates to an encapsulation method for the lighting device above.


The ScholarWorks in a Minute series was sent to library staff on a periodic basis between 2015 and 2019 (volumes 46-68). The series highlighted new submissions to the repository and interesting facts about Texas ScholarWorks. Before 2015, the series was called UTDR in a Minute, in reference to the then repository name, University of Texas Digital Repository. In December 2019, the ScholarWorks in a Minute update was replaced by a department-wide Scholcomm Newsletter.


Emotional contagion is the most ancestral form of empathy. We tested to what extent the proximate mechanisms of emotional contagion are evolutionarily conserved by assessing the role of oxytocin, known to regulate empathic behaviors in mammals, in social fear contagion in zebrafish. Using oxytocin and oxytocin receptor mutants, we show that oxytocin is both necessary and sufficient for observer zebrafish to imitate the distressed behavior of conspecific demonstrators. The brain regions associated with emotional contagion in zebrafish are homologous to those involved in the same process in rodents (e.g., striatum, lateral septum), receiving direct projections from oxytocinergic neurons located in the pre-optic area. Together, our results support an evolutionary conserved role for oxytocin as a key regulator of basic empathic behaviors across vertebrates. Description Fundamentals of empathy Emotional contagion, in which individuals display fear or distress behaviors in response to observations of the same in another, is considered a basal form of empathy and is known to occur in fishes. Akinrinade et al. have shown that the neuropeptide oxytocin is responsible for these behaviors in zebrafish, as it is in mammals (see the Perspective by DeAngelis and Hofmann). They also found that the same regions of the brain are involved in zebrafish and in mammals. Such homologies in emotional response mechanisms across fishes and mammals suggest that this most basal form of empathy could have evolved many, many millions of years ago. —SNV Oxytocin plays an evolutionarily conserved role for as a regulator of basic empathic behaviors across vertebrates.


This research analyzed the student school spirit at a small Christian university to gain understanding of ways to better facilitate growth of school spirit on campus. The measurement of school spirit was based on four characteristics: ethos, sense of community, rituals and traditions and a combination of participation, loyalty, and pride. The researcher conducted three focus groups based on class standings of senior, junior, and sophomore. Each group had six to nine randomly and purposively selected participants. Results showed that the people, the place, and the purpose of the school were significant to the students, and the students' definition of school spirit was a combination of participation, loyalty, and pride. The findings suggest that the university does have a healthy school spirit, although the contributing factors vary from student to student. School spirit is difficult to define; it is the driving force that not only unites students and faculty in supportive behavior toward their school, but also differentiates them from members of other institutions (Terizian, 2004). School spirit can be seen in something seemingly trivial such as preferring to wear the university colors over those of a rival school (Schloss, Poggesi, & Palmer, 2011), or in something of greater importance like donating money or time to the school. Although the term ―spirit‖ is very broad and sometimes abstract, this idea is ―the very essence of an organization‖ (Ransdell, 2000, p. 18). The purpose of this study was to add concrete definitions to the concept of school spirit. Once these terms are defined, a school can adjust its culture in order to create an environment that will foster school spirit among students and faculty which will, in turn, strengthen the school. ―For an institution seeking to improve a relatively strong or stable present, the work of spirit might be effectively influenced toward even greater strength and stability, and on toward greater prosperity and longevity‖ (Ransdell, 2000, p. 28). Southern Adventist University, a private Christian institution, was selected as the location for this study. Only one university is the focus of the study because every school will have distinct qualities that determine the spirit of the school. The results of this study may be taken into consideration by the school administration for cultivating school spirit on the university's campus. Literature Review As stated in the introduction, the idea of school spirit is often abstract. In previous research, school spirit has been categorized into 4 areas: ethos; rituals and traditions; a sense of community; and a combination of loyalty, participation, and pride. Ethos Ethos, as defined by Kezar (2007), is ―the fundamental character or spirit of a culture that connects individuals to a group; it expresses a particular group's values and ideology in a way that creates an emotional connection‖ (p. 13). Ethos is important not only because it unites the school body, but also because it is possibly a contributing factor in students' academic success (Kezar, 2007). Each campus has a different ethos depending on what the school focuses on as being most important. Ethos is often a characteristic built into the school's mission and values or an extra-curricular activity that connects people (Kezar, 2007). This is a prime example of why school spirit differs from school to school. The heart of the school's ethos, whether it is based in academics, athletics, community service, or another outlet, should be defined in the mission statement and supported by administration. Traditions and Rituals As pointed out by Van Jura (2010), school spirit can come in the form of a tradition or ritual a student enjoys participating in along with others. A tradition can be identified as a form of school spirit because as Van Jura (2010) explains, ―traditions play a unique role in the culture of student life and have the potential to teach students about the history of their institution, provide means of building community, instill common values that span generations of students, and generate pride and enthusiasm‖ (p. 107). Rituals are very similar to traditions, but Young (1999) in defining rituals, includes the subject of repetition. ―Rituals are behavioral patterns that are repeatable, have purpose, and have acquired a sense of rightness among the people who participate in them‖ (p. 11). Ransdell (2000) further explains that rituals serve as evidence of spirit, ―transforming and developing an organization‖ (p. 21). Since rituals and traditions are so similar in meaning, the two terms will be used interchangeably in this study. There are two types of traditions, positive and negative ones. An example of a positive tradition is the Freshman Beanie at University of Vermont. All of the incoming freshmen are given a beanie with their class year displayed on it and urged to wear them to events. When the students return for alumni events, many of them still wear their beanie, which signifies a bond to the school (Van Jura, 2010). However, there are negative examples of traditions such as hazing practices. ―These activities put students at risk of suffering physical, emotional, or mental harm, and they work against their stated purpose of building community‖ ( Van Jura, 2010, p. 20) Traditions do not necessarily come from the history of the school or the mandate of the school's administration. Young (1999) suggests that rituals happen ―everywhere all the time‖ (p. 16) and Van Jura (2010) notes that many traditions are associated with hazing practices that are unknown by the management of the university. Whether they are purposely created or spring up as a habit over time, traditions should be preserved and encouraged by the school's administration, with the exception of negative traditions that should delicately be abolished. As campuses become more diverse, institutions must make new rituals and traditions to retain their effectiveness in reaching the student body (Van Jura, 2010; Cheng, 2004). Sense of Community School spirit is associated with togetherness, or in other words, a sense of community. Cheng (2004) discovered six characteristics that contribute to a sense of community. A campus should (1) be an open environment where people are respected for their individuality and free expressions; (2) engage staff and students in learning and teaching; (3) provide a social and learning atmosphere in the residential halls; (4) nurture relationships between differing cultural and ethnic groups; (5) celebrate the traditions and history of the school; and (6) give assistance to students who feel lonely or down (p. 226). Elkins, Forrester, and Noel-Elkins (2011) furthered this study by determining that most of these characteristics that establish a sense of community on a campus come from out-of-class experiences. However, a student's involvement in out-of-class campus activities does not automatically translate into a sense of community (Cheng, 2004), and other factors should be taken into consideration when establishing a sense of community among students. Elkins et al. (2011) did determine that if a school is lacking in one of the six areas outlined by Cheng (2004), the administration can take a macro focus of the school and analyze other ―specific areas of campus life that make up the whole that is the campus community‖ (p. 13). Each school has its own areas of strengths, and by understanding the ones prevalent on its campus, the institution can direct attention to reinforcing those characteristics instead of spending time and efforts on creating something that is not there. Participation, Loyalty, and Pride Students at an early 20 th century high school, as documented in a case study by Terzian (2004), categorized school spirit into three things: participation, loyalty, and pride. These three terms are closely related, yet each adds a different perspective to school spirit. Willing participation in extra-curricular activities like the athletics and arts programs is an indicator of school spirit. Loyalty refers to ―sacrificing one's time, energy, and vanity‖ for the sake of the school (Terzian, 2004, p. 47). Pride deals with the students' perception of the reputation and image of the school (Terzian, 2004). A school with a positive image and reputation can expect supportive behavior from the students (Sung & Yang 2009). Combined, these three aspects of school spirit provide a solid groundwork for creating unity although it is quite possible for certain parts to exist alone or in a pair. Theory Bormann's (1985) Symbolic Convergence Theory suggests that individuals are transformed into a cohesive group after exchanging certain fantasies, which includes stories, jokes, symbols, and other vehicles of emotion and thoughts. This theory can provide explanations of why and how people are connected, which can be applied to a unification of people through school spirit. From this theory, two specific research questions were identified. RQ 1: What common idea or ideas provide the basis of school spirit at Southern Adventist University? To qualify as an example of ethos by Kezar's (2007) definition, there should only be one common idea. However, since one area has not been defined by the administration, the possibility of multiple ideas is open to discussion. In order to cultivate the school spirit, administration may want to narrow the source of school spirit to one area. RQ 2: What are the shared and meaningful experiences that make up the culture of students at Southern Adventist University? These answers may come from identifying the traditions at Southern or other common experiences that have not yet been nurtured into traditions. A third research question asks: RQ 3: What do students perceive the definition of school spirit to be at Southern Adventist University? It is important to find out if the students themselves can define school spirit. They may or may not already


Clopidogrel has become the most widely used antiplatelet drug second to aspirin. Clopidogrel itself is a prodrug that is absorbed in the intestine and partially converted into 2-oxo-clopidogrel by a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase-dependent metabolism. The intermediate metabolite 2-oxoclopidogrel is further hydrolyzed to the active thiol metabolite of clopidogrel that irreversibly binds to the platelet Gi-coupled adenosine diphosphate (ADP) P2Y12 receptor. Recent studies have reported a considerable variability in clopidogrel-response


We reviewed the nursing practices with 50 patients who received living relative donor renal transplantation.1 patient died of pulmonary infection after renal transplantation and the others keep alive and human kidney survival of receptor is 98% in 1 year.Compared with the cadaveric kidney transplantation,living relative donor renal transplantation has better effect and own more time to prepare and nursing before kidney transplantation.To meet with success of patient with living relative donor renal transplantation,it is very important to give psychological nursing,observe the state of illness after kidney transplantation,adjust the usage of immune depressor and give health guides before leaving hospital.


A numerical simulation on one-dimensional PN diode by a decoupled algorithm advanced by Gummel is presented in this paper. The distribution of electric fields and potentials within a PN diode is achieved, when it is applied with zero biasing, negative biasing, and positive biasing respectively. Both convergence and precision of the numerical simulation are improved compared with traditional method. This work is the foundation of the simulation on radio frequency (RF) PN diode in unsteady state.


In this study, a brain-computer interface (BCI) using electrocorticograms (ECoG) is proposed. Feature extraction is an important task that significantly affects the classification results. First, the discrete wavelet transform was applied to ECoG signals from one subject performing imagined movements of either the left small-finger or the tongue. After preprocessing, relative wavelet energy of selected 8 channels were extracted and built 40 dimension feature vector. Then the dimension of feature vector was reduced using principal component analysis (PCA). Finally, probabilistic neural network (PNN) was used to classify. The average classification accuracy rate reached a maximum of 91.8% when spread of radial basis functions was 0.11. The offline analysis results showed that ECoG signals could be used in BCI design, and gave new ideas and methods for feature extraction and classification of imaginary movements in ECoG-based BCI research.


: We identi fi ed the mastery processes of experienced psychotherapists by drawing their life histories, which indicated principles for guiding the development of young psychotherapists. Participants were psychotherapists with over 30 years of experience ( N = 7, six men and one woman, mean age = 71.86 years). The data were analyzed using the trajectory equi fi nality model (TEM). The results indicated that a psychotherapist might continue to practice even while experiencing con fl icts and might eventually integrate and establish their unique therapeutic approach into their work. Essential factors in facilitating the motivation to be a psychotherapist include: hope; good friends, coworkers, and supervisors; experience with many cases; learning from a global perspective; and interest in human beings. Moreover, after the mid-career, adverse events in participants ' private lives had positive effects on their development as experts. It was concluded that the development of a psychotherapist is a process of growth as a person. This study indicated factors necessary to continue as a psychotherapist while facing con fl icts, which is considered useful for educating future Japanese psychotherapists.


Star-shaped, C3-symmetric, tetraphenylethene (TPE) and 2,3,3-triphenylacrylonitrile (TPAN)-substituted truxenes 7, 8, and 9 were designed and synthesized by the palladium-catalyzed Suzuki and Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions. The TPE-substituted truxenes 7 and 8 show aggregation-induced emission behavior, whereas TPAN-substituted truxene 9 shows aggregation-caused quenching effect in tetrahydrofuran/water medium due to the π–π stacking. The computational calculation on truxenes 7–9 was performed, which reveals that in truxene 9, the electron density transfers from truxene to TPAN. The truxenes 7–9 showed high thermal stability as the 10% weight loss temperature is more than 400 °C. The ionization potentials close to 6.0 eV were estimated for the solid samples of truxenes 7–9 by photoelectron emission spectrometry. Solid samples of the studied truxenes exhibited strong emission with high quantum yields (up to 47%). Electroluminescent properties of truxene derivatives 7–9 were investigated in solution-p...


The paper explores the importance and defects of disaster nursing,and then points out the necessity of developing disaster nursing education.It proposes using the existing resources with community nursing educationas the support,developing specialized education in disaster nursing,popularizing continuing education patterns of disaster nursing,and determining the contents of disaster nursing education with disaster activity cycle as the clue.


The paper presents a novel concept for the on-chip integration of a multilayer platform sustaining Bloch surface waves further enhanced by the so-called slot waveguide effect. Through simulations, we demonstrate that a carefully designed polymer waveguide arrangement coated with a subwavelength dielectric multilayer can be efficiently used to first excite a Bloch surface wave at the surface of the multilayer and second to enhance this wave and allow longer propagation of the surface mode by constructive superimposition of two evanescent tails inside a narrow gap.


Sixteen rabbits were divided into four groups and exposed to 0 (control), 50, 100, and 200 ppm chlorine gas for 30-minute periods. One animal from each group was sacrificed 30 minutes after the termination of exposure, and the rest after 3, 14, and 60 days, respectively. Lung function was determined by capacitance respirometry, a technique for measuring volume-related surface area changes. Volume-pressure relationships (CV-P) and inspiratory-expiratory flow rate ratios (VI:VE) were measured prior to exposure and at each post-exposure time interval. Results show that VI:VE ratios are quantitatively related to the degree of lung impairment due to pulmonary edema, while VV-P changes indicate the severity of anatomical emphysema, distortion of alveolar architecture and loss of elastic properties. These lung anomalies show a relationship to the magnitude of chlorine concentration and length of time allowed for recovery after exposure.


Regression Supervised learning can be divided into regression and classification problems. Whereas the outputs for classification are discrete class labels, regression is concerned with the prediction of continuous quantities. For example, in a financial application, one may attempt to predict the price of a commodity as a function of interest rates, currency exchange rates, availability and demand. In this chapter we describe Gaussian process methods for regression problems; classification problems are discussed in chapter 3. There are several ways to interpret Gaussian process (GP) regression models. One can think of a Gaussian process as defining a distribution over functions, and inference taking place directly in the space of functions, the function-space two equivalent views view. Although this view is appealing it may initially be difficult to grasp, so we start our exposition in section 2.1 with the equivalent weight-space view which may be more familiar and accessible to many, and continue in section 2.2 with the function-space view. Gaussian processes often have characteristics that can be changed by setting certain parameters and in section 2.3 we discuss how the properties change as these parameters are varied. The predictions from a GP model take the form of a full predictive distribution; in section 2.4 we discuss how to combine a loss function with the predictive distributions using decision theory to make point predictions in an optimal way. A practical comparative example involving the learning of the inverse dynamics of a robot arm is presented in section 2.5. We give some theoretical analysis of Gaussian process regression in section 2.6, and discuss how to incorporate explicit basis functions into the models in section 2.7. As much of the material in this chapter can be considered fairly standard, we postpone most references to the historical overview in section 2.8. The simple linear regression model where the output is a linear combination of the inputs has been studied and used extensively. Its main virtues are simplic


The present research deals with female management in the public sector, with the
purpose of understanding the characteristics of women's leadership, specifically the public
sector, for which the rector of the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) was chosen. This
is a subject of great importance, since, as women have been struggling to conquer their space,
in a way that, over time as if they become indispensable for the proper functioning of the
organizational environment. An applied methodology searched for evidence of the necessary
instruments for a research, using a qualitative approach and exploratory and descriptive
research. As for the means, the research is classified in bibliographical and case study.
Forammet semi-structured interviews. It has been identified that by virtue of the social order
and the multiple roles played in society, a woman possesses peculiar management
characteristics, flexibility and versatility, for example, and which bring together so-called
masculine qualities, achieving the goal of the organization


The presence of somatostatin (SRIF) in the neoplastic epithelial cells of certain Warthin's tumors arising in the human parotid gland was found immunohistochemically, whereas the other parotid gland tumors, such as pleomorphic adenoma, oxyphilic adenoma, mucoepidermoid tumor, adenocarcinoma, and adenoid cystic carcinoma, did not show positive immunoreactivity for SRIF. The SOMATOSTATIN, a peptide first discovered as an in-hibitor against the release of pituitary growth hormone,' is known to be localized in human normal and neoplastic tissues derived from various organs, including medullary thyroid carcinoma and small-cell lung cancer. 2-2 Moreover, it reported that in addition to plasma and cerebrospinal fluid, saliva also contains physiologically active somatostatin.31-15


Back in 2005, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Álvaro Gil-Robles, articulated his frustration at the racist tone of the Danish debate on foreigners in an article in Kristeligt Dagblad, in which he described the Danes as 'primitive nationalists'. Soon after, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Danish prime minister and leader of the Liberal party (Venstre), called a news conference to rebuke the critics of his immigration and integration policies for being 'totally out of touch with reality'; Denmark was an 'open, broad-minded, unprejudiced society', he said. In The Annoying Difference (of race and religion), cultural anthropologist Peter Hervik underlines the correctness of Gil-Robles' analysis. Divided into four sections (the first outlining methodology and historical context, the remaining three dealing with media reporting in three distinct cases between 1997–2007), this book is an important contribution to the study of neo-racism and neo-nationalism in different European contexts. It draws its strength from Hervik's thirteen years of diligent research into media representations of ethnic minorities and Islam, and describes the many ways in which a small, but powerful rightwing network, which started out in the semi-secret Giordano Bruno Society and cohered in the International Free Speech Society, captured much of the Danish media attention and chained it to the divisive cause of Danish and American neoconservatism and nationalism. In fact, no one could be better placed than Hervik to dissect the processes and mechanisms through which nativism came to be institutionalised in Denmark. When the Conservative-Liberal coalition formed a new government in 2001, Hervik was researching media representations of Muslims for the Board for Ethnic Equality, which was coming under attack from the Danish People's Party (Dansk Folkeparti, DF). Formed in 1995 as a breakaway from the extreme-right Progress party, electoral support for the DF was rapidly increasing and the 444832 RAC54110.1177/0306396812444832ReviewsRace & Class 2012


The purpose of the work is to predict the risk of death due to a heart failure in the elderly. Even though, in today's age, when medical science has improved leaps and bounds to prevent death due to heart failure, there remains uncertainty among common people when it comes to this disease. Machine learning based models are used to predict the chances of a heart failure. A dataset with 12 different factors that determine the risk of having heart failure is used. SMOTE technique is applied to the imbalance dataset to create a balance and then feature engineering is applied to eliminate less important features and improve the performance of the model. The top seven features based Random Forest model is built to predict the chances of heart failure in a patient. Based on the selected features, there is a significant boost in the performance of the model with an accuracy of 90%. Also, there is an increase in the Precision, F1, Recall, ROC_AUC and Cohen kappa scores.


Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is vital for health and more reliable electric and electronics systems. All electronic devices have to provide EMC tests. In order to increase the quality of service of all electronic devices, a shielding mechanism has to be provided in order to eliminate electromagnetic interference (EMI). In this study a multi-slits shielding mechanism is proposed by using Uniform Theory of Diffraction and geometrical optic models. Multi-slits structure does not permit passing the direct field much and provide dominant field contribution from diffracted field. Due to using diffracted field instead of direct field, EMI is reduced.


Abstract In a deep-sea mining system, coarse-grained minerals are transported most of the time, which puts greater demands on the hydraulic performance and wear resistance of the mining pump than the transport of other types of materials. The pump performance is affected by the parameters of its main flow passage components. The parameters of the impeller were studied in depth to propose a novel mining pump, and the wear conditions of single-stage mining pump produced by different types of solid particles and operating conditions were analyzed. After numerical simulations of 29 models were conducted, the response surface methodology (RSM) was used to develop an optimized pump model that achieves better performance than the original model. The efficiency is improved by 1.2%, head is reduced by 0.34 m, and the impeller average wear intensity is reduced by 29.5% under rated conditions.


FIELD: technological processes. SUBSTANCE: print contains multi-layered section, in which layers of printing ink are applied on recording material. Multi-layered section contains colourful second layer of printing ink, layered on the first layer of printing ink, which possesses property of fluorescent emission. At that part of the first layer of printing ink is pointwise exposed on the second layer of printing ink. EFFECT: suggested invention increases protection against forgery of carrier with large amount of information. 31 cl, 4 dwg, 7 ex


The article discusses the necessity to strengthen action to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), which has been slowed down by the COVID-19 pandemic, considering policy concepts. The dynamics of the UHC index in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for 2000-2019 is regarded. Several global activities for the development of primary health care and UHC in Kazakhstan are described, confirming the possibility of effective usage of political power to promote the ideas of primary health care, and this experience should be taken into account by other countries around the world.


The goal of this study is to examine the extent to which child temperament predicts the adiposity rebound, a steep increase in the body mass index (BMI) between ages 5 and 7 years. If this increase occurs at an earlier age, the risk for later obesity is elevated. To improve the accuracy of the examination, we use a genetically informed design, a sibling-control study, to control for genetic and familial confounding. We hypothesize that temperament traits tapping negative emotionality, approach and avoidance are associated with the adiposity rebound. Methods We repeatedly examined 25889 siblings within the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, following them from the mothers' pregnancy through child age 8 years. Information on the children's height and weight was collected by means of health registries and maternal reports. Information on the siblings' temperament was collected by questionnaires completed when they were 1.5, 3, and 5 years old. We examined the associations of temperament at different child ages with the timing of the adiposity rebound among siblings and controls by means of growth curve and multilevel analyses. Results Within siblings, high scores on the approach trait of sociability predicted an earlier adiposity rebound and high scores on the avoidance trait of shyness predicted a later adiposity rebound with timing differences ranging between 6 and 16 weeks. Surprisingly, negative emotionality did not predict the adiposity rebound. The associations between temperament and the adiposity rebound increased with increasing child age. The results within controls—comparing siblings with the population, broadly paralleled those within siblings, Conclusions The findings encourage the notion that child temperament functions as an early marker for the adiposity rebound. Future studies may advance our knowledge by including measures of child personality along the taxonomy of the adult Five Personality Factors.


Field, greenhouse, and growth chamber experiments were conducted to determine the level of resistance to Puccinia arachidis Speg. in newly developed breeding lines of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.). These lines were developed in the UF150 project of the Peanut Collaborative Research and Support Program (Peanut CRSP) as part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Field experiments were carried out in Citra, FL and Tifton, GA from 2010 to 2013. Five genotypes Tifrust-10 and Tifrust-13, and CRSP breeding lines PTBOL3-3, 97x36-HO2-1-B2G-3-1-2-2, and BOL3-7 had the lowest standardized area under the disease progress curve and final disease severity score for rust. The CRSP breeding lines 97x36-HO2-1-B2G-3-1-2-2 and BOL3-7 also appeared to be highly resistant to late leaf spot, caused by Cercosporidium personatum (Berk & M. A. Curtis Deighton). In growth chamber studies, genotypes with longer latent periods generally had lower infection frequencies at 7, 11, and 16 d after inoculation, and smaller percent diseased areas. Latent period and percent diseased area were significantly correlated with stAUDPC. CRSP breeding lines 97x36-HO2-1-B2G-3-1-2-2 and BOL3-7, and plant introductions PI562530, PI568164, and PI298115, were among the genotypes with the lower scores for these components. Several genotypes with multiple disease resistance in different environments and under high disease pressure were identified in these studies. These results indicate sources of rust resistance in the CRSP breeding lines, including several genotypes that could be used as parents in peanut germplasm enhancement programs, and indicate that latent period, percent diseased area, and lesion diameter may be used as indicators for rust resistance in growth chamber studies.


Statistics in the 150 years from Italian Unification.
SIS 2011 Statistical Conference, Bologna, 8 – 10 June 2011.
Book of Abstracts


Now, we are trying to carry on the cultural system reform in the whole country, which will become a historical opportunity for TV station in the small and medium-sized cities. So This paper, from the reform of ten internal manage m ent, such as income distribution, selecting suitable materials and choosing the right person, gives some advice about how to set up and perfect the management s ystem on the basis of combination of theory and practice in order to realize its sustainable development.


Desegregation of South African schools is creating new geographies of education. Parental choice of school in the context of continuing spatial inequalities of educational provision encourages considerable movement of pupils from outside traditional catchment areas, as parents send children to distant schools formerly intended for members of other racial groups. To explore the socio-economic context of such choices, and the costs of making them, this article uses survey data from ten secondary schools with differing apartheid histories, in different socio-economic neighbourhoods, and with differing racial compositions. The findings reveal both the progress made since the end of apartheid and the limitations of change. Pupils travelling to distant schools in white areas appear to be coping well with the potential pressures, but remain a small, largely middle-class minority of black and coloured children, while friendships still appear to be made mainly within rather than across racial groups. Genuine educational choice and class mobility will depend on more fundamental reduction of educational inequality. NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICIES IN POST-APARTHEID South Africa have been strongly influenced by policy debates in developed countries, but they are implemented in specific conditions, many of which arise from South Africa's common apartheid inheritance. The influence of this *Anthony Lemon (firstname.lastname@example.com) is Emeritus Research Fellow in Geography, Oxford University, and Emeritus Fellow, Mansfield College. Jane BattersbyLennard ( firstname.lastname@example.com) is Lecturer in Geography, University of Cape Town. 1. See Ken Hartshorne, The Making of Education Policy in South Africa (Oxford University Press, London, 1999); Jonathan Jansen, 'Explaining non-change in education reform after apartheid: political symbolism and the problem of policy implementation' in Yusuf Sayed and Jonathan Jansen (eds), Implementing Education Policies: The South African experience (University of Cape Town Press, Cape Town, 2001), pp. 62–72; Jonathan Jansen, 'Political symbolism as policy craft: explaining non-reform in South African education after apartheid', Journal of Education Policy 17, 2 (2002), pp. 199–215. 2. Crain Soudien, 'The "A" factor: coming to terms with legacy in South African education', International Journal of Educational Development 27, 2 (2007), pp. 182–93. African Affairs, 1–24 doi: 10.1093/afraf/adq062 © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal African Society. All rights reserved 1 African Affairs Advance Access published November 18, 2010 by gest on N ovem er 2, 2010 afraf.oxjournals.org D ow nladed fom complex legacy continues to shape social behaviour and socio-economic change in South Africa, not least in education. Urban/rural, racial, income, and other differences produce highly diverse spaces and places which constitute the lenses through which educational change is reflected. This article uses the particular lens of metropolitan Cape Town to explore ways in which desegregation of the South African school system has created new social and spatial geographies of education. The size of its coloured group (49 percent of the population in 2001), occupying a middle position in the apartheid hierarchy, together with its growing black population help Cape Town capture the nuances of educational desegregation better than most South African cities. Previous research has tended to focus on schools themselves rather than the wider spatial processes shaping and shaped by the school experience. Recognizing that there is now considerable movement of pupils to schools from outside their traditional catchment areas, this article explores the lived experience of these new geographies and the parental and pupil perceptions they reflect in the context of continuing inequality of educational provision, which encourages parental sacrifices to educate their children at distant schools. The experience of the pupils themselves is important: significant journeys to school may affect their ability to participate in out-of-school activities, their friendship patterns both at school and at home and the everyday mobility these reflect, and their sense of identity and belonging. Geographies of friendship also help to define the critical difference between statistical desegregation and social integration in the schools themselves: evidence for the former, it is argued, is much clearer than evidence for the latter. During the apartheid era the racial geography of school attendance in South Africa closely mirrored that of the country's legally segregated residential areas, although many blacks were not enrolled at all, especially in higher grades. Residential segregation began to loosen in the 1980s and ceased to be legally enforced in 1991. Residential desegregation has proceeded gradually in most areas, however, affecting black areas only through the out-movement of better-off families. In contrast, since the 3. See Hein Marais, South Africa: Limits to change: the political economy of transition (Zed Books, London, 1998) and Clive Harber, State of Transition: Post-apartheid educational reform in South Africa (Symposium Books, Oxford, 2001). 4. See John Western, 'Africa is coming to the Cape', Geographical Review 91, 4 (2001), pp. 617–40. 5. Apartheid racial categories continue to be widely used in South Africa, both in popular discourse and officially. The terms used here are black, referring to the African or, as in the 2001 census, 'black African' majority; and coloured (mixed-race), Indian and white for the three officially recognized minority groups. 6. A. J. Christopher, 'The slow pace of desegregation in South African cities, 1996–2001', Urban Studies 42, 12 (2005), pp. 2305–20. 2 AFRICAN AFFAIRS by gest on N ovem er 2, 2010 afraf.oxjournals.org D ow nladed fom end of apartheid educational desegregation has had a broader impact. By 2001 some 12 percent of secondary school pupils in the Western Cape attended schools formerly confined to race groups other than their own. In Western Cape primary schools, Fiske and Ladd found that while nearly 100 percent of the enrolment in former black schools in 2001 remained black, and coloured students accounted for 93 percent enrolment in former coloured schools, 34 percent of students in former white schools were not white, most of them coloured rather than black. Desegregation has continued since 2001: all the former white schools studied here had less than 50 percent whites, several of them substantially below this figure. Whilst former black schools remain overwhelmingly black, as do the residential areas they serve, the out-movement of children of middle-class or wealthier families to schools elsewhere deprives black schools of some potentially good students. Whilst financial constraints deter the majority of blacks, coloureds, and Indians from moving, it is also clear that significant numbers of middleclass members of these communities have so far preferred to remain in areas formerly allocated to their own group, reflecting contention among blacks over the desirability of residential integration. Despite this choice, they – and others who could not afford to move – have chosen to send their children to school elsewhere. Such moves are invariably 'up' the apartheid racial hierarchy: blacks moving to former coloured, Indian, and white schools, coloureds to former Indian and white schools, and small numbers of Indians moving to white schools. Many former white, Indian, and coloured schools now draw at least a minority of their students from districts formerly allocated to other race groups. Others choose to define their feeder areas more restrictively, and thus the desegregation of their intake more closely reflects residential desegregation. The article proceeds in four sections. The methodological discussion focuses on the choice of schools and on issues surrounding fieldwork itself, together with the use made of other data sources. The second section considers the costs incurred by parents who send their children to distant schools formerly intended for members of other racial groups, and possible costs for the children themselves, in the context of continuing inequalities within the South African school system. The core of the article then addresses the issues investigated in the classrooms of ten secondary schools, focusing on the spatial processes creating new 7. Authors' calculation based on data in Edward B. Fiske and Helen F. Ladd, Elusive Equity: Education reform in post-apartheid South Africa (Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC, 2004), p. 90. 8. Ibid., p. 89. 9. James L. Gibson, Overcoming Apartheid: Can truth reconcile a divided nation? (HSRC Press, Cape Town, 2004). STUDYING TOGETHER, LIVING APART 3 by gest on N ovem er 2, 2010 afraf.oxjournals.org D ow nladed fom geographies of secondary education and the lived experience of these new geographies. The findings are related to the racial and socio-economic character of the school neighbourhoods and the home areas of the students. The final section concludes with a discussion of key findings and their implications. These include the negative views of local schools held by many of those who commute to school as well as by their parents, who recognize that former white and some former coloured and Indian schools continue to offer much higher standards of education than most black schools. A higher proportion of black students than whites were found to do homework at home and receive parental encouragement. In terms of integration and equality of opportunity, the research reveals both the progress made since the end of apartheid and the limitations of change. Key policy implications include the need for targeted intervention to create centres of excellence among schools in black areas and the retraining of demoralized school principals and teachers.


Web blight caused by the fungus Thanatephorus cucumeris (Rhizoctonia solani) is one of most important diseases of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) in the state of Roraima, Brazil. Web blight severity for ten cowpea cultivars was evaluated in Roraima in two consecutive years. The erect cowpea cultivars BRS-Mazagao, IT86D-719, Vita-7 (Epace-1), BR02-Braganca and Pitiuba, as well as the prostrate cultivars BRS-Amapa, BR03-Tracuateua, BR17-Gurgueia, BR14-Mulato and Canapuzinho, were used. The experiment was conducted during 2005 and 2006 in a complete randomized block design with five treatments and four replications. The percentage of diseased foliage was evaluated once a week and the data were used to calculate the area under the disease progress curve. Disease severity was lower on prostrate cultivars indicating a relationship between plant architecture and web blight resistance. The prostrate cultivars, BRS-Amapa, BR03-Tracuateua, BR17-Gurgueia, BR14-Mulato and Canapuzinho, and erect cultivars, BRS-Mazagao, Pitiuba and BR03-Braganca, were more resistant to web blight and can be recommended for planting in areas where the disease is known to occur.


The mechanisms of LCC-HVDC system instability stimulated by series compensation (SC) and multiple STATCOMs are analyzed in this paper. The movement of dominant poles (MDPs) reveal that the SC will add a pair of mid-frequency poles to the system and deteriorate the system stability. For STATCOMs, increasing their online numbers will move the system poles at mid-frequency to left half plan (LHP) but move that at high frequency to the right half plan (RHP). Then, two approaches that can respectively improve the mid-frequency and high-frequency characteristic of the LCC-HVDC system are discussed, the effectiveness of which is verified by the simulation results of PSCAD/EMTDC.


This paper describesthe resultsof an expehmental study on the reversed T- shaped composite beams which developed for air conditioningsystems in the building.The developed reversed T- shaped composite beams are outstanding story height reduction systems which can installduct and OA equipment within the depth of the concretefloorslab.Four fun-scaled simply supported bending tests were conducted on the encased composite beams with differentshear connections.Test resultsshowed that the developed composite beams had a sufficienctomposite actionand ductihty.The shear bonding stressdetectedO.IN/㎟.


Current national curricula, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, and EFL materials highlight the importance of the studentsdevelopment of oral skills. This study stems from a cross -sectional survey of the teaching of oral skills in S econdary Education in a Spanish local context (AragUn) carried out in 2012 on both teachers and students of English. The present paper focuses on the answers obtained from the group of teachers in order to provide a snapshot of their attitudes, beliefs and expectations regarding the teaching, learning and assessment of oral skills, as well as the implementation of some measures aimed at increasing the required level of oral competence in the foreign language. Teachersanswers reveal that in spite of what i s indicated in language policies, oral skills are not sufficiently practiced and/or assessed; thatstudents are still reluctant to engage in oral activities and do not, therefore, reach the required level in these skills.


Extreme processes of social and cultural acceleration lie at the heart of the information age but social theory, for the most part, continues to be a slow and patient affair. In view of this, this paper asks how such theory is to respond to the speed-up of social life and culture. Should it attempt to keep pace with a world that is changing faster than ever? Or is the strength of theory that it is a slow, detached and reflective form that lies outside the accelerated logic of contemporary capitalist culture? In an attempt to address such questions, this paper considers two main alternatives: first, that theory should follow the speed-up of the world by technologizing itself (as argued by Scott Lash and Peter Lunenfeld), and second, and seemingly contrary to this, that in times of cultural speed-up theory should either call for social and cultural slow-down (Marshall McLuhan, Paul Virilio), slow down itself (Jean Baudrillard), or perhaps both. In considering these alternatives, media theory (associated with the above figures) is used as a resource for questioning the focus and form of social theory today.


Nano-sized objects interact with biological systems in fundamentally novel ways, thereby holding great promise for targeted drug delivery. It has also been suggested they could constitute a hitherto unseen hazard. Numerous experimental studies in the field are taking place. We consider that the nature of the interactions allows a more fundamental theoretical framework to be developed. In particular, we describe the intimate link that develops between nanoparticle uptake and cell population evolution. Explicit analytical results are given and the theory compared to experimental observations.


The invention discloses a stainless steel separator for fuel cells and a method of manufacturing the same. The method includes preparing a stainless steel sheet as a matrix, performing surface modification on a surface of the stainless steel sheet to form a Cr-rich passive film having a comparatively increased amount of Cr in a superficial layer of the stainless steel sheet by decreasing an amount of Fe in the superficial layer of the stainless steel sheet, and forming a coating layer on the surface of the surface-modified stainless steel sheet. The coating layer is one selected from a metal nitride layer (MN x), a metal/metal nitride layer (M/MN x), a metal carbide layer (MCy), and a metal boride layer (MB z ).


According to the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, about 300 people get lung cancer in Norway each year as a result of radon exposure. To reduce the risk of lung cancer because of radon exposure, the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority has come with a recommendation that measures against radon should be implemented in buildings at concentrations above 100 Bq/m3. Radon concentration in a building for permanent residence shall not exceed the maximum limit of 200 Bq/m3. These recommendations has made it in to the requirements in new TEK 10, which came into force on 1 July 2010 and becomes mandatory from 1 July 2011. In this context it is interesting to examine how the construction industry relates to the recommendations and requirements for radon exposure in new homes. Emphasis was placed on identifying challenges and possible solutions related to these. The task was carried out by means of combining qualitative and quantitative research methods in a triangulation. Methods' individual strengths could then offset their individual weaknesses. A quantitative method as a survey was sent out to contractors from prefab house chains. The qualitative methods used for a literature study together with in-depth interviews of relevant persons in the industry in relation to this thesis. The survey suggests that there may be a challenge to implement the new requirements from TEK 10 which applies to radon in buildings. An important factor that has been identified is that it is not done measurements of radon in projects when they are completed. Many in the industry will not be able to learn about the technical solutions they have used actually works. A consequence of this might be that the gain of knowledge about the radon problem takes longer than if it had been more extensive use of measurements of radon in newly finished houses. The State should also take on some responsibilities and costs for not being finished with the mapping of radon concentrations. As the look of things now, they are seemingly trying to push this cost onto the building industry. The state can solve this problem by accelerating the mapping of radon, and by using an earmarked subsidy scheme and sanctions to stimulate municipalities that has not done its duty with radon mapping already. Other identified challenges are based around technical solutions against radon. People in the industry has come up with their experiences and views on this subject. The findings are presented in this thesis. It was also noted that there seems to be a problems with the transfer of experience and opinions in the industry, when it comes to measures against radon in buildings. The industry's nature can be a hindrance in that it is common for people to keep their good and bad experiences for themselves. It is also noted that there are dishonest operators who try to earn quick money on radon problems by providing services related to radon problems that are overpriced.


receiving device for a prolonged saw for blending of trees or bushes comprising an elongated stiff tube (11) which extends from a drive unit (10) to a remotely located head portion (12) of the chain saw and a drive shaft (14) which with the input shaft (15) of the head part (12) of the chain saw arranged gear (16), said transmission having an output shaft (18) is provided, on which a sprocket (20) for driving a saw chain is seated, characterized in that that a mass body vibration damper (23) is arranged between the gear (16) and the sprocket (20).


We apply a recently developed method by the author to the problem of the diffraction peak bound for the spin 0–spin 1/2 particle scattering with the spin taken fully into account. The variational technique is used with the constraints, the total cross section, elastic cross section, and the unitarity of partial waves.


This paper analyzes the state of art of examination method,points out that much of current reform on examination method confines to itself,and holds that only a clear understanding of examination method can suffice us to bring up with an effective examination method.It points out to raise students'confidence and propose a reform aiming at professional ability and arouse students'active learning to improve their social professional living ability.


................................................................................................. iii Executive Summary................................................................................... iv Advice to Future Honors Students (Optional)................................................... vii Epigraph.................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: Introduction: A Note on Translation ................................................ 1 Chapter 2: Method .................................................................................... 7 Chapter 3: Analogues in Relation to "the Reeve's Tale" ....................................... 11 The Reeve's Tale.......................................................... 11 Dec. IX.6 ................................................................... 14 Gombert and the Two Clerks (French Tale)............................ 18 A Moral Tale about Two Clerics (Flemish Tale)........................ 19 Chapter 4: Similarities in Plot between "the Reeve's Tale" and Dec. IX.6 .................. 20 Chapter 5: Similarities in Language between "the Reeve's Tale" and Dec. IX.6 ............ 27 Urna enim augue mid tincidunt........................................... X Chapter 6: Conclusion .................................................................................... 38 Notes......................................................................................................... 43 Works Cited................................................................................................ 46


The preceding and potential LNG sources in Guangzhou City are analyzed,and the selection of reference gas for gas appliance is discussed.Making a determination of appropriate reference gas will give consideration to both the preceding and potential sources,which helps accomplish the large-region and countrywide interconnection of natural gas transmission and distribution network and promote the development and utilization of coal bed methane.


Absorption edge tomography is a method which exploits the sudden change of the attenuation coefficient, when the photon energy crosses the absorption edge of an element. The beamline BAM line at BESSY II, which is operated by the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, can provide a monochromatized beam in a photon energy range from 5 keV up to 80 keV with a bandwidth of 2%. Together with the microtomography setup, this enables differential tomography sensitive to any element with N >= 24 (Cr) by using an appropriate K- or L-edge in this range. Here, a polymer filament embedding metal organic framework (MOF) was prepared and used for 3D printing. Absorption edge tomography at the copper K edge was employed to perform a non-destructive 3D characterization of the microstructure of the embedded MOF. Data fusion was then used to determine the size distribution of the embedded MOF.


Most data on pain in cancer patients have come from hospitalized patients with advanced disease; however, a more complete picture emerges from this community-based study. Selecting patient groups from the Cancer Surveillance System of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, …


IT is doubtful if such a small section in any Act of Parliament has ever done so much -L to ease the burden of so many people as section 29 of Part III of the National Health Service Act, 1948, which permitted local health authorities to provide a domestic help service. As soon as schemes for the provision of a service were made known the requests for help mounted steadily. It is not without a certain amount of reluctance that the British people accept domestic workers not of their own choosing into their homes. That they do so and are prepared to pay according to their means for the assistance given may be taken as an indication that the need was genuine although inevitably there was abuse by the few. There were of course domestic help services in operation in some areas long before 1948, but they were services limited mostly to providing help for households while the mother was in bed following confinement. The extent of the need for other types of illness and especially for the chronically ill was certainly not fully realized. Figures indicating the number of cases to whom assistance has been given and the number of hours allocated have been kept in categories in the County of Essex since 1950 and are set out in Table I.